Month: December 2015

Behind Abbey Road Studios’ New Incubator For Music Tech

The past decade has rendered the music industry unrecognizable. Digital music is king and songs are purchased (and created) in the cloud. Faster computer processing and affordable hardware allow professional recording tools to be available to all. Artificial intelligence has produced albums, scored films, and generated mood music in games. So where does a historic…


The Beatles Set to Stream on Christmas Eve: Sources

The most beloved rock band in history and one of the most persistent holdouts in the digital age of music listening — The Beatles — is set to finally arrive on streaming services, according to Billboard sources with knowledge of the negotiations….


Adele Ticket Blowout Frustrates Fans, With Ticketmaster Taking the Heat

The long-awaited on-sale for Adele‘s tour in support of her blockbuster album 25was greeted with “unprecedented” demand, creating frustration for fans unable to snag tickets but not, as was reported, swamping Ticketmaster’s system….


Pandora Forced To Pay Artists Millions More – But Fares Well In Crucial Rates Decision

The fate of record labels and artists everywhere has been resting in the hands of three US judges for the past year. This trio of lawmakers comprise the country’s Copyright Royalty Board, which has just delivered a crucial decision on the statutory per-stream rate paid out to recorded music rightsholders by non-interactive digital ‘radio’ platforms…


Billy Joel Sells Out His 30th Show at Madison Square Garden

In what amounts to the greatest arena engagement of all time, Billy Joel has sold out his 30th show in a run of monthly dates at Madison Square Garden in New York City….


Spotify Launches Party Mode “Mixed By Us Tuned By You”

  2015 was the year that streaming music services became obsessed with delivering the right song to the right user at the right moment.  Spotify’s latest approach combines human curation, algorithms and a beat meter…


Watch Out Spotify: Pandora Inks Direct Deal With Warner/Chappell

Pandora’s quest to strike direct licensing deals with the world’s most significant rights-holders is going very smoothly. Warner/Chappell Music has announced a multi-year licensing agreement for its catalogue of musical works in the US market….


Streaming Got Zane Lowe And George Ergatoudis – But Missed Out On Howard Stern

BBC Radio 1 has lost two heavily influential personalities to streaming this year: Zane Lowe to Apple and, as we learned yesterday, programming chief George Ergatoudis to Spotify. But what might have been the biggest poach of 2015 for music streaming services from the world of ‘radio’ hasn’t happened after all. The last show in Howard…


Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ Becomes First-Ever 30 Times Multi-Platinum Album: Exclusive

Michael Jackson‘s Thriller has become the first album ever to be certified 30 times multi-platinum for U.S. sales, marking more than 30 million sales in the States. …


Is This The Right Way To Decide The Grammy Nominees?

It’s usually shrouded in secrecy, but a new interview has shed important light on how the Grammy nominees are decided – and it could cause a bit of controversy. Hits Daily Double has sat down with Recording Academy chief Neil Portnow to ask him some probing questions about the event, which takes place on February 15…