Spotify tries for a more visual approach to podcasts and news

Spotify is host not just to the latest hits but is home to things like audiobooks and podcasts, too. The streaming service is looking to expand this often-overlooked segment with a new feature they’re calling Spotlight. With this feature, podcasts will come with visual components like text, videos, and images to provide more context to what you’re listening to. The streaming service has partnered with the likes of BuzzFeed News, Cheddar, Crooked Media, Gimlet Media, Genius, The Minefield Girl, Refinery29, Lenny Letter, and Uninterrupted to help launch this new feature. Some of its own original series will also get the treatment, including Secret Genius, Spotify Singles, RISE, and their new Viva Latino podcast. Spotlight is first launching in the US and will supposedly roll out in additional markets “in the near future.”

Spotify hits 70 million paying subscribers

Spotify just hit a significant milestone. The music streaming service just hit 70 million subscribers and the company made the announcement on Twitter. Spotify last released its subscriber count back in July 2017 where they counted over 60 million users. The company hasn’t released the number of its total active users. Last we heard they were up to 140 million back in June 2017. When compared to its competitors, Apple Music reported back in September to have over 30 million subscribers. Tidal, on the other hand, hasn’t released its own subscription numbers.

Hello 70 million subscribers 👏

— Spotify (@Spotify) January 4, 2018

Source: Billboard

Spotify reportedly filed to go public confidentially

Looks like its latest legal trouble isn’t stopping Spotify from going public. New report claims Spotify has already filed confidentially to go public and did so with the SEC at the end of the year. It’s been rumoured for a while that the music streaming company wanted to debut for the first quarter of this year and this report just lines up with that. Spotify is said to be taking a more unusual route and would be a “direct listing” instead of being a traditional IPO. It’s said they’re exploring the possibility of listing on the stock market without the fundraising event.

With a direct listing this means everyone gets equal opportunity to buy shares, whether you’re an average investor or one lined to large institutions. This could mean less fees for Spotify and the possibility of higher revenue from selling shares in the long run, at least theoretically. But this could also mean increased volatility and smaller short term returns.

Source: Gizmodo

Major music publisher Wixen sues Spotify for US$1.6 billion

Wixen Music Publishing Inc., which licenses music from around 200 artists that include Tom Petty, The Beach Boys, Neil Young, and the Doors, has sued music streaming service Spotify for US$1.6 billion for allegedly using thousands of songs” without the correct license. According to the lawsuit, Spotify didn’t get a direct or compulsory license from them to let them reproduce and distribute the songs. As mentioned in the complaint, “Prior to launching in the United States, Spotify attempted to license sound recordings by working with record labels but, in a race to be first to market, made insufficient efforts to collect the required musical composition information and, in turn, failed in many cases to license the compositions embodied within each recording or comply with the requirements of Section 115 of the Copyright Act.”

Wixen also claims Spotify outsourced the work to a third-party licensing and royalty provider, the Harry Fox Agency, which was “ill-equipped to obtain all the necessary licenses.” Spotify fired back by filing with the court an assertion that Wixen didn’t give its clients enough time to opt out of being included in the case. The lawsuit comes as a response to a $43 million settlement Spotify had with songwriters and publishers back in May, where the streaming service allegedly failed to pay royalties for songs it makes available to users.

Source: Reuters + The Verge