Rdio

Posted on December 1, 2014 by mrondra

Rdio logo. Photo courtesy of Rdio.

Contact Information [1]
Phone: (415) 763-7211
62 First Street, Suit 500
San Francisco, CA 94105
www.rdio.com

History

Rdio is an online music streaming service based in San Francisco [2]. It was founded in 2010 by Skype co-creator Janus Friis and began entirely as a subscription based music service [2]. While Rdio has been lauded for its design within the technology community, the company has experienced a slower take off the ground [2]. Rdio attempted to become a more holistic entertainment service through its launch of Vdio, a video service, in April of 2013 [2]. However the project was unsuccessful and discontinued just eight months later. Following a series of layoffs, Rdio announced on December 3rd of 2013 that Anthony Bay would be appointed as CEO [3]. Bay was previously global head of video at Amazon [3].

Key Executives [1]

Janus Friis, founder of Rdio. Photo courtesy of Forbes.com

Anthony Bay, Chief Executive Officer of Rdio. Photo courtesy of Patrick T. Fallon.

Carter Adamson, Chief Operating Officer. Photo courtesy of Lien Multimedia

Drew Larner, Vice Chairman and Strategic Advisor. Photo courtesy of fastcocreate.com

Scott Bagby, President of International. Photo courtesy of The Music Void.

Financials

On February 3rd of 2011 Rdio released it had raised $17.5 million worth of funds with a list of investors including Friis, Mangrove Capital Partners, and Skype [4]. Rdio’s biggest deal to date struck on September 16, 2013 when it announced a partnership with Cumulus Media, the second largest radio operator in the US [5]. In exchange for granting Cumulus an estimated 15% equity stake in Pulser Media, Rdio’s parent company, Cumulus will provide Rdio with programming and promotional services valued at $75 million over five years [6]. Although this deal was a trade and brought in no cash for either Rdio or Cumulus, it allowed Rdio the capability to offer a “fermium” subscription model [7]. Cumulus’ sale agents will sell commercial spots and share the ad revenue [7]. Rdio has yet to reveal its subscription numbers, however Spotifiy, its greatest rival, currently has 24 million users with 6 million paying [6].

Current News

Subscription Switch-Ups
Rdio proved it could adapt to the music streaming landscape after announcing it would offer a free subscription model for users through ad-supported stations this year [7]. It is essentially an Internet radio experience although Rdio still offers its paid subscription options, Web and Unlimited. This coincides with the hope that a freemium model will serve as a gateway for users to sign up for a paying subscription. Web allows full access to computers for $4.99 per month while Unlimited extends to all devices for $9.99 per month [8]. While Rdio has offered family plans since 2011, earlier this month the streaming service prices were lowered to $5 for each additional family member included on the plan (which levels its family plan price with Spotify) [8]. A family of two costs $14.99 per month with $5 for each additional person however if a family is bigger than five, users must pay the full monthly price of $9.99 for any additional members [8].

Taylor Swift Streaming Debacle

Taylor Swift’s music remains on Rdio despite her Spotify withdrawal. Photo courtesy of Rdio.

Taylor Swift made headlines last month when she pulled all her music from Spotify as she feels they do not fairly compensate music creators and is uncomfortable with the business model [9]. This has brought about questions for the future of music streaming with regard to whether other big name artists will follow suit in pulling their music. Bay has been speaking out in support of Swift and all artist’s choice in how their music is distributed [10]. Due to Swift’s fall out with Spotify, Rdio has been drawing attention to the fact that users still have access to her full catalog of music (with the exception of her most recent album, 1989) through both Rdio’s ad-supported Internet radio and paid subscriptions [10]. Additionally, Rdio currently has 30 million tracks in its library–10 million more than Spotify [11].

Toronto Film Festival Partnership [12]

Ellie Goulding during a Rdio sponsored performance. Photo courtesy of ET Canada.

This past September Rdio was the official music partner for the Toronto International Film Festival. Rdio had a “music hub” at the event with giveaways, listening stations, as well as live music. In fact, Rdio sponsored a free Ellie Goulding concert at Massey Hall. Attendees just needed to visit the “Rdio House” to receive tickets where they could browse through Rdio products and plug into listening stations to listen and browse through Rdio’s library of music. Bay explained the partnership with Toronto was a marketing opportunity to strengthen their presence in Canada.

Roku Launches Rdio App [13]
In August of 2014 Rdio announced plans to launch a new app on Roku. Rdio has been investing heavily in promotion, such as having a Rdio app featured on Roku’s television remote controls. With this, Rdio joins the ranks of just three other services (Netflix, Amazon, Vudu) who have been allotted a remote control button. As a result of this deal, Rdio can now be accessed through three avenues of television: Roku, Chromecast, and Apple TV.

Future Plans

Audio Upgrade [14]
On October 16th Rdio announced its plans to upgrade their entire music catalog to AAC audio files, which is a higher sound quality than MP3. This ushers in a new period for Rdio where users can choose which sound quality they prefer listening to on all devices. Paying users even have the ability to decide which sound quality they want for downloaded songs during offline listening. Rdio also expects that changing from MP3 streaming to 64 AAC streaming could reduce data consumption by a third. This is also welcome news for musicians such as Grateful Dead band member Bob Weir, who worries that poor audio quality during streaming impedes upon the listening experience . Therefore Weir has granted Rdio an exclusive selection of tracks from TRI Studios to support the company’s move in raising the bar of audio quality.

Global Expansion

Rdio acquisition of 9 new territories brings its reach to 60 countries

Rdio acquisition of 9 new territories brings its total reach to 60 countries. Photo courtesy of Rdio.

Rdio announced in May of 2014 that it would be available in nine additional countries throughout Europe and Asia, bringing its total reach to 60 countries [15]. There are five Mediterranean and Eastern European countries that Rdio will now be able to reach totaling 25 million people in Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Slovakia, and Slovenia [15]. Asia has remained a relatively untapped market for Rdio although its services have been available in Malaysia and Hong Kong for just over a year [15]. 400 million people reside in the Asian countries Rdio is currently working toward expanding–Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore [15]. While all five of the European territories have been classified as “high income”, Singapore remains the only Asian country that is also categorized within this higher income bracket. In an effort to further push its international reach, this March Rdio acquired Indian streaming service Dhingana with plans to relaunch it later this year [15]. At the time of the purchase, Dhingana had 9 million monthly active users [16]. It was also projected that India will become the largest purchaser of smartphones after China in 2014, an estimated 92% of which will be new users [16]. These are promising statistics considering over 75% of Dhingana users access the streaming service through their mobile devices [15].

Sources

[1] Company Overview of Rdio, Inc. investing.businessweek.com Retrieved: 28 Nov 2014

[2] CEO: Rdio’s problem? Not enough people use Rdio cnet.com Retrieved: 24 Nov 2014

[3] Rdio Names Former Amazon Exec Anthony Bay Its New CEO techcrunch.com Retrieved: 24 Nov 2014

[4] Rdio secures USD 17.5 mln in financing round telecompaper.com Retrieved: 13 Nov 2014

[5] Internet Radio Business with Free Listening Update billboard.com Retrieved: 24 Nov 2014

[6] Music Service Rdio in Deal With Cumulus nytimes.com Retrieved: 13 Nov 2014

[7] Rdio to Expand Its Offerings as Cumulus Partnership Heats Up This Summer billboard.com Retrieved: 13 Nov 2014

[8] Rdio Follows Spotify, Drops Family Plan Pricing pcmag.com Retrieved: 28 Nov 2014

[9] Here’s Why Taylor Swift Pulled Her Music From Spotify time.com Retrieved: 9 Nov 2014

[10] Rdio on Taylor Swift’s Spotify block: “This is art. It’s the artist’s choice” theguardian.com Retrieved: 13 Nov 2014

[11] Spotify and Rdio square off calgaryherald.com Retrieved: 30 Nov 2014

[12] Rdio Partner With Toronto Film Festival billboard.com Retrieved: 28 Oct 2014

[13] Rdio is getting ready to launch a completely revamped Roku app gigaom.com Retrieved: 24 Nov 2014

[14] Rdio upgrades the audio quality of its entire music library venturebeat.com Retreived: 28 Nov 2014

[15] Rdio Now Playing In Nine More European & Asian Countries billboard.com Retrieved: 15 Oct 2014

[16] Smartphone explosion in 2014 will see ownership in India pass US theguardian.com Retrieved: 15 Oct 2014

Sirius XM Radio

Posted on December 1, 2014 by htfergus

by Andrew Spalter

Courtesy of Consumer Affairs [1]

Seriously, what is Sirius XM [2]?

Sirius XM is a commercial-free listening service that is always in your grasp. Whether it be by smartphone, tablet, computer, home, or even car, you can always listen to Sirius XM radio within Wifi or Cellular range. The channels consist of every genre, play-by-play sports, news and talk, and the biggest/hottest entertainment, 24/7.

Sirius XM has over 175+ channels that range from every genre of music to some of the most listened to entertainment channels in the world, including the wildcard, Howard Stern [3]. With over 26 million subscribers [4] Sirius is one of the largest most subscribed to Music Streaming/Radio service.

sirius_xm_channel_lineup_starting_may_4_2011

Courtesy of Maple Crest for Lincoln Union [5]

Who is in Charge [6] Here?

James E. Meyer (CEO) -Courtesy of SBU.edu [7]

MV5BODkyOTYxMjA1N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMTI0OTIz._V1_SY317_CR9,0,214,317_AL_

Scott Greenstein (President & Chief Content Officer) -Courtesy of IMBD.com [8]

Dara Altman (Left) (Executive VP & Chief Administrative Officer) -Courtesy of New York Social Diary [9]

Resources-16149-DonnellyP_2011_20141011115535

Patrick L. Donnelly (Executive VP & General Counsel) -Courtesy of Pli.edu [10]

Sirius XM’s Financials [11]

Closing the previous weekend, Sirius XM (SIRI) [12] is trading at $3.63. Since Sirius XM is a publicly traded company, their total company revenue has sky rocketed the past few years. Going from a $3 Billion revenue to closing at a $3.8 Billion revenue last year. Sirius XM is the largest radio broadcaster [4] and their revenue stream comes from their 26.7 million subscribers. A large amount of their 26.7 million subscribers comes from their vast array of listening devices that their service can be installed on. Everything from a smartphone to a car has the ability to obtain Sirius XM. Along with their multiple ways to be listened to, they have a huge range of genres and entertainment stations including, Howard Stern, Oprah, Pink Floyd, Frank Sinatra, and Tiesto.

