Nation is a leader in capturing tidal and wave energy, but companies are starting to leave due to lack of government support

Spotify is really the only legitimate competitor left. But its fate, like that of every streaming music service, is also subject to forces outside of its control — forces that are guided by the three-headed hydra of Warner, Universal, and Sony. [...] Although Apple Music and Spotify’s paid tier offer perks that free subscriptions do not — namely, full mobile access and no ads between songs — the majority of users will not pay for something they can basically get for free, even if they miss out on a handful of features. The percentage of Spotify users who pay for the service bears this out, having held steady for years at only 25%. And this trend shows no sign of abating — according to the most recent figures, paid users as a percentage of the whole crept up a hair but still sits at only 26.7%. [rather spend limited disposable income (and time) on weed and other offline experiences (leisure activities) with friends. -VS- The time of u and ur buddy(s) listening 2 new vinyl release]

Es kommt wie erwartet, und doch ist die Branche in Aufruhr: Bei der Entwicklerkonferenz WWDC hat Apple seinen neuen Streamingdienst Apple Music angekündigt. Umfang und Art des Angebots dürften der Konkurrenz das Leben schwer machen. [...] Apple muss damit nicht reich werden Allerdings sind die Ausgangspunkte sehr unterschiedlich. Bei einem Umsatz von 1,3 Milliarden Dollar machte Spotify im vergangenen Jahr 197 Millionen Euro Verlust. Mit dem Geldverdienen klappt es also nicht einmal beim Marktführer so richtig. Und trotzdem wird das schwedische Unternehmen mit acht Milliarden Dollar bewertet. Für Apple aber ist es viel einfacher: Der kalifornische Konzern muss mit seinem Angebot gar kein Geld verdienen. Der iTunes Store und der App Store dienen in erster Linie dazu, Kunden an Apples Plattformen zu binden und damit den Verkauf der viel profitableren Apple-Hardware anzukurbeln. Genauso ist es auch mit Apple Music.

Apple has announced a new app that combines a streaming song and music video library, an internet radio station and a way for artists to share unreleased tracks and other material. It includes a recommendation system that uses both human curators and computer algorithms to suggest songs. [...] "Apple is arriving late to the music streaming business, due in part to Steve Jobs' refusal to believe that music subscription services would ever work," said James McQuivey from the Forrester consultancy. But, he added, that he believed it would catch up with market leader Spotify's 15 million paying subscribers in less than a year. Another analyst suggested Apple might face a challenge explaining all the features on offer. "Apple Music is a complex mix of services including music streaming, live radio, music discovery and social interaction with artists, [...] three month free subscription [ $9.99 (£6.50)] and family bundle [14.99 up to 6 ppl] [...] Beats 1 [is free] // apple.co/1IrFWfp

But the reason most artists are not compensated properly for their work has been the same since the advent of recorded music: Record labels. According to a report from the audit firm Ernst & Young, record labels net 45.6 percent of the revenue created by streaming music. The supposedly evil, greedy platform itself — which in this particular study was limited to Spotify and Deezer — only takes home 20.8 percent. After 16.7 percent is taken out for taxes, that leaves 10 percent for songwriters and publishers, and 6.8 percent for artists. And even if Tidal makes users pay (upwards of $20 for the highest sound quality!) artists will still have the same shitty record deals and see the same shitty ratios they’ve had for decades. [...] Even as Spotify has grown its total user base, the number of paid subscribers has held steady at only 25 percent. [ future is to divorce content discovery & distribution from revenue/income streams, bc digital is commodity! ] &! TC Rant Video tcrn.ch/1BYSfL2