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NZ mirrors Australia with record streaming growth

For the third year in a row the New Zealand music industry has experienced double digit percentage growth with wholesale revenue growing by 14.6% in 2017 to NZ$98.8m driven largely by New Zealand’s ever-increasing adoption and use of music streaming services, according to new figures released by record industry association Recorded Music NZ. Wholesale revenue from streaming in 2017 was $61.3m, a 41.6% increase on 2016. Last year’s streaming revenue is almost as large as […]

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Idagio to stream Warner Classics catalogue

Specialist classical music streamer, Idagio is to offer the entire Warner Classics and Erato catalogue. The Idagio  streaming service, which already comprises over 650,000 tracks, will now include all the recent releases from the Warner Classics and Erato labels as well as recordings originally issued on EMI Classics, Teldec (now Warner Classics) and Virgin Classics (now Erato). The albums to be made available in the coming weeks encompass reference recordings of legacy artists such as […]

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Australian record industry growth fuelled by streaming

In 2017 the Australian record industry grew by 10.5% fuelled by a 56% increase in advertising supported and subscription streaming services, according to ARIA, the Australian Recording Industry Association. The increase in value to A$391 million was the largest increase the industry has experienced in its annual wholesale figures since 1996. 2017 was the first year that revenue from music streaming services (at A$213 million) accounted for over half (54%) of the overall market. The […]

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Streaming

Are Smart Speakers the future of Streaming?

Smart Speakers will fuel the next wave of music consumption and market growth. 48% of all Smart Speaker owners have a premium subscription to a music-streaming service and with global sales of 24m-27m Smart Speakers in 2017, 55% of US households will own a Smart Speaker by 2022. […]

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Hardware

What is a Smart Speaker?

Smart Speakers are internet-connected speakers controlled by voice commands coupled with an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant responding to the owner’s requests. These voice controlled personal assistants are often referred to as Voice Assistants (VA). The most popular VAs are Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Google Assistant with Siri powering Apple’s HomePod and Cortana controlling Microsoft enabled devices. Traditional electronics companies are rapidly playing catchup and Samsung recently announced its own Bixby powered speaker which is scheduled […]

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News

Amazon announces Elton John’s ‘The Soundboard’ experience

Amazon Music announces ‘The Soundboard’ an inside look into the making of Revamp and Restoration, two recently released albums from Elton John which celebrate the iconic artist’s legendary songs. Elton John and long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin present the music and stories behind their extraordinary catalogue and song writing partnership, with commentary surrounding new interpretations of these classic songs from a diverse roster of some of the world’s biggest artists including Chris Martin, Demi Lovato, Brandon […]

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News

Spotify goes public

In March this year Spotify filed for a direct listing (Spotify takes the first step to going public) on the New York Stock Exchange. The Swedish owned company made its stock market debut (4th April 2018) with a market capitalisation of $30bn although that dropped to $27bn after early profit taking. In 2017 Spotify generated $4.99bn in revenue, up from $3.6bn in 2016. Its number of paid subscribers grew by 46% with monthly active users […]