Spotify announced yesterday that its mobile listening service will be free to users who do not subscribe. This is a significant shift for the Swedish company, which had offered mobile on-demand listening to subscribers only. It has been using mobile convenience as bait to lure about six million subscribers into a monthly paid relationship….

The music industry has seen a spate of high-profile manager-artist splits during recent weeks. Lady Gaga parted ways with Troy Carter in November mere days before her third album, ARTPOP, was released, followed by John Mayer, who dropped longtime manager Michael McDonald; Trent Reznor, who split from Jim Guerinot of Rebel Waltz to join John Silva‘s…

Madonna has topped Forbes’ 2013 list of the top-earning women in music, pulling in a staggering $125 million this year. The bulk of Madonna’s earnings came from the last leg of her MDNA Tour, which grossed $305 million overall; she also sees income from merchandise sales, her Material Girl clothing line and her fragrance, Truth…

Early freedom for the two jailed members of punk band Pussy Riot edged closer to reality Thursday after the Russian Supreme Court formally ordered a review of their guilty verdicts. In detailed comments published on its website ordering a case review on Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova — convicted by a Moscow court in August…

Is Guitar Center, the music store we all love to hate, going broke? It looks that way, according to a number of news stories in The Nation, Reuters, Huffington Post, and a wonderful post by Eric Garland. As many of you already know, GC was purchased by Bain Capital (formerly owned by Mitt Romney) six years…

The Digital Warrior is an open-source compact MIDI controller, with built in step-sequencer and more. Key Feature: Built in 16 voice 32-step sequencer. 64 uneque patterns permanently stored on the device Traktor Remix decks mapping for on the fly dynamic loops. optimized for ableton live drum racks 4 smooth potentiometers, 16 banked RGB button pads…

Local Natives have been named the hardest-working band of 2013. Data compiled by live music tracking site Songkick calculates which band puts in the most effort by shows played and miles covered. Having played 188 shows and covered nearly 200,000 miles, LA’s Local Natives top the list. The top three are:…

The holidays represent a lot of things: time with family, a break from work or school, food, gifts, and some more food. But something that may not be so obvious is that the holidays present great opportunities for musicians. As the holiday buzz is starting to kick in, TuneCore wants to help artists prepare with…

The documentary features Gary Numan, Carl Craig, James Holden, Legowelt and more. I Dream of Wires is an independent documentary that details “the history, demise and resurgence of the ultimate electronic music machine, the modular synthesizer.” It features interviews with Throbbing Gristle’s Chris Carter and Skinny Puppy’s cEvin Key along with contemporary synth obsessives like…

Shaheem Reid sits down with 2 chainz for another installment of his “Take Charge Tuesday” series. 2 chainz  talks about, believing in yourself and the value of investing in oneself. Check it out Via SwayUniverse [Al Lindstrom]