Spotify news

EU fines €1.8 billion at end of Spotify initiated competition law investigation

public

Apple • 4 min read

EU fines €1.8 billion at end of Spotify initiated competition law investigation

Apple has been fined €1.8 billion by the European Union, following an investigation into its App Store rules. The massive fine is almost four times larger than the €500 million that had been expected and is the result of a complaint filed by Spotify in 2019…

Chris Cooke • 04 Mar 2024

Setlist Podcast: UK music revenues are back to their CD peak (sort of)

public

Setlist • 5 min read

Setlist Podcast: UK music revenues are back to their CD peak (sort of)

Music retail revenues are now higher than their 2001 peak (just don't adjust for inflation), and the brewing legal battle between Kanye West and the Donna Summer estate…

Andy Malt & Chris Cooke • 01 Mar 2024

Spotify vs Apple name-calling kicks off again after EU mega-fine rumours

public

Apple • 2 min read

Spotify vs Apple name-calling kicks off again after EU mega-fine rumours

Apple issued a statement last week following rumours it is facing a €500 million fine as a result of an EU investigation prompted by a complaint made by Spotify. It claims that Spotify just wants a free ride, but Spotify issued its own statement arguing it is actually seeking a level playing field…

Chris Cooke • 26 Feb 2024

public

Spotify • 1 min read

Spotify launches in-house brand partnerships agency

Still searching for ways to boost revenues towards consistent profit, Spotify has launched its own in-house brand partnerships agency AUX. It will facilitate putting brands and artists together for marketing campaigns, and has kicked things off by pairing up Coca-Cola with Peggy Gou…

Andy Malt • 22 Feb 2024

Setlist Podcast: AI developments cause celebration and concern

public

Artificial Intelligence • 5 min read

Setlist Podcast: AI developments cause celebration and concern

The music industry welcomes the final draft of the EU AI Act but sees plans for the UK to develop an AI code of conduct collapse, and allegations that the BBC is going head to head with its commercial rivals by launching new decade and genre specific music radio stations…

Andy Malt & Chris Cooke • 09 Feb 2024

Spotify CEO slams Apple in earnings calls and hints at more job cuts

public

Spotify • 3 min read

Spotify CEO slams Apple in earnings calls and hints at more job cuts

As Spotify releases its earnings for Q4 2023 - which show the company lost €446 million in 2023 - CEO Daniel Ek criticised Apple’s approach to implementing the EU Digital Markets Act and warned that there may be more job cuts coming.…

Sam Taylor • 06 Feb 2024

Spotify announces new Joe Rogan deal that could be worth $250 million

public

Spotify • 3 min read

Spotify announces new Joe Rogan deal that could be worth $250 million

Despite cutting back its in-house podcasting operations, Spotify has renewed its deal with Joe Rogan, with the podcaster set to get another big pay day plus a share of future ad revenues. The new deal will also see the Joe Rogan Experience return to other podcast platforms…

Chris Cooke • 05 Feb 2024

Spotify hits out at Apple's plan to comply with EU's Digital Markets Act

public

Spotify • 4 min read

Spotify hits out at Apple's plan to comply with EU's Digital Markets Act

Spotify has criticised the way Apple is changing its App Store rules in Europe in order to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act - it argues those changes do not deal with the issues it has raised about Apple's in-app payment rules and which it hoped the DMA would solve…

Chris Cooke • 30 Jan 2024

Setlist Podcast: Apple Music’s “spatial audio bonus” favours major labels

public

Apple • 4 min read

Setlist Podcast: Apple Music’s “spatial audio bonus” favours major labels

Apple Music's spatial audio "bonus" is nothing of the sort for many independent labels and creators, grassroots venue closures in the UK, and more…

Andy Malt & Chris Cooke • 26 Jan 2024

Spotify uses EU Digital Market Act blog post to take potshots at Apple, announces superfan clubs

public

Spotify • 5 min read

Spotify uses EU Digital Market Act blog post to take potshots at Apple, announces superfan clubs

Spotify is fighting the good fight! Apple is a meanie! The DMA means we can spam everyone! In its latest blog post, Spotify heralds the DMA as a “huge opportunity” for Spotify. And maybe - just maybe - it offers “good things” for artists and labels too…

Sam Taylor • 25 Jan 2024

Spotify won’t be launching on Vision Pro and lots of people are surprised - but why would it?

public

Apple • 2 min read

Spotify won’t be launching on Vision Pro and lots of people are surprised - but why would it?

Some people are relieved that Spotify won’t be wasting money trying to force a square peg into a round hole with an early Visio Pro app - while other people are outraged that an audio company won’t be launching on a primarily visual platform. There’s no helping some folk.…

Chris Cooke • 22 Jan 2024

Setlist Podcast: The new certification for “respectful” AI companies

public

AI • 4 min read

Setlist Podcast: The new certification for “respectful” AI companies

Former Stability AI exec launches certification for AI companies that license copyrighted content before using it to train their models, redundancies at Pitchfork, and more…

Andy Malt & Chris Cooke • 19 Jan 2024