Spotify: Last News

Napster has been sold for a whopping $207million over 20 years after being shut down.Napster, founded in 1999, was a peer-to-peer file sharing platform that infamously kicked off a wave of pirating software and applications, later followed by the likes of LimeWire and ThePirateBay.Later that year, Napster was sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) over the illegal distribution of copyrighted materials, and Metallica infamously sued the platform in 2000. In 2002, Napster filed for bankruptcy, and along with its court order, was shut down.

Metallica’s ‘Master Of Puppets’ has reached one billion streams on Spotify, with the band urging fans to “send it on its way to two billion”.The milestone is commemorated with a playlist on the streaming platform of every member of the ‘Billions Club’, with 1986’s ‘Master Of Puppets’ joining ‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Nothing Else Matters’ on the list.“We’re psyched to share that ‘Master of Puppets’ has just made its way into @Spotify’s Billions Club – Thank you!” the band wrote on X on Thursday (April 3). “Send it on its way to two billion.”Check out the ‘Billions Club’ playlist below.We’re psyched to share that “Master of Puppets” has just made its way into @Spotify’s Billions Club – Thank you!Send it on its way to two billion, and listen to every member of the Billions Club at https://t.co/vLgkFPpLIR.

Spotify has claimed it has paid $10bn (£7.7bn) in royalties in 2024, the largest payout to the music industry in a single year.The streaming service said 1,500 artists earned over $1 million in royalties, marking a 10-fold increase in its yearly payout figure from 2024, where $1 billion was given overall.In a report looking at payments of royalties, Spotify called their 2024 payouts “the largest in music industry history”, and compared itself to Tower Records at the peak of the CD era in the early 2000s.However, this comes as artists and industry figures continue to criticise the streaming service over streaming earnings. Earlier this year, nominees for the Songwriter Of The Year category at this year’s Grammy Awards decided to boycott Spotify‘s party for the ceremony.The likes of Jessi Alexander, Amy Allen, Jessie Jo Dillon and RAYE – who have all been nominated for Songwriter Of The Year have announced they will be skipping the streaming platform’s celebratory bash and will also not be performing at the event.However, Spotify said it pays royalties to rights holders, explaining that it does not have “visibility” on where the money ultimately goes as it is dependent on the artists’ individual contracts with their labels – according to BBC News.A spokesperson said: “Spotify does not pay artists or songwriters directly.

Cradle Of Filth’s Dani Filth has criticised streaming platforms like Spotify, saying he “owes it” to other musicians not to have an account.The frontman made the comments during a new interview with Sonic Perspectives, and explained how the shift to the digital age is making it harder for musicians to make a living from their music.“I owe it to my brethren in metal and music not to have a fucking Spotify account because they don’t pay people. It’s not just them — it’s just platforms in general,” he began (via Blabbermouth).“I appreciate the fact that people could discover you from another band and whatever; I’ve heard it a million times.

wedding harp and vocal duo Adel and Karina told The Post.The four-time Grammy winner wrote the 2017 ballad for his now-wife Cherry Seaborn, and said it’s the love song for which he will be the most remembered.“‘Perfect,’ is the one where, whenever I play it at a concert, you see the stadium change, and everyone suddenly starts hugging the person next to them,” he told GQ.The British singer-songwriter, who has a net worth of $200 million, made the list not one, but three times — with his song “Photograph” ranking as No. 5 and “Thinking out Loud,” No.

Spotify has won a lawsuit over a bundling strategy it adopted which led to decreased royalty payments to songwriters.It comes after the streaming company introduced a new audiobooks bundle to its premium subscription last year.Spotify started to pay a lesser royalty rate to songwriters, and argued that the move was backed by a settlement they had reached with music publishers in 2022 through the Copyright Royalty Board, which determined streaming services are allowed to pay less on music subscriptions bundled with other services.The Mechanical Licensing Collective, a nonprofit organisation responsible for issuing mechanical licences to streaming services, filed a lawsuit against Spotify last May, claiming that it had incorrectly characterised the bundle and “unilaterally and unlawfully” began reducing the rate by as much as 50 percent without any warning, according to Rolling Stone.In a memorandum filed in court yesterday (January 29), it was ruled that Spotify was within its rights, calling the bundling rule “unambiguous.”Judge Analisa Torres added: “The only plausible application of the law supports Spotify’s position. Under the facts as alleged, audiobook streaming is a product or service that is distinct from music streaming and has more than token value.

