Cassettes are back

Cassette tape sales are surging again due to nostalgic collectors.
Juliet Bennett Rylah • December 13, 2022

Hell hath no fury like angry Swifties

A debacle over Taylor Swift tickets has Ticketmaster under fire.
Olivia Deng • November 22, 2022

TikTok vs. record labels

TikTok is huge now, and music labels want a bigger piece of the pie.
Juliet Bennett Rylah • November 9, 2022

Taylor Swift’s record week

Her new album took the Billboard Hot 100 by storm.
Rob Litterst • November 4, 2022

Is Apple blocking Spotify’s growth plan?

A bad buying experience is pressing pause on the audio giant’s next chapter.
Jacob Cohen • October 27, 2022

TikTok’s grand plans to take over our ears

The company is laser-focused on music as its next frontier.
Jacob Cohen • August 4, 2022

Are virtual concerts here to stay?

Metaverse concerts are outliving the pandemic.
Juliet Bennett Rylah • August 1, 2022

The big business of Margaritaville

Jimmy Buffett’s beachy anthem has inspired a booming hospitality business.
Rob Litterst • July 18, 2022

Why Spotify bought a music trivia game

Spotify wants to incorporate more interactive experiences. It just bought Heardle, a music guessing game.
Juliet Bennett Rylah • July 13, 2022

Have boy bands peaked?

With BTS going on hiatus, there’s a chance the best days of the boy band genre are behind us.
Rob Litterst • July 7, 2022

Latin music is taking over the world

“Despacito” helped bring Latin music to a wider audience, and new artists are taking the genre to new heights.
Rob Litterst • June 27, 2022

Digits: Harry Styles, Formula 1 inflation, and more

Plus: Ridiculous personal finances, and the queen’s 70th anniversary.
Jacob Cohen • June 6, 2022

Digits: Coldplay tickets, hump day, and more

Plus: Redbox, 129.2k bitcoins, and $120 diapers.
Rob Litterst • May 16, 2022

What can The Beatles teach us about management?

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr can teach anyone teamwork and creativity.
Trung T. Phan • December 23, 2021

Spotify Wrapped is the streaming giant’s secret growth hack

Spotify Wrapped is more than just a fun feature for users. The year-in-review slideshow boosted app downloads by 21% in December 2020.
Rob Litterst • December 6, 2021

Spotify’s recent product moves hint at a budding super-app

Spotify’s recent product moves suggest the company is building a super-app that includes both audio and video features.
Rob Litterst • November 30, 2021

Meet the LinkedIn of the music industry

Jaxsta is an Australia-based startup looking to help artists, producers and songwriters get their due credit.
Trung T. Phan • August 16, 2021

Music startups have raised $350m+ to help artists go viral

Startups are giving artists the music-making and audience outreach tools to blow up on TikTok and Spotify.
Trung T. Phan • July 9, 2021

Songtradr raised $50m to help it become the leading B2B music marketplace

Songtradr matches artists with businesses looking to license music. After a flurry of acquisitions, it is valued at $300m+.
Juliet Bennett Rylah • June 23, 2021

Social music site Turntable.fm is back from the dead… and has an interesting rival

Turntable.fm shut down in 2014. Now it’s back after raising $7.5m but has to contend with another identical startup also called Turntable.
Kolby Hatch • May 28, 2021

Why would Square buy streaming music service Tidal?

Square’s acquisition of Tidal would supercharge its Cash App, among other benefits.
Trung T. Phan • December 30, 2020

The music rights boom, explained

What’s driving demand for music royalties: streaming services and investor demand for yield.
Trung T. Phan • December 9, 2020

Spotify’s genius marketing play

Spotify has turned its “year-in-review” Wrapped campaign into the ultimate marketing play.
Trung T. Phan • December 4, 2020

‘Streaming farms’ are Spotify’s newest credibility problem

Streaming giants might accidentally be shelling out ~$300m to bot listeners.
Michael Waters • October 7, 2020

A streaming concert platform finally lands a gig on the big stage

After 11 years in relative obscurity, Stageit found a huge audience.
Nick DeSantis • April 9, 2020

Spotify turns our emotions into data, and then profits off of them

Spotify uses emotional surveillance tactics to sell data, and brands are cashing in.
Wes Schlagenhauf • June 12, 2019

Sofar Sounds raises $25m — but will performers see any dough?

The startup Sofar Sounds, which hosts small concerts in people’s homes, raised $25m -- but the artists powering the platform often take home just...
Emily Kelley • May 23, 2019

SoundCloud adds mainstream distribution to its indie résumé

SoundCloud announced a new distribution feature to help artists more easily push their songs, while streamlining the process of monetization.
Wes Schlagenhauf • February 20, 2019

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