✖️ The Moby problem on Spotify 😭 End of music hardware ownership 🎹 Kik launches cryptocurrency 💸
Hey everybody!
A little change in format this week. Cutting out some of the images, which I felt clutter the experience. Let me know what you think of this format by using the 👍👎 feedback buttons at the bottom of this email.
Don’t forget to reach out for Midem meetups – I’m going to start scheduling for Midem this week.
Thanks!
Love,
Bas
From me, for you
The Moby Problem: open letter to Matt Ogle's successor at Spotify
Almost every week, Spotify adds a Moby track to my Discover Weekly or Release Radar playlists - probably the playlists I listen to the most. The problem is: I don’t like Moby.
www.musicxtechxfuture.com • Share
The end of hardware ownership in music
Looking at the startups that make owning your instruments and gear less necessary. (the page wasn’t up when I published it, but Grover has an overview of the equipment you can rent through their partnership with DJ Technik here, so you can get a better idea)
Streaming music
These startups think the future of the music industry is artificial intelligence
A few months ago I already took a look at the startups joining Techstars Music’s acceleration program. Find out what they’ve been up to since.
Who's leading the streaming pack?
YouTube, Spotify, and Amazon Prime Music lead in terms of active users (interesting to note that the latter only has a 2 million song catalogue). Read the article to find out where the others stand, and get some data on revenue growth.
musicindustryblog.wordpress.com • Share
RecordGram thinks your phone is the new recording studio
Years ago, I spent hours per day on internet forums for hiphop. I was part of an early generation of creatives in hiphop who would use the internet to connect with writers, textcees, emcees, artists, and beat producers from around the world (read more).
Soundclick was an important part of that economy: producers would sell or lease their beats through there. Later, this shifted to Soundcloud. Now, a new startup things they can take this mobile-first. They may be on to something.
Beyond streaming
How data is transforming the music industry
Does musical taste even matter anymore? Or does a data-driven feedback loop – where what you enjoy in the past shapes what you hear today – influence what you’ll like in the future?
Dear creepy men of the music industry, please stop
Heartbreaking to read these stories. To the creepy men of the music industry: you’ve been put on notice. (if you have stories to share about this, even if anonymously, and you need people to hear that story - I’m happy to provide a platform for that)
www.digitalmusicnews.com • Share
After years of silence, activists are forcing music festivals to take sexual assault seriously
A new wave of activists and artists are aiming to change the culture of unwanted sexual advances and harassment at music festivals.
Wide view
What's next for bots on Facebook Messenger? Maybe helping companies sell.
“He shot down the idea that Facebook would build a mobile operating system to encourage this sort of use, or that it would try to take a cut of sales made because of Messenger. Instead, the company believes it can prove that Messenger improves sales, and that that will indirectly lead to more ad sales.”
Messaging platform Kik launches cryptocurrency to power its ecosystem of services
This is very exciting. They already enabled the ecosystem by being one of the first messaging platforms to allow external developers to build services for it (sometimes inaccurately dubbed ‘chatbots’), but now the Kik founder lays down the vision for the creation of something much greater.
Are we about to witness the most unequal societies in history?
Biotechnology and the rise of AI may split humankind into a small class of ‘superhumans’ and a huge underclass of ‘useless’ people. Once the masses lose their economic and political power, inequality levels could spiral alarmingly
Fun
Technology in music: a chronological playlist through history
A great chronology of how technological innovation in instruments changed the popular sounds of contemporary music.
❤️ twitter - patreon - facebook - musicxtechxfuture.com
📰 Last week: Innovation in classical music 🎻 Music & video’s changing relation 📺 Google’s AI invents new sounds 🤖
Regular insights about the future of music, media & tech. Written & composed by @basgras.
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