-Courtesy of Google Search [13]

Competitors? Who? [14]

Who can compete with a company this large and with fans this loyal and committed into yearly contracts? Not many in fact. Companies such as Pandora [15], or Apple/iTunes [16] (radio), Spotify (Radio) [17], etc., are the closest competitors to Sirius XM. The reason that these particular apps/companies are competitors is due to the fact that you can pay for their radio service. These companies that are competitors to that of Sirius XM are extremely different due to the fact that you cannot instal those streaming services in your car [18] or home. Although, now with new technology you are able to store the application version of these companies into your car, home, phone, and tablet. They are slowly approaching that of the power of Sirius XM, but slowly.

History of Sirius XM

Before Sirius XM was Sirius XM there was a Sirius Radio and a XM Radio, separately. In July of 2008 Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio announced that they had completed their merger [19].

Courtesy of Toplessactions.com [20]

Since then the companies have been called Sirius XM radio and instead of mainly cars only offering Sirius, or XM radio, they offer Sirius XM radio. Before the huge merge, in 2000 the FCC allowed satellite radio to be deployed, thus the launch of three satellites [21] into orbit from Kazakhstan in July. Soon after that Sirius secured partnerships with Chrysler, Ford, and BMW and in 2002 they launched the initial phase of its service in the cities of Denver, Houston, Phoenix, and Jackson, MS [22] in February of 2002, then in July Sirius spread nationwide.

Where can YOU find Sirius XM?

With Sirius covering of 3,717,792 [23] square miles of coast to coast coverage, and with a reach of 200 miles off shore, Sirius XM goes where you go. The satellite radio service can be found in vehicles built by GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Hyundai, Honda, Nissan, Audi, and Volkswagen [24].

Courtesy of Siriusxm.com [25]

Not only can you find the satellite radio in 11 car companies but you can listen to the service in your car, home, boat, plane, business, or even on the go from your Smartphone, Tablet, and Computer. Other places that are capable of playing from Sirius XM are Android devices, the Kindle Fire, Blu-ray & Media Players, Home Audio, Custom Audio, and Smart TV’s. [26]

What’s Happening at Sirius XM, What Can You Expect?

Recently you may have heard that Sirius XM and their competitor Pandora have been slammed with a series of lawsuits over older recordings. The reason beyond these lawsuits is due to the fact that neither company pays record labels or artists for songs that were recorded before the year 1972. This was due to the copyright protection that was first applied to recordings via Federal copyright protection [27].

Courtesy of Bloggless.com [28]

Overall both companies lost their lawsuits but this is a big awakening and a step forward for music subscription via satellite. When one door closes another one opens and due to these lawsuits Sirius XM will be paying artists and labels appropriately, creating lasting business relationships.

Upcoming News/Numbers

Contrary to popular belief, Sirius XM was not always so profitable. Only a few months after their merger in 2008, Sirius was on the cusp of declaring bankruptcy but with the help of a $530 million loan from Liberty Media in 2009, Mel Karmazin was able to negotiate a deal for 40% equity stake in Sirius XM. Then in their fourth quarter of 2009, Sirius XM reported a profit of income of a little over $14 million [29], since then it has all been up hill. They even released a statement via their companies investor site stating, “We expect to double factory installed vehicles to over 100 million by 2018 and plan to offer our unique content and valuable entertainment to even more customers in the future.” (Jim Meyer, President, Sirius XM) [30] In 2012 this statement was released and during that time, Sirius XM was in over 50 million cars. Their goal is coming into fruition with adding nearly half a million subscribers per quarter. Maybe it won’t hit 100-million vehicles, but they are constantly raising the bar higher and higher. The company Sirius XM has made a complete turned a complete 180 from being nearly bankrupt to a company that substantially increases profit each quarter.

Sources:

1. Sirius XM Logo, Consumeraffairs.com, RT: 11/20/2014

2. What is Sirius XM?, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

3. Howard Stern Info, Siriusxm.com/howard100, RT: 11/20/2014

4. Subscriber Info, Siriusxm.com/corporate, RT: 11/20/2014

5. Channel Listings, Maplecrestfordlincolnunion.com, RT: 11/21/2014

6. Executives, Siriusxm.com/bios, RT: 11/20/2014

7. James E. Meyer, Sbu.edu, RT: 11/20/2104

8. Scott Greenstien, Imdb.com, RT: 11/21/2014

9. Dara Altman, Newyorksocialdiary.com, RT: 11/21/2014

10. Patrick L. Donnelly, Pli.edu, RT: 11/21/2014

11. Sirius XM Financials, Investor.siriusxm.com, RT: 11/21/2014

12. Sirius XM Stock, Finance.yahoo.com, RT: 11/21/2014

13. Sirius XM Stock Google, Google.com, RT: 11/21/2014

14. Competitors, Fool.com, RT: 11/21/2014

15. Pandora Info, Pandora.com, RT: 11/21/2014

16. Apple Info, Apple.com, RT: 11/21/2014

17. Spotify Info, Support.spotify.com, RT: 11/22/2014

18. Apple In Car Display, Apple.com, RT: 11/22/2014

19. Merger Info, Investor.siriusxm.com, RT: 11/22/2014

20. Sirius Satellite & XM Picture, Topclassactions.com, RT: 11/22/2014

21. Satellite Info, Archive.fortune.com, RT: 11/22/2014

22. Where Sirius Started, Radiomagonline.com, RT: 11/22/2014

23. Sirius Mileage Coverage, Siriusxm.com/whatissiriusxm, RT: 11/22/2014

24. List of Vehicles Sirius is in, Siriusxm.com/internetradio, RT: 11/22/2014

25. Image of Vehicle List, Nytimes.com, RT: 11/22/2014

26. List of Devices, Siriusxm.com/internetradio, RT: 11/22/2014

27. Lawsuit, Nytimes.com, RT: 11/22/2014

28. Copyright Image, Bloggless.com, RT: 11/22/2014

29. Revenue, Nytimes.com, RT: 11/22/2014

30. Jim Meyer Quote, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/22/2014

Spotify

Posted on October 14, 2014 by hlu04

by Helen Lu

[1] Spotify’s Logo

KEY EXECUTIVES

[2] Spotify Founders- Martin Lorentzon & Daniel Ek

[3] Jeff Levick- Chief Business Officer

[4] Steve Savoca- Head of Content

[5] Ken Parks- Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA

SPOTIFY OVERVIEW

[6] Spotify’s sleek interface layout for their multi-platform service.

Spotify is a privately-owned, digital music streaming service that provides on-demand access to tracks. It is available on multiple platforms, including computers, mobile, tablets, and home entertainment systems. Originally founded in Sweden in 2006, Spotify launched in the United States in 2011; it is now available in 58 markets. [7]

Spotify offers listeners the free model, “made possible by ads,” and the premium model for $9.99 monthly, which is ad-free, high-quality, and available offline. [8] With over 20 million songs, over 20,000 tracks added daily, and over 1.5 billion playlists, Spotify has accumulated 10 million active users and a total of 40 million active users. [9]

COMPETITORS

Rdio, Pandora, Rhapsody, Google Play Music, Beats, iTunes Radio, Music Unlimited, and Xbox Music are worthy contenders in this competitive space. Product reviews assess service quality with major factors include song catalog, user interface, support, and features. [10] Each racing for a market share, these top players in the market are making strategic ploys to stay afloat.

On November 12th, Youtube announced their own streaming service, Youtube Music Key for $9.99. It will be interesting to see how it will affect the music industry when it fully hits the market in 2015. [11]

[12] Spotify and The Echo Nest collaboration

In early March 2014, Spotify acquired The Echo Nest, a big data company to enhance the music discovery feature, forcing Rdio, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, and Vevo to look elsewhere for a discovery algorithm. [13]

THE SPOTIFY STRATEGY

Spotify has successfully targeted college students, establishing a solid audience base and brand loyalty. With personal information confirming their status, Spotify offers students Spotify Premium for only $4.99. [13]

[13] Spotify engages their target audience: college students and 18-24 year-olds.

COLLEGE CASE STUDY

Spotify’s tenacious grasp on college students’ listening is reflected in their recently released research report of the Top 40 Musical Schools in America. The findings are a close study of the musical norms in the schools.

[14] Detailed graphs document music-genre distribution and listening spikes, showing not only what students listen to but also how they listen.

The data that Spotify is able to collect can be utilized for targeted advertising and marketing campaigns today. Moreover, with such a large following of the developing youth, Spotify is not only able to make significant advancements with the invaluable information about today, but accurate inferences about these soon-to-be adults tomorrow. [13]

#THATSONGWHEN

Spotify launched their #thatsongwhen campaign with advertising agencies Ogilvy & Mather and David to further engage their millennial base. #Thatsongwhen allows users to tie their emotional experiences to their favorite songs, to create, and to tell stories. The customization, personalization, and interactivity of a musical experience attracts and retains a young crowd. [15]

The stories are media clips that are charged with emotion, and of course, music. Don’t Go Chasing Girls is about a man’s early memory of his childhood crush that is easily triggered with TLC’s hit song, Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls. Stories and songs are updated and posted on a live feed.

AD TAKEOVER

Spotify is introducing two new advertising options for eager advertisers:

1. The dubbed Video Takeover, only available on desktops, allows brands to takeover the screen during 15-30 second advertising breaks.

2.The dubbed Sponsor Sessions forces mobile users to view a 15-30 second video on their mobile devices in order to proceed onto 30 minutes of uninterrupted streaming. [16]

McDonald’s, Universal Pictures, and Ford are just some of the major sponsors that have opted into this advertising innovation. [17]

[18] McDonald’s format and utilization of Spotify’s advertising product – Video Takeover.

SPOTIFY PARTNERSHIPS

VODAFONE

Everything is going mobile, and music is no exception. This rapid trend of playing and streaming music from a smartphone is particularly prevalent in Australia. Due to these recent findings, Vodafone Australia has partnered with Spotify to bundle in Spotify Premium for free with their monthly plan. A Spotify Premium subscription generally costs $11.99 Australian dollars each month. The exclusive offers with Spotify vary, and are known as the Red Plans. [19]

[20] Research shows that 1.5 million Australians stream music from their mobile devices.

Vodafone believes that Spotify Premium’s features complement and maximize the use of their faster network speeds, value plans, and expanding 4G network. Both the companies and the listeners are benefitting from this collaboration as the marriage of these digital services follow consumer trends and meets consumer needs. [21]

CARPLAY

Apple Carplay is an a new feature configured in select 2014 vehicles. Spotify is on board for this innovative ride as it has updated and fixed some bugs for this new multimedia system. [22] The music player allows users to access their Spotify accounts using a compatible iPhone. [23] With a built-in display to play music, Carplay is an exclusive and luxurious market; the Ferrari FF is one of the few select cars with Carplay. Several automobile manufacturers, however, are making an effort to include and support this system in the future. [24]

[24] Spotify collaborates with Apple Carplay to incorporate music services in the latest car models.

