February 2019

Paid-for streaming set to overtake free services in UK

11/02/2019

Paid-for streaming set to overtake free services in UK with younger consumers more likely to pay for streaming according to new figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA). Subscription streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Deezer and YouTube Music are winning the battle to persuade more people to pay to stream music than stream it for free. More males pay to stream (24.3%) rather than stream for free (23.9%), and more 25-34 year-olds […]

Japan should look to China for future streaming growth

09/02/2019

Japan should look to China for future streaming growth according to media and technology analysts, MIDiA Research. Despite being the world’s second largest recorded music market accounting for 14% of the global total, Japanese recorded music revenues fell by 3.3% in 2018 (US dollar value) or 1.8% (Yen value). Although streaming was up 30% in 2018, physical sales still accounted for 69% of all revenues. CD sales and monetising fandom One of the major drivers […]

Shiri Hebrew music streaming app launched

08/02/2019

Shiri Hebrew music streaming app launched backed by the Israeli Culture and Sport Ministry and put together in conjunction with the National Library of Israel and the music nonprofit Finjan. The app gives free access worldwide to more than 40,000 Hebrew songs and there is both an Android and iOS app available. The developer states on Google Play that ‘Shiri is the only Israeli music app that learns the taste of listeners and offers them Israeli music, free […]

Kodi 18 released

07/02/2019

Kodi 18 released after a two year development contains a DRM decryption tool, allowing you to stream media content from third-parties within Kodi, an upgraded music player and Google Assistant integration on its Android TV version. Kodi 18, codenamed ‘Leia’, is available on Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android, iOS, Raspberry Pi and various Unix variants as a free download. The media player formerly known as XBMC has in the past found itself in the centre of […]

Apple Music takes off with American Airlines

06/02/2019

Apple Music takes off with American Airlines so that subscribers can listen to the full range of Apple Music with no WiFi purchase required. Apple Music subscribers can access over 50 million songs, playlists and music videos on any domestic US American Airlines flight equipped with Viasat satellite WiFi with no WiFi purchase required. American Airlines is the first commercial airline to provide exclusive access to Apple Music through complimentary in-flight WiFi. “For most travelers, […]

Album consumption in Canada increases 21% in 2018

05/02/2019

Album consumption in Canada increases 21% in 2018 with homegrown artists doing well both at home and abroad according to market analysts, Nielsen. The Canadian music industry experienced significant overall growth in 2018, with total album equivalent audio consumption up 21% over 2017, driven by a 47% increase in on-demand audio song streams compared with last year. The album with the highest total consumption is Drake’s Scorpion, with 424,000 on-demand audio consumption units, including over […]

Qobuz is official streamer at Florida Audio Expo

03/02/2019

Qobuz is official streamer at Florida Audio Expo taking place Friday 8th – Sunday 10th February 2019 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore. There is free admission to the public and will showcase Qobuz’s HiRes streaming service which is in open beta testing in the US. Originally scheduled to launch in 2018 the US service is now scheduled to launch in ‘early 2019’. “Our mission was to create a show that offers […]