Liam Gallagher has shared his verdict on Bring Me The Horizon’s new cover of the Oasis classic ‘Wonderwall’.The version was released earlier today (January 29) as part of the Spotify Singles series and it sees the Sheffield band stamp their own distinctive trademark on the track, some 30 years after its original release.Noel Gallagher’s original acoustic guitar part is swapped out for a chunky electric riff, while frontman Oli Sykes belts out the iconic lyrics amid the immense drums of Mat Nicholls. Listen to the cover here:Now, the song’s original vocalist has had his say on the version.

inked a deal with Lemonada Media in Feb. 2024 to launch a new podcast series after Spotify decided not to renew the steep $20 million deal for a second season of “Archetypes.”While the new podcast was supposed to launch last year, the “Suits” alum was forced to pump the brakes on its release after Lemonada was reportedly “struggling to get off the starting blocks.”A source has now told Hello! Magazine that Markle’s dive back into the podcast arena will have to wait.Insiders told the outlet that similarly to the delay of her upcoming Netflix lifestyle series “With Love, Meghan,” the former working royal’s podcast’s launch has been affected by the LA wildfires.The Post has reached out to Markle’s reps and Lemonada Media for comment.After signing with the former actress, Lemonada will now be distributing her previous Spotify podcast series to all platforms.Details of the new series have yet to be made available, but it is known that Markle will host the show.It appears as though Markle will need to work extra hard to make the podcast a success after her former Spotify colleagues accused her of bullying.One person who worked with Markle described the alleged experience with her as “really, really, really awful” and “very painful.”According to several unnamed sources who spoke to Vanity Fair, the former actress and her husband, Prince Harry, 40, did not always foster a congenial working environment.The experience was “really, really, really awful.

Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify have announced the striking of a new multi-year deal that will usher in “the next era of streaming innovation” – find out more below.Yesterday (January 26), UMG and Spotify announced their new deal, which will continue their long-running partnership dating back to 2015. In a press release, the two companies shared that the new deal was shaped around recorded music and music publishing that will be focused on “growth, innovation and the advancement of artists’ and songwriters’ success”.Per the deal, both consumers and artists will be able to access “new paid subscription tiers, bundling of music and non-music content, and a richer audio and visual content catalog”.

Björk has reflected on the world of streaming and said that she thinks Spotify is “probably the worst thing that has happened to musicians”.She made the comments during a recent interview with Swedish outlet Dagens Nyheter, where she was promoting the upcoming livestream of her new concert film Cornucopia, which will debut on Apple TV+ later today (January 24).Later in the discussion, however, the artist recalled her approach towards making new music and shared how she has fortunately never felt pressured to develop a tour purely to create an income.Discussing her approach to developing new material, she said: “It is only in darkness that you can plant a new seed. For the seed to grow into a healthy and vigorous plant, you need privacy.

Fox News Digital on Thursday.Sean noted that the moniker for Markle — whose former Spotify co-workers unloaded on her in a recent Vanity Fair exposé — “wasn’t an engaging pet nickname.”“The nickname came from the 1955 camp classic ‘Queen Bee’ starring the ultimate diva herself – Joan Crawford,” Sean explained. “This is because, like the Joan character [Eva Phillips], she stung her victims to pieces.

Spotify hosted a brunch one day before Donald Trump’s inauguration and donated $150,000 (£122,000) to the official ceremony.The music streaming service held the brunch to celebrate the “power of podcasts in this election”, inviting high-profile podcasters Joe Rogan, Ben Shapiro and Tim Pool to the event, although Bloomberg reported that Rogan did not attend in the end.The Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter also reported that the company donated the sum of $150,000 to the inauguration ceremony. In response to the report, Spotify claimed that “the donation aims to continue to expand our presence in Washington D.C.

Drake has dropped a legal case which accused labels of inflating the number of streams on Kendrick Lamar‘s diss track ‘Not Like Us’.The Canadian rapper pursued the legal case last November, and alleged that Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify had “artificially inflated” the number of listens on Kendrick Lamar’s song, which accused him of paedophilia.In the documents, Drake claimed that the companies had used methods like bots and payola to promote the song. “The record-shattering spread of ‘Not Like Us’ on streaming, sales, and radio play was deliberate and appears to have relied upon irregular and inappropriate business practices,” it read.Now, it has been reported that the rapper’s legal team have voluntarily withdrawn the filing and ended the case.BBC News reports that the rapper met with Spotify and Universal representatives yesterday (January 14) to discuss the case.