UBER

Uber is a hip taxi service, and Spotify is a hip streaming service. These two successful startups partner up for a new listening experience. Passengers can link their custom playlists to Uber vehicles for a fun ride. Although this new feature has started off in ten cities, it makes a big splash in the car service industry and the music industry. This partnership allows both companies to co-promote their respective brands and to change with the times. The service is for Spotify Premium account holders. [25]

[26] Spotify and Uber modernize the standard cab-ride as they join forces to create a new listening experience.

SPOTIFY CONTROVERSY

Taylor Swift pulled her entire catalogue from Spotify’s music database as she believes that it does not fairly compensate artists. [27] As a popular musician, her bold move and her public statements rejecting the streaming business model has made headlines for weeks. Fans and critics are responding to her decision with distaste as both parties point out that there are other viable services, such as Youtube and SoundCloud, to play her music. [28] While she recently accepted the first-ever Dick Clark Award for Excellence at the 2014 American Music Awards Ceremony, she added another snide comment jabbing at Spotify and streaming services again. [29] Jason Aldean has followed Swift’s footsteps, and pulled his new album Old Boots, New Dirt from Spotify. [30]

Spotify executive, Ek, combats this frenzy and reports that artists that use Spotify to promote their music actually sell more, and that Spotify has returned over $2 billion to music industry today. Top artists like Swift are set to project over $6 million in revenue a year. [31] Despite the financial debate and moral controversy, the Spotify team still hopes for Swift to change her mind. [32]

[33] Taylor Swift is a firm believer in the value of music, and that it should not be free. Swift has pulled her music catalogue from Spotify.

It is unlikely that many artists will join Swift’s banning of the digital streaming business, as it is the digital age. Reports confirm that streaming services grew 28% in the first half of 2014. [26] Listeners’ habits changed; artists can sink, but digital streaming services will swim.

SPOTIFY: LOOKING AHEAD

Despite the recent controversies, Spotify has achieved success with their recent collaborations; the student discount and the partnership with Vodafone have led Spotify subscriptions to increase by 42%. [28] Spotify Family Plan has launched with popular demand and proven financial success with previous discount deals. The plan allows subscribers to add four family members to their account for half the price. [34]

Spotify’s name is globally recognized, and Spotify’s services are well integrated into the new digital age. Its key strategies and partnerships keep it on the bleeding edge of the music industry.

Sources

1. Spotify’s Logo, Spotifypress.com, RT:11.29.2014

2. Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, RT: 11.29.2014

3. Jeff Levick, RT: 11.29.2014

4. Steve Savoca, Spotifypress.com, RT:11.29.2014

5. Ken Parks, Evolver.fm, RT: 11.29.2014

6. Spotify Interface Layout, RT: 11.29.2014

7. Spotify Business Information, investing.businessweek.com, RT: 11.29.2014

8. Spotify Official Website, spotify.com/us, RT: 11.29.2014

9. Spotify Press Information, spotify.com/information, RT: 11.29.2014

10. “Spotify and competitors play to their musical strengths”, usatoday.com, RT: 11.29.2014

11. “YouTube Launching Spotify-Style Paid Music Service”, TIME, RT: 11.29.2014

12. Spotify and The Echo Nest Collaboration, RT: 11.29.2014

13. “Will Spotify’s hat trick help it pull ahead of competition?”, Fortune, RT: 11.29.2014

14. How Students Listen, spotify.com, RT: 11.29.2014

15. “Spotify Ties Music to Personal Stories in Its New Ads”, adweek.com, RT: 11.29.2014

16. “Spotify Unveils Video Takeover Ad Product for Free Users”, telecompaper.com, RT: 11.29.2014

17. “Spotify is bringing video ‘takeover ads’ to its free service”, theverge.com, RT: 11.29.2014

18. Spotify Video Takeover Format, spotify.com, RT: 11.29.2014

19. “Vodafone offers postpaid customers free Spotify Premium access”, CNET, RT: 11.29.2014

20. “Spotify partners with Vodafone Australia for down under listeners”, rainnews.com, RT: 11.29.2014

21. “Vodafone Australia and Spotify join forces!”, vodafone.com, RT: 11.29.2014

22. “Spotify adds support for Apple’s CarPlay in update to iOS app”, talkingnewmedia.com, RT: 11.29.2014

23. “Spotify Adds CarPlay Support in Latest iOS Update”, macrumors.com, RT: 11.29.2014

24. “Apple CarPlay comes to Pioneer stereos as Spotify adds support”, engadget.com, RT: 11.29.2014

25. “Tuneup, redefined: You can now Spotify your Uber ride”, CNET, RT: 11.29.2014

26. Uber and Spotify Partnership, Uber.com, RT: 11.29.2014

27. “Taylor Swift is right about music, wrong about Spotify, says CEO Ek”, CNET, RT: 11.29.2014

28. “Why Taylor Swift Will Lose Her Battle With Spotify”, TIME, RT: 11.29.2014

29. “AMAs: Taylor Swift Continues Anti-Streaming-Service Stance in Dick Clark Award Speech”, hollywoodreporter.com, RT: 11.29.2014

30. “Jason Aldean Agrees with Taylor Swift, WIll Remove New Album From Spotify”, musictimes.com, RT: 11.29.2014

31. “$2 Billion and Counting”, spotify.com, RT: 11.29.2014

32. “Here’s Why Taylor Swift Pulled Her Music From Spotify”, TIME, RT: 11.29.2014

33. “Taylor Swift and the Whole Spotify Thing”, uloop.com, RT: 11.29.2014

34. “Spotify launching family plan with cheaper subscriptions for families”, theguardian.com, RT: 11.29.2014

Sirius XM Radio

Posted on October 5, 2014 by areeves

by Allie Reeves

[1] SiriusXM Logo

The Sirius Story:

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is a satellite radio service that offers commercial-free streaming on over 175 channels in the United States and Canada. These channels are comprised of every type of radio – music, news, sports, talk, and more [2]. It is currently the largest radio broadcaster and caters to about 26.7 million subscribers [3].

[30] SiriusXM Programming

Currently, the most popular way for subscribers to enjoy SiriusXM Radio is in the comfort of their cars. SiriusXM has arrangements with over forty automakers for installation of their services directly into the vehicle [3]. However, as of recent, SiriusXM has become available to stream directly online in your home or office, as well as an app that can be accessed on Smartphones and Tablets.

SiriusXM currently offers three different packages: Sirius Select, Sirius All Access, and Sirius Mostly Music. The packages can be bought on a monthly or annual basis and range in price from $9.99 to $199 [4].

[4] Most Popular Packages for SiriusXM Customers

The Sirius Team:

[6] Scott Greenstein, President & Chief Content Officer

[5] James E. Meyer, CEO

[7] Patrick L. Donnelly, Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Finances:

[31] SiriusXM finances as of December 1, 2014

SiriusXM recently released their 2014 Third Quarter Results, which revealed a 10% increase in revenue since this time last year, putting the company at a record high of $1.1 billion. This is higher than analysts originally anticipated for the company, as they put the company’s assumed revenue at $1.04 billion. The company also increased its subscriber count by 1.2 million [8].

Interest in shares of SiriusXM increased rapidly during the month of November. As of November 14^th, there has been an increase of 2.8% since October 31^st up to 247, 283,696. The company is now up to a $3.75 price on their stock [32].

Competitors:

[11] Apple Inc. Logo

SiriusXM’s current competitors are Apple and iHeartMedia, as well as regular terrestrial radio. Pandora and Spotify have also been named as competitors, but in a recent interview with James Meyer, CEO of SiriusXM, the two services were ruled out.

[12] iHeartMedia Logo

Meyer explained these companies are streaming services, which he doesn’t view as competition, but as its own distinct technology. Meyer also stated that out of them all, terrestrial radio is their primary competition, with 220 million people that use it everyday [9].

However, with Apple’s new CarPlay, that might not be the case for much longer. CarPlay gives drivers access to all of their music, podcasts, and audiobooks with the touch of a button, and major auto companies like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Ferrari are already on board. The venture is still in its early stages, but since SiriusXM is primarily used by vehicle subscribers, CarPlay could end up being a serious competitor [10].

[13] Apple CarPlay

The Sirius Edge:

What sets SiriusXM apart from its competitors at Apple, and iHeartMedia is the company’s original content that can only be accessed through subscriptions to SiriusXM.

[15] The Howard Stern Show, one of the most popular talk shows on SiriusXM

Some of the most popular original content shows include The Howard Stern Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and NFL Radio, although many more are available [3]. This original content helps keep subscribers tuning in, and keeps SiriusXM’s churn rate at an impressive 1.9%. It also helps the company keep their acquisition costs low, which has recently become problematic for companies like Pandora [14].

[17] SiriusXM Town Hall Event in the Fishbowl

SiriusXM is also known for their “Town Hall” Series. These intimate gatherings take place in the SiriusXM fishbowl, a private listening studio, where entertainers sit down with a live studio audience comprised of about 30 SiriusXM subscribers who have won an invitation to the event [16].

[19] Taylor Swift at a Town Hall Event for SiriusXM

Recently, SiriusXM was able to snag Taylor Swift for a Town Hall Event. Subscribers had the chance to ask her questions and listen to songs off of her newest album, 1989. This event comes after Swift’s recent decision to pull her music off of Spotify, giving even more leverage to SiriusXM [18].

The Today Show for SiriusXM:

This past year, SiriusXM announced a major deal with NBC, in which simulcasts of the hit NBC show, The Today Show, would be broadcasted on the satellite radio service. The format of bringing a morning show to radio has been done before, unsuccessfully. However, what makes this different is that SiriusXM will not be airing segments of the popular morning show, they will be airing the program identically as it airs on television [20].

[24] The Today Show

This move was a strategic boost for both companies. The show airs during popular morning drive time, when radio listening is at its highest. The deal will allow NBC to access SiriusXM’s 26 million listeners, and SiriusXM hopes to draw in more subscribers that are already fans of the show.

[21]

Suing Sirius:

SiriusXM has come under fire in the past year over use of music recorded before 1972. More recently, individual bands have started going after the company, claiming that they deserve compensation. Although songs recorded before February 15^th, 1972 are not covered by federal copyright law, some artists and labels have been seeking protection under individual state laws – and the courts have been agreeing. As of November 17^th, the 1960s rock band, The Turtles, has had two victories against the satellite radio company [22].

