Digital services and platforms news - CMU | the music business explained (Page 3)

Nordic licensing hub Polaris to shut down due to ‘evolving market conditions’

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Polaris • 2 min read

Nordic licensing hub Polaris to shut down due to ‘evolving market conditions’

Polaris, a digital licensing hub set up by three Nordic collecting societies, will wind down its operations next year with the three societies concluding that it’s no longer “the most suitable solution” for representing their respective relationships with digital platforms like Spotify and TikTok…

Chris Cooke • 02 Sep 2025

Apple Music makes its radio stations available to everyone via radio streaming app TuneIn

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Apple Music • 3 min read

Apple Music makes its radio stations available to everyone via radio streaming app TuneIn

Apple has announced a tie up with TuneIn which will see its six Apple Music Radio stations made available via the radio aggregator app. It seems to be part of a plan by Apple to better utilise the free radio services to sell subscriptions to Apple Music, which is lagging being main rival Spotify…

Chris Cooke • 28 Aug 2025

Brace yourself: Spotify is convinced people want it to be a messaging app

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Spotify • 3 min read

Brace yourself: Spotify is convinced people want it to be a messaging app

Spotify is adding messaging to its app, functionality it previously removed in 2017. It means users will be able to recommend tracks, podcasts and audiobooks to friends within the platform. Spotify says its users have been asking for this functionality and “our goal is to give users what they want”…

Chris Cooke • 27 Aug 2025

Spotify’s ads business is “floundering”, according to Business Insider report

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Spotify • 4 min read

Spotify’s ads business is “floundering”, according to Business Insider report

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek recently admitted that the streaming service’s ad sales have been underperforming. Business Insider has spoken to advertising industry execs who say Spotify’s ad strategy to date has been “messy” and the value of its recent push into video ads is yet to be proven…

Chris Cooke • 22 Aug 2025

Turkish government makes up with Spotify as streaming service commits to open Istanbul office

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Spotify • 2 min read

Turkish government makes up with Spotify as streaming service commits to open Istanbul office

Last month there was speculation Spotify might pull out of Turkey because of tensions between the digital service and the country’s government. But Turkish Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy says a meeting took place this week to improve relations, with Spotify committing to open an Istanbul office…

Chris Cooke • 21 Aug 2025

Suno says indie musician’s copyright claims about its AI’s output are bogus

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Suno • 3 min read

Suno says indie musician’s copyright claims about its AI’s output are bogus

In June, independent artist Anthony Justice sued AI company Suno for copyright infringement, following the lead of the major labels. His lawsuit made copyright claims about Suno’s training data and the tracks it outputs. Suno says the claims relating to the outputs should be immediately dismissed…

Chris Cooke • 20 Aug 2025

Spotify launches new tool to add customised transitions to playlists

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Spotify • 1 min read

Spotify launches new tool to add customised transitions to playlists

Spotify is adding new functionality to allow users to add customised track transitions to playlists they create on the platform. It’s not clear if this is in any way connected to the remixing tools Spotify was rumoured to be developing as part of its long awaited higher priced super premium product…

Chris Cooke • 19 Aug 2025

Boycotts agogo as Godspeed You! Black Emperor pull music from streaming platforms, and Neil Young cuts off Meta

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Digital services and platforms news • 2 min read

Boycotts agogo as Godspeed You! Black Emperor pull music from streaming platforms, and Neil Young cuts off Meta

Following a flurry of bands boycotting Spotify over Daniel Ek’s investments in the defence sector, Godspeed You! Black Emperor have pulled their music from the platform. However, they also seem to be boycotting other streaming services too. Meanwhile Neil Young is now officially boycotting Facebook…

Chris Cooke • 18 Aug 2025

King Gizzard frontman on Spotify boycott: “I don’t really want our music to be there, at least right now”

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Spotify • 3 min read

King Gizzard frontman on Spotify boycott: “I don’t really want our music to be there, at least right now”

After Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s investments in the arms sector were back in the news recently a number of artists announced they were boycotting the platform in protest. That included King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard who have now discussed their decision in a new interview with the LA Times…

Chris Cooke • 15 Aug 2025

Kobalt strikes US direct licensing deal with Spotify

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Kobalt • 3 min read

Kobalt strikes US direct licensing deal with Spotify

Kobalt has signed a direct deal with Spotify in the US. It means Kobalt will be paid mechanical royalties on bespoke terms rather than at rates set by the US compulsory licence. Universal and Warner have also done direct deals since Spotify started applying the compulsory licence’s bundling discount…

Chris Cooke • 14 Aug 2025

Australian music industry says proposed AI copyright exception would be “a dangerous step backwards”

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

Australian music industry says proposed AI copyright exception would be “a dangerous step backwards”

Last week the Australian government’s Productivity Commission invited feedback on the proposal that a new exception be added to the country’s copyright law to benefit AI companies. The music industry has hit back at that proposal, with indie label group AIR calling it “a dangerous step backwards”…

Chris Cooke • 11 Aug 2025

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Streaming Levy • 3 min read

US Republicans want Trump to use trade talk pressure to kill Canada’s streaming levy

US politicians are going after the new Canadian streaming levy. After pressure from Donald Trump prompted Canada to drop its Digital Services Tax, Republicans have now urged the White House to similarly pressure the Canadian government over the separate 5% levy on streaming services…

Chris Cooke • 11 Aug 2025