Rage Against The Machine and Franz Ferdinand are the latest to join Spotify‘s Billions Club, with their respective tracks ‘Killing In The Name’ and ‘Take Me Out’ racking up a colossal number of streams.Rage frontman Tom Morello acknowledged the milestone on Saturday (January 11), thanking “all those who listened to” the politically-charged single, including “those who love it, those who hate it, and those that have enjoyed it without understanding it.”“Righteous proof that rebel music and irony are alive and well,” he added.‘Killing In The Name’ comes from the band’s 1992 self-titled debut album, and was written in the wake of the Los Angeles riots that year. The track mused on racist police in the city who Morello previously described as “boot licking lackeys and thugs of the racist capitalist ruling class”.In the years since its release, the track has been adopted by protestors around the world.

Grammy Awards have decided to boycott Spotify‘s party for the ceremony.The likes of Jessi Alexander, Amy Allen, Jessie Jo Dillon and RAYE – who have all been nominated for Songwriter Of The Year have announced they will be skipping the streaming platform’s celebratory bash and will also not be performing at the event.While speaking to Billboard, Allen (Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Sabrina Carpenter) and Dillon (Jelly Roll, Megan Marooney) confirmed that their absence is due to Spotify’s treatment of songwriters.“After some thought, I couldn’t in good conscience support this initiative given their approach to bundling royalties,” said Dillon in a statement to the publication. “It is very nice to be individually honored, but it is better for me and my entire songwriter community to be paid fairly for our art.

premiering January 15, is reportedly the final entry in Markle and Prince Harry’s multi-million Netflix deal, which is slated to end this year.Earlier this month, the couple released their “Polo” docu-series on the streamer to lackluster reviews. (Wrote the Guardian: It “feels like a spoof documentary designed to play on screens in the background of episodes of ‘Succession.’”) And while 2022’s “Harry & Meghan” reportedly set a documentary audience record on Netflix when it premiered, it was a one-off, limited series.This is all on top of the Sussexes getting dropped from a Spotify podcast deal in 2023 — a split so ugly it led exec Bill Simmons to call them “f–king grifters.”One Hollywood exec told The Post that Markle’s new series is the pair’s last chance at streaming relevancy.“It’s so sad because they had this huge platform,” the exec said.

Spotify has released a new concert film featuring Billions Club member The Weeknd – check it out below.In 2024, The Weeknd – real name Abel Tesfaye – shattered Spotify records when he became the most-awarded Billions Club musician in history. To become a member of the coveted Billions Club, a musician has to earn a billion Spotify streams on a singular song.

Kesha‘s hit single ‘TikTok’ earned its highest streams ever after she performed on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.The 2009 song racked up nearly 2million streams on Spotify on Wednesday (January 1) following her performance in Las Vegas. It previously charted at the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 in the first week of January 2010, making it the first hit of that decade.

Gwyneth Paltrow has shared her skepticism over the data on her Spotify Wrapped playlist for 2024.The 2024 edition of Spotify Wrapped arrived earlier this month and, as ever, allowed users to reflect on their listening habits from the past 12 months in its ‘Celebration Of Your Year’ experience.But during a question and answer session with her lifestyle brand Goop, via Yahoo News, the actor insisted that her playlist didn’t add up.She said: “My data was not accurate.

Shaboozey has become the latest musician to join Spotify‘s Billions Club with his track ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’.The American singer and producer took to his official Instagram account to share the accolade with a photo of himself in a white outfit and white fur hat – similar to the get-up he wore while performing alongside Beyoncé during her Christmas-day halftime show on his Instagram stories.“A billion streams + Beyoncé bowl on the same day. It’s a Christmas miracle,” he wrote in a caption on his post.

Ariana Grande has shared a new live performance of ‘Santa Tell Me’, right in time for Christmas.Last night (December 23), Grande took to Instagram to post a snippet of a new live performance of the 2014 track to not only usher in the Christmas season but to celebrate the song’s 10th anniversary.She wrote on social media: “celebrating ten years of ‘Santa Tell Me’! thank you so much for all of the love you have shown this record over the past decade. wishing you all a happy, happy holiday!”She has also shared the full performance on YouTube, which can be seen below.