[25] Rock Band The Turtles in the 1960s

The court ruled that music recorded before 1972 still has a public performance right and that digital services cannot use it without permission or compensation. SiriusXM has requested to dismiss the lawsuit, but it has been rejected. The judge ruled that SiriusXM has until December 5^th to show any factual issues that would be cause for a trial. If none are found, she will rule in favor of the band, and “assess damages” [23].

What’s Next:

[28] Joel Osteen

SiriusXM recently announced that Golf Hall of Fame member Sir Nick Faldo will receive his own show, where he will talk golf and get to know golf enthusiasts, while they get a chance to know him [26]. SiriusXM also launched a new pop channel, Venus, as well as adding some of their popular internet only channels like Y2Kountry and Utopia to their satellite lineup. Joel Osteen Radio will also be coming to SiriusXM, a station rooted in the power of “positive thinking with messages of inspiration” [27].

[33] Holiday music channels at SiriusXM

SiriusXM is currently celebrating the sounds of the holiday season with the addition of two new Holiday Music channels, Holly and Holiday Traditions. They plan to release more within the upcoming month [33].

Also effective January 2015, there will be an increase of 1.4 percentage points in the U.S. Music Royalty Fee applied to most SiriusXM audio packages, in order to fund royalty payments to the music industry [29].

Sources

1. SiriusXM’s Logo 2014, Fbnstatic.com, RT: 11/20/2014

2. What is SiriusXM?, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

3. Corporate Overview, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

4. Our Most Popular Packages, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

5. Chief Executive Officer, SiriusXM, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

6. President & Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

7. Executive Vice President and General Counsel, SiriusXM, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

8. “SiriusXM Reports Third Quarter 2014 Results”, Investor.siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

9. “Sirius XM CEO: I Don’t See Spotify As A Direct Competitor”, Benzinga.com, RT: 11/22/2014

10. “Is Apple’s New Toy a Sirius XM or Pandora Killer?”, Fool.com, RT: 11/22/2014

11. Apple Inc. Logo, Worldofdtcmarketing.com, RT: 11/22/2014

12. iHeartMedia Logo, Billboard, RT: 11/24/2014

13. Apple Car Play, Uncrate.com, RT: 11/24/2014

14. “Sirius XM’s Main Edge Over Competitors”, Fool.com, RT: 11/28/2014

15. The Howard Stern Show, Tuaw.com, RT: 11/22/2014

16. SiriusXM Town Hall, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

17. SiriusXM Fishbowl Event, Howstuffworks.com, RT: 11/28/2014

18. “Taylor Swift’s Exclusive 1989 “Town Hall” to Air Live on SiriusXM”, Investor.siriusxm.com, RT: 11/24/2014

19. Taylor Swift for SiriusXM, SiriusXM Blog, RT: 11/22/2014

20. “Starting in June, ‘Today’ Will Simulcast on SiriusXM”, New York Times, RT: 11/28/2014

21. Today Show Radio on SiriusXM, YouTube, RT: 11/28/2014

22. “Rock band wins again in copyright battle against Sirius XM”, The Times of India, RT: 11/28/2014

23. “New York Court Delivers Third Strike Against Sirius XM on Pre-1972 Sound Recordings”, Sound Exchange, RT: 11/28/2014

24. Today Show Logo, Momsdemandaction.org, RT: 11/28/2014

25. The Turtles, Allmusic.com, RT: 11/28/2014

26. “Sir Nick Faldo to Host SiriusXM Show”, Techsonian.com, RT: 11/28/2014

27. New Channels and Lineup Changes, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

28. Joel Osteen, Lightsource.com, RT: 11/28/2014

29. “U.S. Music Royalty Fee Effective January 5, 2015”, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/28/2014

30. SiriusXM Programming, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

31. SiriusXM Financials, Google, RT: 12/1/2014

32. SiriusXM Stock Information, Watchlistnews.com, RT: 12/1/2014

33. Holiday Music at SiriusXM, Siriusxm.com, RT: 12/1/2014

CBS Radio

Posted on October 5, 2014 by chport

by Carly Port

[a] Photo Courtesy of www.billboard.com; CBS Radio Logo

By Carly Port

CONTACT INFORMATION [1]

1271 Avenue of the Americas FL 44

New York, NY 10020

(212) 649 – 9600

www.cbsradio.com

ABOUT CBS RADIO

CBS Radio operates as a division of Columbia Broadcasting System and as one of the leading providers of original media content across an array of platforms. CBS Radio delivers material to an audience of over 72 million and owns and operates 126 radio stations in 27 markets [2].

CBS made its debut network broadcast on September 18, 1927 at 3 p.m. Sixteen stations from Providence to St. Louis were present that Sunday. In January 1941, CBS launched Latin American stations in eighteen countries [3]. In 1974, CBS Radio reignited the radio drama craze with its introduction of CBS Radio Mystery Theater [3]. In November 1995, CBS was bought out by Westinghouse Broadcasting [4]. CBS Radio became a part of Infinity Broadcasting in June of 1996. In September of 1999, reports announced that Viacom would acquire CBS Corporation for nearly 37 billion dollars [5]. Finally, in 2005, Infinity Broadcasting rebranded itself as the new and current CBS Radio [6].

Key Executives

[b] Photo Courtesy of www.cbsradio.com; CBS Radio President & CEO Dan Mason [7] 2008 Most Powerful Person in Radio

[c] CBS Local Media Chief Operating Officer Anton Guitano

[c] Photo Courtesy of www.cbsradio.com; CBS Local Media Chief Operating Officer Anton Guitano

[d] Photo Courtesy of www.cbsradio.com; CBS Radio Executive Vice President, Operations New York Market Manager Scott Herman

[e] Photo Courtesy of www.cbsradio.com; CBS Radio President of Sales Michael Weiss

[f] Photo Courtesy of www.cbsradio.com; CBS Logal Digital Media President Ezra Kucharz

In September, CBS Corporation added John Vilade as Vice President of National Digital Sales for CBS Local Media. In this position, from a strictly radio focus, Vilade will work directly with Michael Weiss to expand opportunities and conveniences for interested advertisers and expedite revenue expansion [8].

Additional Executive Biographies

TOP COMPETITORS

CBS Radio’s top competitors in the market are Iheartcommunications and Radio One [9].

INSIDE CBS RADIO {PLATFORMS}

Broadcast

CBS Radio provides industry-leading, play-by-play sports content to stations nationwide. CBS Radio Broadcast caters to over two dozen fan-favorite franchises of the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB all over the board featuring the Boston Celtics, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Red Wings, New England Patriots, New York Giants and the New York Yankees. CBS Radio boasts beloved personalities as a key factor of its broadcast success such as Carson Daly, Ryan Cameron, Mike Francesa and Kevin and Bean to name a few [10].

Local Digital

CBS Local Digital Media accumulates well-known, dependable media brands providing consumers with a unique, “local” experience. This multimedia venture combines pertinent characteristics of CBS’s radio and television departments to create over twenty major market doorways into exposure of news, weather, traffic, sports and entertainment, industry-leading music and lifestyle sites. Portals into Radio.com offer live and on-demand visual and audio content and Eventful presents a terminal for event discovery. The on-the-go aspect of CBS Local Digital Media keeps nearly 50 million consumers content and happy on a monthly basis [11].

Mobile

CBS Radio has made listening to consumers’ favorite radio stations easier than ever. With CBS Radio’s new mobile approach, audiences can access their favorite sports outlets, latest-breaking news sources and most diversified music programs in the most portable manner yet, available as apps on an eclectic assortment of devices. Not only are 150 radio stations now available in mobile form, but also news clips and video interviews with the hottest athletes and artist can now be viewed on the majority of user-owned devices [12].

CBS Sports Radio

Only two years old, CBS Sports Radio is available in all of the Top 10 markets nationwide. A hybrid of CBS Radio and CBS Sports, CBS Sports Radio covers a vast range of sports and features experienced, renowned broadcasters such as Jim Rome, Tiki Barber, Doug Gottlieb and Scott Ferrall among many others [13].

FINANCIALS

[g] Photo Courtesy of www.finance.yahoo.com; CBS Corporation Stock Market Summary at the Close of 12/1/2014

At the end of the day on December 1, 2014, CBS Corporation was down 0.41% at $54.47 a share. The year change was down 7.63% and was lowest in October, at $48.91 a share. The highest stock price this year was in March at $67.55 a share [14].

CBS Corporation successfully ended its third quarter with revenues of $3.37 billion, a 2% increase from last year’s third quarter revenues of $3.30 billion. Recent successes can be attributed to CBS’s Television Networks, specifically Thursday Night Football. Net earnings decreased from last year’s third quarter revenues of $431 million to a current $400 million, related to increased foreign exchange rates [15].

CBS Corporation’s Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone summarized the company’s reaction to the third quarter statement [15]:

“CBS continues to succeed on the strength of its tremendous content… Les and his team are optimizing the Company for future growth at every turn, and I have the utmost confidence in their ability to increasingly drive shareholder value in these dynamic times of great opportunity [15].”

WHAT’S GOING ON?

Michigan News Network

[h] Courtesy of www.allaccess.com; CBS Radio & Townsquare Media Partner to Create Michigan News Network

On September 2nd, CBS Radio and Townsquare Media partnered together to form a news and sports all-Michigan network, Michigan News Network. The network provides content for nearly twenty affiliate stations across the state of Michigan. MNN provides top-of-the hour updates Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. as well as 60-second sport broadcasts three times a day. CBS Radio will provide the original content while Townsquare Media will have exclusive syndication rights and deal with affiliate relations with stations ranging from Ann Arbor to Detroit. CBS Radio’s Detroit stations such as WWJ Newsradio 950 have always topped Michigan radio charts and have established themselves as the leading voices for Detroit, so the move towards providing content for the entire state has been readily anticipated [16].

“We are excited to be working with Townsquare to distribute our award-winning programming to listeners across the entire state of Michigan, while also realizing the highest value for our content.” –CBS Radio CEO & President Dan Mason [16]

“We Can Survive” Concert

[i] Photo Courtesy of losangeles.cbslocal.com; Pharrell Williams at the 2nd Annual We Can Survive Concert at the Hollywood Bowl

Hollywood Bowl attendees were in for the experience of a lifetime at CBS Radio’s second annual We Can Survive Concert. As part of CBS Radio’s special events platform and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, two dollars of every ticket sold aided two organizations, Young Survival Coalition and Living Beyond Breast Cancer, which cultivate and assist families and women that have been touched by and endured breast cancer [17].

[j] Video Courtesy of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls1kyMl7af4

The night was filled with emotions and female-centered song choices with Pharrell Williams beginning his set through a narration of his personal accounts of dealing with cancer in his family and statements about the pertinence of females to mankind and survival. Williams performed an eclectic set, and was joined by Taylor Swift, Gwen Stefani, Ariana Grande, and Alicia Keys for her first year at the event, as well as other top-tier performers. The music performed covered everything from Country and R&B to Hip-Hop and Top 40 [17].

[i] Photo Courtesy of radio.com; Taylor Swift at the 2nd Annual We Can Survive Concert at the Hollywood Bowl

[k] Photo Courtesy of radio.com; Taylor Swift at the 2nd Annual We Can Survive Concert at the Hollywood Bowl

Multimedia Sources:

[a] CBS Radio Logo From 07 March 2013. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[b] Dan Mason Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[c] Anton Guitano Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[d] Scott Herman Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[e] Michael Weiss Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[f] Ezra Kucharz Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[g] CBS Corporation Market Share Updated 01 December 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[h] Michigan News Network From 26 August 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[i] 2nd Annual We Can Survive Concert Pharrell Williams From 25 October 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[j] 2nd Annual We Can Survive Concert Behind the Scenes Video From 25 October 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[k] 2nd Annual We Can Survive Concert Taylor Swift From 25 October 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

Text Sources:

[1] CBS Radio Contact Information Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[2] About CBS Radio Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[3] CBS Radio Timeline Updated 21 May 2012. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[4] Westinghouse Buys CBS New York Times From 02 August 1995. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[5] Viacom Buys CBS CNN Money From 07 September 1999. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[6] Infinity Rebranding From 14 December 2005. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[7] Radio Ink Magazine Most Powerful People in Radio From 07 July 2008. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[8] John Vilade Named VP of CBS Radio From 03 September 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[9] CBS Radio’s Top Competitors Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[10] CBS Radio Broadcast Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[11] CBS Radio Local Digital Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[12] CBS Radio Mobile Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[13] CBS Sports Radio Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[14] CBS Corporation Stock From 01 December 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[15] CBS Corporation Financials From 05 November 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[16] Michigan News Network From 26 August 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

[17] CBS Radio Recap We Can Survive Concert From 25 October 2014. Retrieved 01 December 2014.

Buenavista/Disney Pictures

Posted on October 5, 2014 by iclynch

by Izzy Lynch

Photo Courtesy of [1] www.waltdisneystudios.com

Contact

Address: 500 S. Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA. 91506

Phone: (818) 560-1000

Twitter: @DisneyPictures

History and Properties

Snow White Original Vintage Film Poster. Photo Courtesy of www.animationartstudio.com

The Walt Disney Studios is the world-renowned film division of the film-turned-lifestyle corporation, The Walt Disney Company (NASDAQ: DIS) [2]. Founded in 1923 under the name The Disney Brothers Studios by brothers Walter E. Disney and Roy O. Disney, the company gained recognition for Walt’s impressive art in second dimension animation and the rich character portrayals [3]. The company has become the most successful animation brand in the world, crafting iconic characters such as Mickey Mouse, and producing timeless features such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Mary Poppins (1964), Lion King (1994) and many more. Since the studios’ inception, the company has grown to host multiple lucrative businesses, including resorts, theme parks, and merchandise, all utilizing the characters created through the company’s television and film productions. The studios have expanded their reach to include The Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, The Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios (2006), Lucasfilm Limited LLC (2012), Marvel Studios (2009), Touchstone Pictures, Disneynature, and Disneytoon Studios. Films produced by these subsidiaries are distributed through The Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures [3].

CEO and Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, Robert A. Iger. Photo Courtesy of www.waltdisneystudios.com

CEO and Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, Robert A. Iger. Photo Courtesy of [4] www.waltdisneystudios.com

Management

As of 2005, Robert A. Iger has headed The Walt Disney Company, serving as both Chief Executive Officer and Chairman [4]. Iger reinstated the company’s relationship with the previously affiliated Pixar Animation Studios in 2006, which led to the hiring of Pixar Chief Executive Officer John Lasseter and Pixar President Edwin Catmull to head the then floundering Disney Animation sector of the studios. Since incorporating the two as Chief Creative Officer and President of the Walt Disney Animation Studios respectively in 2008, the company has seen an incredible improvement in the quality of content, producing blockbuster hits including Wreck It Ralph (2012), Frozen (2013), and Big Hero 6 (2014) [5].

Financial Information

The Walt Disney Company, which became a publicly traded entity in 1940 [6], released its Q4 and 2014 financial reports on November 6th, 2014 to reveal record-breaking numbers for the fourth year in a row. Along with impressive numbers from the overall company, Studio Entertainment revenues soared 22% from last year, earning nearly $7.3 billion out of the nearly $49 billion company revenue total, garnering the largest increase in revenue of the Company’s other business ventures [7].

The Walt Disney Company’s 52 Week Stock Price Chart. Photo Courtesy of Businessweek.com

Recently, the company experienced an impressive increase in their current trading price with the release of their eighty-eight second Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser. Trading prices for the company rose to a share price of $92.96 on Friday, November 28th [8], which has proven to be not only a 52-week high, but also an all time high for the company [9]. While stock prices represent the entire Walt Disney Company, it is important to note that the characters from the film productions are an integral part of what keeps the company relevant and popular, which has a significant impact on the stock price.

Current Projects

The Walt Disney Studios operates their production of films in the format of larger tent-pole franchises supporting the lower budget features. The company tends to produce films that fulfill the requirements of the four quadrants of moviegoers: both male and female, over and under 25 years of age.

After Disney’s overwhelming domestic and international success of 2013’s animated hit Frozen, the company has continued to produce high quality and exceptionally profitable films throughout its current slate [10], which includes both live action and animated features. Towards the closing of a strong summer for the company, with releases such as Maleficent and Planes: Fire and Rescue, Marvel Studios released the tent-pole live action film Guardians of the Galaxy [10], which has garnered the title of being the top grossing film of 2014 with a total earning of $331.1 million at the global box office; a considerable achievement for its $170 million budget [11]. Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and Bradley Cooper, the film explores the uniting of a motley crew attempting to save the galaxy at the hands of an evil villain [12]. The film premiered on August 1st, 2014, and was highly praised by critics and audiences alike, scoring a 90% critic approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes [13].

Big Hero 6 Promotional Poster. Photo Courtesy of www.marvel.wikia.com

Guardians of the Galaxy served as the ideal primer for the November 7th release of Big Hero 6, a collaboration of the Walt Disney Animation Studios and Marvel Studios. Big Hero 6, with its $165 million production budget [14], incorporated characters from Marvel’s 5,000-character bank into the Animation Studios’ computer generated imagery format [15]. The result was a success; the film garnering a $50 million domestic box office in its opening weekend, as well as gaining the top spot of the weekend box office ahead of highly anticipated films, such as Warner Brothers’ Interstellar [16]. The film has netted $224.1 million in the worldwide box office to date [16].

Future Projects

The Walt Disney Studios have many high profile projects planned for release through 2019, having announced multiple films from each of its accompanying brands. Many of these films include live-action reboots of past Disney classics, continuations of prior franchises, or new franchise launches.

The most highly anticipated upcoming releases include the reboots of the Star Wars franchise. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by the talented J.J. Abrams, utilizes the Lucasfilm-constructed universe to continue the saga and is scheduled for release in December, 2015. The film, which takes place in a time after Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), starring Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and others from the first installment of the series, has generated great interest. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger has announced that his contract has been extended from terminating in March 2015 to June 2018 to oversee the release of two of the three upcoming Star Wars films [17].

Walt Disney Studios has also announced the continuation of the wildly popular Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, with a new film scheduled to be released in the summer of 2017. The film will be titled Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales [18].

Marvel plans to continue the producing widely profitable Avengers, Thor, Captain America, and Guardian of the Galaxy franchises, scheduling to release sequels to the films through 2018. Marvel has multiple other first-appearance films set to premier as well [19].

Pixar Animation Studios has announced the production of Toy Story 4, which came as a shock to many after the seemingly neat conclusion of the franchise with the release of Toy Story 3 (2010) [20]. Pixar has also announced plans to revive The Incredibles and Finding Nemo films with sequels, including the anticipated release of the film Finding Dory in 2016 [21]. Pixar is anticipating the release of their next film, Inside Out, a story told through a child’s emotions, in June of 2015 [21].

Sources

[1] “The Walt Disney Studios >> Walt Disney Studios Home” The Walt Disney Studios Retrieved 28 November 2014

[2] “DIS-NASDAQ.com” NASDAQ.com Retrieved 30 November 2014

[3] “Disney History” The Walt Disney Company Retrieved 29 November 2014

[4] “Rober A. Iger – The Walt Disney Company” The Walt Disney Company Retrieved 29 November 2014

[5] “Big Hero 6 Proves it: Pixar’s Gurus Have Brought the Magic back to Disney” Wired.com Retrieved 29 November 2014

[6] “Chronology of The Walt Disney Company” Chronology of The Walt Disney Company Retrieved 26 November 2014

[7] “Disney Fiscal Report 2014” The Walt Disney Company Retrieved 22 November 2014

[8] “DIS: Stock Information” Businessweek.com Retrieved 28 November November 2014

[9] “‘Star Wars’ Trailer Awakens Walt Disney Stock” TheGuardian.com Retrieved 30 November 2014

[10] “The Walt Disney Studios Current Slate The Walt Disney Studios Retrieved 28 November 2014

[11] “2014 Top Grossing Films” BoxOfficeMojo.com Retrieved 1 December 2014

[12] “Guardians of the Galaxy – IMDB” IMDB.com Retrieved 1 December 2014

[13] “Guardians of the Galaxy Review – Rotten Tomatoes” RottenTomatoes.com Retrieved 28 November 2014

[14] “Big Hero 6 Box Office” BoxOfficeMojo.com Retrieved 30 November 2014

[15] “Disney Buys Marvel Entertainment” TheGuardian.com Retrieved 26 November 2014

[16] “Nov. 7th 2014 Weekend Results” BoxOfficeMojo.com Retrieved 30 November 2014

[17] “Bob Iger to Remain Disney Chief through 2018” Variety.com Retrieved 26 November 2014

[18] “‘Pirates of the Caribbean 5’ Set for Summer 2017” The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 23 November 2014

[19] “Marvel Studios Announcements” The Slate Retrieved 27 November 2014

[20] “Pixar’s ‘Toy Story 4’ Set to Play in Theaters in 2017” Variety.com 07 November 2014

[21] “Pixar Animation Studios Official Slate” Pixar Retrieved 30 November

Pandora Radio

Posted on October 5, 2014 by htfergus

by Ally Thibault

[8]

Music has always been a uniting force across the entirety of the human race. It brings people together, projects ideas and opinions across generations, and encapsulates emotions that simply cannot be preserved otherwise. It is a timeless source of comfort and entertainment. While traditional radio has always been a reliable outlet to access music, citizens of the digital age tend to crave more than just what is given to them. People want to hear the music they like. Seeing this trend in listener niche preferences, Pandora Radio founder Tim Westergren channeled his passion and knowledge of music and created one of the most successful personalized online radio platforms to date.

Pandora Radio is an online radio station and application that allows users to search songs, artists, and albums and creates customized stations featuring music similar to the choice of the user. The creative and analytical muscle behind Pandora comes from the Music Genome Project [3], which is known as “the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken”. The project has collected hundreds of details about virtually every song ever recorded, which allows Pandora to sort songs into all kinds of diverse categories. The main purpose of Pandora is not only to provide a steady stream of music to listeners, but also to introduce them to new and current music akin to their already established tastes. Their overall aims are summed up most succinctly in their mission statement: “To play only music you’ll love”. [1]

[9]

Pandora Media, Inc. was originally founded in January 2000 in Oakland, California, where it is now headquartered. Founder Tim Westergren developed the Music Genome Project with the intention of creating playlists tailored to the interests of music listeners. He initially considered licensing the music recommendation service to other major companies, but this proved to flop in terms of generated profit, receiving only a $20,000 fee from Barnes & Noble.com for further development. After pitching the idea to countless venture capitalists, he finally settled on the idea of an internet radio website powered by the genome. In the early years following its launch in 2005, Pandora encountered multiple close brushes with bankruptcy as the company experimented with different business models and faced steep increases in music royalty fees. It started quite modestly, used initially by friends and family of Westergren and his colleagues. Since then Pandora has caught fire — in January of 2012, Pandora surpassed the milestone of 125 million registered users. [2]

[10]

Now commandeered by CEO Brian McAndrews, Pandora’s business model has improved in sustainability: centered around generating revenue primarily through online advertisements and, on a lesser scale, subscription fees, and paying royalties to the artists whose music it features. Their third quarter earnings results yielded an increase of $0.07 per share with an overall quarterly revenue of $180 million (positive surprise of +1.02%), with analysts predicting a continued increase on both fronts into the fourth quarter. [4] Over the course of the months following March of 2014, Pandora’s market share increased from 9.11% to 9.13%. In addition, their listener hours have grown 28% year over year in May 2014. Overall, Pandora’s profitability has improved despite royalty price hikes as they have fine-tuned their ad-targeting strategies. [5]

As the online radio industry has seen a surge in popularity over the past couple of years, many competing companies like Spotify have entered the market space to take a gander at the boundless range of music-loving consumers. As a result, Pandora has been pressed into making creative changes and additions to their market appeal strategy in order to distinguish themselves from their competition. The ability to provide their customers with something different and enticing is crucial in maintaining their relevance in the internet radio sphere. With this is mind, Pandora initiated a series of live concerts available for free exclusively for their listeners this past September. They partnered with Lexus to sponsor the pop-up concerts, which took place in Southern California. The performing artists included popular, current acts like MAGIC!, Kongos, and Nico & Vinz. The strategy of distributing the invitations to the concerts was intended to reward Pandora listeners for their loyalty. Pandora determined which users had created unique stations specifically for the artists who would be performing and extended invitations to those who showed a particularly strong interest in the musicians. This allowed Pandora listeners to truly connect with the artists they love, based on how they interacted with them through the online radio platform. Tommy Page, Head of Music Partnerships at Pandora, explained that the concert series demonstrated their “ability to leverage [their] data to create personalized experiences with the fans, as well as…the inroads [they’ve] made with the music industry”. This live concert experience option was unique to Pandora listeners and part of the initiative to differentiate them from their competitors. [6]

Pandora’s “thumbs up” button also brought artists to life for listeners in other ways. On September 5th, a few lucky listeners who clicked the button during a song by classically trained violinist Lindsey Stirling were suddenly prompted by an invitation to video chat with the artist herself. If they accepted, they were treated to a private conversation and performance from Ms. Stirling from her studio in LA. Since then, Pandora’s #ThumbMoments campaign has brought musicians to life for many of their listeners. These “thumb gifts” will continue to reward listeners for choosing Pandora by granting them access to totally unique experiences that can’t be found anywhere else. Pandora’s Chief Marketing Officer Simon Fleming-Wood explained that the experience aims to hyperbolize that feeling you get when the “perfect song” comes on your Pandora station, and the result is truly emotional. [7]

This fall, Pandora has made great strides in branching out to bring artists closer to listeners. They have begun to focus more of their marketing muscle towards interactive experiences with the music they feature in an attempt to set themselves apart from their competition. Pandora continues to evolve as the industry changes and is certainly a company to keep an eye on in the months to come.

Sources

[1] About Pandora Media. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2014, from http://www.pandora.com/about

[2] Clifford, S. (2007, October 1). Pandora’s Long Strange Trip. Retrieved November 29, 2014, from http://www.inc.com/magazine/20071001/pandoras-long-strange-trip_pagen_2.html

[3] Pegoraro, R. (2014, May 24). Pandora’s “Music Genome Project” explores the cold hard facts of how we interact with music. Retrieved November 29, 2014, from http://boingboing.net/2014/05/24/pandoras-music-genome-proj.html

[4] Earnings & Estimates Summary – PANDORA MEDIA INC (P). (2014, November 28). Retrieved November 29, 2014, from http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/earnings/earnings.asp?ticker=P

[5] Team, T. (2014, July 22). Pandora Earnings Preview: Growing Market Share and Improving Monetization in Focus. Retrieved November 29, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/07/22/pandora-earnings-preview-growing-market-share-and-improving-monetization-in-focus/

[6] Castillo, M. (2014, September 17). How Pandora Mined Data to Create Lexus-Backed Concert Series. Retrieved November 29, 2014, from http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/pandora-mines-data-create-lexus-backed-concert-series-160177

[7] Newman, A. (2014, September 21). A Thumbs-Up Brings Favorite Artists to Life For Pandora Listeners. Retrieved November 29, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/business/media/a-thumbs-up-brings-musicians-to-life-for-pandora-listeners-.html?_r=0

8] Pandora Radio Logo Banner. Digital image. SoulBridging. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://soulbridging.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/pandora-banner.jpg>.

9] Sprague, Jonathan. Tim Westergren. Digital image. My Ford Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.myfordmag.com/faces/tim-westergren-sync>.

10] McDermid, Brendan. Brian McAndrews. Digital image. Reuters. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20130911&t=2&i=793057292&w=580&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE98A1PNM00>.

Pandora Radio

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Andrew Saltman

By Andrew Saltman

Pandora [1]

History

Pandora Business Model [3]

Pandora Internet Radio is an online music streaming service that provides listeners with automated playlists based on their likes and listening habits among many other things. Founded by Will Glaser, Jon Kraft, and Tim Westergren in 2000, Pandora was designed to bring users individualized radio stations with great music and no “junk.” Westergren currently sits on the Board of Directors, and Brian McAndrews serves as the company’s CEO. The Music Genome Project is the sophisticated formula that analyzes each song using up to 450 distinct musical characteristics by trained music analysts. The analysts typically have four year degrees in music theory or composition and had to pass a selective screening process and complete an extensive training program in order to accurately analyze songs for the project. Pandora does not use any listening machines to analyze any song, as all analysis comes from the human analysts. [2]

Pandora users are able to create up to 100 unique stations (or playlists) based off an artist, genre or composer. Users are allowed to skip six songs per hour per station, and up to 24 skips across all stations per day. Pandora also allows users to refine their stations by liking or disliking each track they hear. Pandora continues to learn listening habits as users continue to listen and like songs. The more someone uses their Pandora account, the more personalized the stations become. [4]

Pandora 2013 Anual Report [3]

Financials

Pandora got it’s start with investments from both angel investors and venture capitalists, and in June of 2011 the company went public through an IPO. According to Pandora’s 2013 Annual Report, stock prices traded on the NYSE started at $16.00 per share on June 14th, 2011. At the end of the 4th quarter in January of 2013 the high stock price came in at $11.90 with the lowest price at $7.08. Revenue has increased dramatically in the five years that Pandora has been publicly traded. Pandora brought in $19,333,000 in advertising and subscription fees in 2009. In 2013, Pandora brought in almost half a billion dollars at $427,145,000 before expenses. [3] In 2010 Pandora had 16 million users listening to 1.8 billion hours of music. Three years later in 2013, 65.6 million users listened to over 14 billion hours of music. Pandora’s most recent audience metrics for March of 2014 were just released (graphic below). Pandora also announced that after June of 2014 they will no longer publicize its monthly key audience metrics. [5]

2014 Audience Metrics [6]

Pandora Stock Performance [7]

Current Endeavors

Peet’s Coffee

In March of 2014, Pandora announced a brand new partnership with Peet’s Coffee & Tea. “Peet’s Coffee & Tea, a premier specialty coffee and tea company, and Pandora, the leading internet radio service, announced a new partnership which marks the first time Pandora will feature partner branded radio stations in a brick-and-mortar environment nationwide” (Pandora) [7]. Peet’s coffee will now play its own customized radio stations in all of the stores across the United States. What makes these stations unique to Peet’s is that they will all be curated by a 25-year employee and music aficionado Patrick Main, not to mention the fact that the new Peet’s stations will be available to all Pandora listeners. Peet’s will have four personalized stations that are meant to pair well with their coffees using music outside what is played on mainstream radio. The stations include Peet’s Melodic Indie meant for bright and fresh coffees, Peet’s Jazz Giants reflecting Peet’s Italian Roast and espressos, Peet’s Origins which enhances Peet’s earthy African blends, and finally Peet’s Eclectic Classical station that should be paired with Peet’s French Roast. This partnership is quite the impressive business venture for both Peet’s and Pandora. Peet’s will be able to compete with the music in rivals like Starbucks that already has a partnership with Apple and iTunes. Pandora will also benefit as they are trying to compete with other streaming services like Spotify and Rdio. Peet’s customers hopefully will enjoy the musical selections in Peet’s coffee shops which will help Peet’s retain customers and help Pandora gain more subscribers. This partnership could be the first of many for Pandora as they attempt to gain more market share in the online streaming world.

Royalty Lawsuit

Although Pandora has been doing very well recently in terms of subscribers and partnerships, they have also gained a lot of negative press in regards to their catalog and royalty payments. In April of 2014, the three major labels Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment, along with indie labels ABKCO and RIAA, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in New York state court against Pandora. The suit on Pandora is for playing pre-February 15, 1972 recordings without making any royalty payments. “The labels say both digital music services (Pandora & SiriusXM) take advantage of a copyright loophole, since the master recording for copyright wasn’t created federally until 1972. But the labels claim that their master recordings are protected by individual state copyright laws and therefore deserve royalty payments” (Christman) [8]. Michael Huppe, the CEO and President of SoundExchange, a non-profit performance rights organization, estimated that artists and labels have lost 60 million dollars in royalty payments for pre-1972 songs in just 2013 alone.

Example Royalty Payment Sheet [9]

This lawsuit has come after many artists, like legendary guitarist and songwriter Steve Cropper, have complained about the lack of payments from streaming services, especially Pandora. Songwriters are asking to be compensated for their work due to the fact that Pandora and other streaming services are profiting off of their original content. The case filed against SiriusXM in February is very similar and further along in the legal process. We can expect to see some important rulings and clarity in this case shortly, which will directly affect the Pandora case and whether courts believe songwriters should be compensated for pre-1972 works. SiriusXM’s hearing is set for May 14th. These two cases are extremely important for the world of streaming, as many music industry experts believe streaming is the future of recorded music. A ruling in favor of songwriters and artists could potentially ease the tension between the two camps and have all artists begin to support streaming. Currently many artists are against streaming because they don’t feel they are being properly compensated; however, streaming is significantly more convenient for consumers and could notably help reduce illegal downloading. [8]

Upcoming

Music Submission Steps for Independent Artists [10]

Step 2

Pandora also recently announced that they will be taking open music submissions. This will now make it easier than ever for independent artists to get their music out to over 70 million active listeners on the site. This is an initiative that Pandora will continue to pursue in the coming year in hopes to give independent artists a chance to reach a bigger audience. All independent artists need to do is submit their material digitally online for consideration.

Pandora has a bright future in the online streaming world if they can solve their differences with record labels and songwriters. Their initiatives in the consumer space, like with Peet’s Coffee, and their goals to help independent artists will make them a more attractive destination for music listeners to go to for content.

Works Cited

[1] Pandora – Pandora Logo RT: March 25, 2014

[2] Pandora – About Pandora RT: March 25, 2014

[3] Pandora – 2013 Anual Report RT: April 15, 2014

[4] Pandora – Skip Policy RT: March 25, 2014

[5] Pandora – Corporate Overview RT: March 25, 2014

[6] Pandora – 2014 Audience Metrics RT: April 15, 2014

[7] Pandora – Peet’s Coffee Partnership RT: April 7, 2014

[8] Billboard Magazine – Pandora Lawsuit RT: April 18, 2014

[9] The Trichordist – SiriusXM Royalty Payment Sheet RT: April 15, 2014

[10] Pandora – Music Submission for Independent Artists RT: March 25, 2014

Spotify

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Hannah Friedland

By Hannah D Friedland

[1] Spotify’s Logo

THE SPOTIFY STORY:

[6] The most updated visuals of the Spotify application on thee platforms

[2] The most updated visuals of the Spotify application on thee platforms. Users have an on-demand stream of music on their computer, mobile device, tablet, and home entertainment system.

Spotify is a music streaming service that puts users in control of 20 million licensed songs [3]. Spotify was launched in Sweden in 2008 and came to America in 2011.

Spotify is financially a private company that offers over 20,000 new songs each day from major and independent labels including EMI, Warner Music Group, Universal, & The Orchard [3]. Artists earn royalty when their music is played, and there are over 24 million active users currently in 55 markets [3].

There are two revenue streams, free, which is “powered by advertisers” and premium for $9.99 monthly with extra features including no ads, offline, and high-quality audio [3].

TEAM SPOTIFY:

[2] Spotify Founders- Daniel Ek & Martin Lorentzon

[4] Spotify Founders- Daniel Ek & Martin Lorentzon

[5] Chief Sales, Marketing, and International Growth Officer- Jeff Levick

[5] Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA- Ken Parks

[6] Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA- Ken Parks

[7] Head of Content- Steve Savoca

INSIDE SPOTIFY:

Social Media Merges with Music- Songs, playlists, and albums can be shared on the Spotify application through the "Send To" message option, or users can "post to feed" to their Facebook timeline, Twitter, and Tumblr within the Spotify application. ARROW

Social Media Merges with Music- Using the “send to”, or “post to feed” options users can message music to friends and post music to their Facebook timeline, Twitter, and Tumblr within the Spotify application. Source: Spotify

Spotify gives its users the option to connect with their social media Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr accounts. Users can create collaborative playlists, share music, view friends music and more which provides for ample music discovery and publicity for the company on social media platforms. There is also a private session users can activate.

Two other elements that Spotify includes are apps and Discover. While these apps add dimension to the Spotify journey, Discover is essentially a constantly updated news feed.

Discover- Spotify's "news feed" feature on the desktop application, artists are recommended, concerts nearby are posted, friends listening habits are shown all based on listening habits the user has shown. Source: Spotify

Discover- Spotify’s “news feed” feature on the desktop application. Updates with releases, playlists, artists recommendations, concerts nearby are posted, friends listening habits are shown all based on listening habits the user has shown. Source: Spotify

COMPETITORS:

Spotify is a strong contender, but it’s competing neck and neck with Rdio, Pandora, Rhapsody, Google Play Music, and Beats on price, catalogue, platforms, and features [8]. Beats Music entered the competitive on-demand music market in January [9], and is Spotify’s biggest challenger.

[10] Beats Music vs. Spotify- The two streaming services are extremely similar with the same catalogue size, the discovery element, and price.

Beats entry in the market put Spotify in “go-mode”.

SPOTIFY’S SITUATION:

Competitor streaming services are continually emerging. With more choices presented to consumers, Spotify has responded by shifting their focus to partnerships, acquisitions, customer satisfaction, and updated product development. The formula is to attract users to Spotify, engage with users, and retain them.

Partnerships

Last.fm

Last.fm is a music recommendation service. In January, Spotify and Last.fm teamed up to bring a beneficial on-demand playbar to Last.fm’s website. This makes it possible for Last.fm users to internally play the entire Spotify catalogue on Last.fm’s website [11].

The collaboration works in both companies favor. Last.fm users have a fuller experience with the power, “to play whatever you want by whoever you want directly on Last.fm” [12]. In addition, Spotify’s catalogue incorporation provides a huge presence and Last.fm users conveniently have motivation to signup for Spotify to take advantage of the essential music player.

The Last.Fm Spotify playbar at the bottom of Last.Fm’s website. Source: Lastfm.com

SoundHound

Spotify also joined forces with SoundHound for the “Add to spotify” feature on its iOS application in February. SoundHound is a popular music-recognition app, similar to Shazam. Banded together, SoundHound is now more interactive. After linking accounts, with the tap of a button users can automatically generate Spotify playlists of recognized songs without leaving SoundHound’s app [13].

Hitting the “Add to Spotify” button automatically turns songs discovered on SoundHound into a Spotify playlist. Source: SoundHound & Spotify

The mutually-beneficial relationship brings life to identified songs through Spotify playlists on SoundHoud, and the incentive to use the button will drive users to subscribe to Spotify while giving them presence on a music app [14].

Coachella

On top of that, Spotify was presented with an amazing opportunity to have presence on site at Coachella as the Official Digital Music Partner of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in California in April. The Spotify Social tent was an on-site air-conditioned tent that offered relaxation pods, chargers, a “Mosaic Photo Booth” that uses your Spotify account to generate a picture out of your most played album art, and art from artist Apex [15].

[16] The Spotify Social tent, that capped at 150, gave people an air conditioning experience filled with music, more battery power, art, and a Mosaic Photobooth that puts your face on album covers based on your Spotify listening habits.

#WeWereThere was Spotify’s digital interactive strategy at Coachella to “connect, collect, share.” Implanted in every RFID wristband was the power to capture the experience by checking in and collecting custom Spotify curated playlists. The “My Coachella Story” digital snapshot let individuals create memories of their festival concert experiences with playlists gathered [16]. This collaboration not only transformed Coachella goers into premium users, but also created a special experience and built relationships by reliving the festival on Spotify.

[15] “My Coachella Story”- an example of a digital snapshot that shoes distance traveled, the path taken, playlists, artists seen etc. To participate users needed to simply connect their wrist band with their Spotify accounts, look for check ins at the festival, use the wristband to collect playlists and then after generate their digital card and share it with family and friends.

Sprint

Lastly, Beats launched with an AT&T package family plan deal. Rumors are circulating about Spotify planning to bundle with the #3 U.S. mobile carrier, Sprint [17] in April. This partnership will give Sprint customers a free trial. Customers will be able to pay for Spotify directly through their Sprint Accounts, which will help Spotify secure a greater market share and Sprint secure more data plans. Sprint and Spotify will announce the details on April 29th at a New York Event [18].

Acquisitions

In efforts to boost the “discovery” element, Spotify acquired The Echo Nest in March [19]. The Echo Nest is a music intelligence company that examines listening behavior and makes musical recommendations. Spotify paid $100 Million, with 90% Spotify equity [20]. The Echo Nest previously powered Rdio and Rhapsody, both of which ended their deals, deeming its technology invaluable to their operations right after Spotify acquired [21]. This potentially puts Spotify in the position to take The Echo Nest away from competitors.

Combing the two companies gives The Echo Nest a bigger audience and catalog, while Spotify, now with music-discovery data, will improve recommendation’s.

Customer Satisfaction

With intentions to obtain more paying users Spotify has updated its business model. In January the company announced free music shuffling on iOS with a catch, non-premium users ads play in between every few tracks [22]. In February, Spotify added the “repeat one” feature [23]. Repeat one grants users the option to repeat a single track over and over [24]. These highly requested changes illustrate that Spotify cares about users.

Working with a college students budget, Spotify slashed the premium $9.99 monthly rate to $4.99 in March [25]. They partnered with SheerID to validate eligibility. This price change is valuable because college students represent an important key demographic in streaming use [26]. This differentiates Spotify from other streaming services like Rdio and Beats that charge $10 monthly.

Unique Product Development

Competition among streaming services leads Spotify to completely redesign its user interface layout on all platforms. Spotify rolled out a sleek modernized look on April 2^nd. This major design update was the first since its launch in 2008, and to keep current it was a smart move [27].

Spotify’s New Look Video [28]

The new dramatic, dark color scheme highlights important buttons, includes circular images for people, and features square album shapes [29]. The browse tab is revised and categorized between top lists, releases, news, and moods. “Your Music”, a collection of users saved albums, songs, and artists is a new addition [30]. The Your Music addition mimics iTunes library and it is comparable to Rdio’s “collection” feature. It helps users save, organize, and browse through their favorite music. The new layout feels unified and balanced, and should attract new users [31].

WHATS NEXT FOR SPOTIFY:

Spotify is headed in the right direction, but with downloads declining, new rival services like YouTube, Apple, and Amazon that have huge user bases are joining the streaming market [32].

Being active puts Spotify in the forefront, which looks great for Investors. It is rumored that an IPO is in Spotify’s near future. Though the company has declined all comments, a job advertisement for an “External Reporting Specialist” has been posted on their website and LinkedIn [33]. Their future looks competitive but successful.

Sources:

1. Spotify’s Logo 2014, Spotifypress.com, RT: 4/04/2014

2. Spotify’s Application on Three Platforms, Spotifyblog.com, RT: 4/01/2014

3. Spotify Press Fast Facts, Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

4.The Founders of Spotify, Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

5.Spotify’s Chief Sales, Marketing, and International Growth Officer, Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

6. Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA,Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

7. Head of Content, Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

8. “And The Winner Is… Best Music On-Demand Streaming Service”, Cultofmac.com, 2/18/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

9. “Beats Music Is Here”, Beats Music Blog 1/16/2014, RT: 4/08/2014

10. “Beats Music vs. Spotify: Can Dr. Dre outmix the king of streaming”, Digital Trends, 1/27/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

11. “Last.fm Bands up with Spotify to offer on-demand tracks”, CNET, 1/29/2014, RT: 4/04/2014

12. “Did Someone Say On Demand?”, Last.fm Blog, 1/29/2014, RT: 4/04/2014

13. “SoundHound Launched “Add to Spotify”, Business Wire, 2/21/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

14. “SoundHound Now Lets You Easily Add Your Discovered Music to Your Spotify Playlist”, appdevice.com, 2/24/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

15. “Coachella here we come” Spotify News, 4/7/2014 RT: 4/14/2014

16. “Spotify’s Coachella #WeWereThere Campaign: High Tech and Sweet, Sweet Air Conditioning”, Billboard, 4/11/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

17. “Sprint and Spotify Plan to Partner Up”, recode.net, 4/11/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

18. “Spotify, Sprint Plan Music Bundle To Be Unveiled This Month”, Billboard, 4/12/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

19.“Spotify Acquires the Echo Nest”, Billboard, 3/06/2014, RT: 4/02/2014

20. “Spotify Acquired Music Tech Company The Echo Nest in A $100M Deal” , TechCrunch, 3/07/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

21. “Rhapsody Kills its Echo Nest partnership following Spotify acquisition”, Venturebeat.com, 3/21/2014, RT: 4/09/2014

22. “Spotify’s free shuffle mode arrives on iPhone”, The Verge,1/08/2014, RT: 4/02/2014

23. “Repeat One”, Spotify News Blog, 2/07/2014, RT: 4/08/2014

24. “Spotify users can now repeat the same song over and over and over again”, Hypbot, 2/10/2014, : 4/02/2014

25. “Spotify Offers 50% Student Discount”, Hypbot, 3/25/2014, RT: 4/02/2014

26. “Spotify introduces 50% discount for college students”, Los Angles Times, 3/25/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

27. “The Good, The Bad, The Less Ugly: Taking Spotify’s New Redesign For a Test Drive”, Billboard, 4/03/2014, RT: 4/04/2014

28. Spotify Paints It Black with New Look, YouTube, 4/01/2014, RT: 4/06/2014

29. “Spotify’s biggest redesign ever brings long awaited Collection view”, The Verge, 4/02/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

30. “Spotify paints it black with new look”, Spotify News, 4/02/2014, RT: 4/08/2014

31. “Spotify beautifies”, CNET, 4/02/2014 RT: 4/08/2014

32. “Spotify faces challenge from Internet giants before IPO” New York Post, 3/30/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

33. “Spotify seeks to hire U.S. filings expert as bankers eye IPO” Reuters, 2/17/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

Rdio

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Karly Brecher

By Karly Brecher

Rdio, Inc.
1550 Bryant Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Phone: 415-763-7211
Website: Rdio.com

Company Overview

Rdio is a privately-owned online music streaming service. Skype founders, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström launched the company in 2010. Rdio is now available in over 35 countries. The service is ad-supported but users can opt for an ad-less subscription for $9.99 per month. Rdio can be accessed via the internet, desktop client, mobile app, and some in-home entertainment services (ex: Roku, Sonos.) [1] [2]

Key Executives [3]

Anthony Bay, Chief Operating Officer

Niklas Zennström, Founder

Janus Friis, Founder

Scott Bagby, Head of Strategic and International Partnerships

Finances

Rdio is a privately owned company and does not disclose their financial information online. Assumptions about the company’s financial well-being can be concluded from news published online. Rdio laid off approximately 35 employees (1/3 of the staff) this past November. A spokesperson for the company said the offs were in order to create a more efficient cost structure and to promote a sustainable business model. This insinuated that Rdio’s finances were weak. However, in March of 2014, Spotify acquired Dhingana, an India-based music streaming service for an undisclosed amount. This indicates that Rdio is trying to expand and must be doing better financially. [4] [5]

Competitors

Paying subscribers of top streaming services. Image courtesy of Digital Music News.

Rdio is not the only streaming service fighting for domination in the United States, in fact, their market share is very small compared to competitors (but, their numbers are still growing.) Rdio has many domestic and international competitors. The graph to the left shows the number of paying users for a variety of streaming services. Rdio has less than one million paying subscribers, however, this does not include “freemium” users. These numbers can far surpass the amount of paying subscribers. Rdio’s data is not public but for a comparison, Spotify has over 6 million paying users (as of November 2013) and over 24 million total users. The “freemium” accounts are ad-supported and subsidize artist royalties. Rdio’s main competitors in the United States include Spotify, Pandora, Beats Music, Slacker, and Sirius XM [6] [7] [8]

Shazam Partnership

In 2012, Shazam, a music recognition service, partnered with Rdio to allow users to listen to Shazam’d tracks via Rdio . However, this partnership was only available in select countries. In late 2013, Rdio and Shazam announced the expansion of this service to over 29 territories including Ecuador, Guatemala, Hungary, Austria, Sweden, and many more. It is important to note the significance of this expansion because the Rdio/Shazam service is now available in countries where competitors like Spotify are not (including Canada, Chile, and Czech Republic.) [9] [10]

Mobile Integration

Tesla Motor’s in-dash touchscreen display

As streaming services become increasingly popular, more services are emerging and fighting for domination in the market (think iTunes owns the digital download market). This creates more competition between the services and they are scrambling for ways to gain users. Streaming services have been partnering with cell phone providers to increase their customer base. Beats Music partnered with AT&T for a discounted family price and Spotify announced a partnership with Sprint. However, Rdio is going a different route. After being turned down by Spotify, American car company, Tesla, announced a partnership with Rdio in Europe . Gigaom reports “…consumers will be able to play any song from Rdio’s catalog of 20 million or so with a simple voice command,” the service will be integrated in the car’s dashboard system. Tesla CEO, Elon Musk says the service will be available very soon. It is unknown whether or not Tesla will use Rdio as their default music service in the US market. Tesla currently has a partnership with Slacker Radio in the US territory. [11] [12]

Above is a photo of Tesla Motor’s in-dash touchscreen display. The Rdio client in the in-dash display will likely mirror the iPad application. This will ensure a positive and easy user experience.

Dhingana Acquisition

The Rdio lay-offs in late 2013 indicated that the company was struggling financially. However, it seems that the streaming service is doing better because they had sufficient funds (although we do not know the exact number) to purchase the Indian music streaming service: Dhingana.

Dhingana was founded in 2007 by brothers Snehal & Swapnil Schinde, and Sushil Choudhari. Dhingana primarily streams genres of Indian music boasting a catalog of over one million songs in 42 languages. Dhingana has other Indian competitors including Saavn and Gaana. Dhingana has approximately 10.5 million monthly users; the acquisition will add significant traction to Rdio’s numbers.

Smartphone sales growth.
Image courtesy of The Guardian.

Dhingana announced the acquisition on March 14, 2014 via their website and shut down the service. According to the press release, the Dhingana team will be working with Rdio to launch the service later this year. Rdio CEO, Anthony Bay, was quoted in Billboard Magazine, “India is a tremendously vibrant market for music and culture and one of the largest and most important in the world,” Bay’s strategy seems to be to expand their service in emerging markets, like India . Part of the Schinde brothers and Mr. Choudhari’s initiative at Rdio will be to expand into other emerging foreign markets.

This acquisition was a brilliant move on Rdio’s part. Recently The Guardian reported that India will pass the United States in smartphone sales this year, “India will be the country where the largest proportion of smartphones sold will go to new users,” this creates a larger market for potential streaming users. The map above shows significant smartphone growth in Brazil, Indonesia, and China; it will be interesting to see what territories Rdio will expand to next. [5] [13] [14]

Rdio Drops The Echo Nest

The Echo Nest is a music intelligence company that provides data to a variety of music industry entities. All of the competitors mentioned above (with the exception of Beats Music) use The Echo Nest to power music recommendation features on their platform. In March, Spotify announced that they acquired The Echo Nest. Following this, Rdio announced they will no longer use The Echo Nest’s service. Anthony Bay was quoted by The Verge saying: “As far as we are concerned, they were a good partner, but we have other good partners and we’ll move on… So we will stop using that source of data and use other sources.” . Rdio’s decision to unsubscribe to The Echo Nest can pan out to be either a unique, positive change to the service or, depending on the service they choose to work with, can damage the company’s reputation. [15]

Sources:

[1] Rdio | About Us RT: April 1, 2014

[2] Rdio | Apps RT: April 1, 2014

[3] Crunch Base | Executive information RT: April 1, 2014

[4] Tech Crunch | Rdio Layoffs RT: April 4, 2014

[5] Billboard | Rdio acquires Dhingana RT: April 4, 2014

[6] Digital Music News | Paid subscription numbers RT: April 4, 2014

[7] Investopedia | Definition of “Freemium” RT: April 15, 2014

[8] Spotify | Fast Facts RT: April 8, 2014

[9] Android Central | Rdio and Shazam Partnership RT: April 8, 2014

[10] Make Use Of | Rdio vs Spotify availability RT: April 8, 2014

[11] Giagaom | Rdio partners with Tesla Motors RT: April 3, 2014