Spotify has once again drawn the ire of the music industry. The National Music Publishers' Association has called on the Federal Trade Commission to examine the streaming service's addition of audiobook content into all of its paid subscription plans. According to the group's FTC complaint, Spotify's recent actions are part of "a scheme to increase profits by deceiving consumers and cheating the music royalty system." This requires some backstory. In November 2023, Spotify announced that it would include 15 hours of audiobook content as part of all its Premium subscription plans. A few months later, the company unveiled a new audiobook-only subscription, offering the same number of listening hours for $10 a month. The publishers' organization claims that Spotify's recent price increases are based on offering that extra audiobook content, and that paying customers are automatically being charged for a service they didn't choose and can't opt out of without switching to the free, ad-supported listening experience. And the additional revenue from the higher Premium subscription costs may not go to the music composers. According to the FTC complaint, Spotify will pay about $150 million less in music royalties over the first year of these new bundled Premium plans. The NMPA letter goes so far as to call the new audiobook-only plan "a sham" that "exists solely to allow Spotify to claim that audiobook content is a significantly and independently valuable aspect of its 'bundled'... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2024-06-12 23:52:55 UTC ]
Condé Nast Pulls Investment From FarFetch [caption id="attachment_161701" align="alignright" width="150"] José Neves[/caption] Condé Nast pulled its nearly $300 million investment in the London-based luxury fashion retail marketplace FarFetch, following concerns about the management of the... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2019-07-09 18:18:07 UTC ]
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Paul McCartney will narrate the audiobook edition of his upcoming picture book, Hey Grandude! (Puffin), which is inspired by his experiences of being a grandfather. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-04 02:57:43 UTC ]
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A reader comes to terms with the role audiobooks play in her ability to be more mindful for the sake of her mental health, and considers reading life solutions. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-07-01 10:41:46 UTC ]
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Sweden’s Bonnier has announced a sweeping expansion in Europe of its BookBeat digital service, multiplying by seven times its former reach in terms of markets for audiobooks and ebooks. By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson Service Has More Than 50,000 Audiobooks and Ebooks he... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-06-24 12:55:40 UTC ]
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Audiobook streaming service BookBeat has launched in 24 new European markets, making the service available in 28 countries overall. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-24 12:31:26 UTC ]
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A little under two years after its five-season run ended on BBC America, Orphan Black is returning with a bang, and probably loads more sound effects. Fiction publishing startup Serial Box is reviving the beloved sci-fi show this summer as a ten-epis... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2019-06-13 22:51:00 UTC ]
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Angelica Gonzalez used to read about a book a year. Then she discovered the Libby app, which allows anyone with a Los Angeles Public Library card to borrow e-books, audiobooks and other electronic media — for free. Now Gonzalez regularly checks out titles and transfers them to her Kindle.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-12 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Media and publishing giant Meredith Corp. says it is selling its Fortune brand for $150 million in cash Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2018-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Meredith Corp. agreed to sell Fortune magazine and its related businesses for $150 million, furthering the company's efforts to shed the news-focused brands it acquired in buying Time Inc. The buyer is Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon, an owner of the Charoen Pokphand Group conglomerate,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Meredith Corp. agreed to sell Fortune magazine and its related businesses for $150 million, furthering the company’s efforts to shed the news-focused brands it acquired in buying Time Inc. The buyer... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2018-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A few years ago, Google regularly traded barbs with major news publishers in public. Today, Google is rewiring its search engine to appease them.The Alphabet unit is scrapping a contentious search result rule for subscription news sites and giving them new tools to attract more paying customers.... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2017-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is giving publishers new tools to attract digital subscribers as the social-media giant tries to ease concerns that its growing power threatens the media industry.In recent months, Facebook has tested "call-to-action" features with select media outlets participating in its Instant... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2017-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To get you ready for the weekend, we've rounded up some of our best stories this week: Twitter is falling out of favor with publishers as a reliable driver of traffic. It doesn’t have the audience scale, visual storytelling tools and ad products that Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook do. On... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2016-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sharing on Facebook makes users 81 times more likely to turn into paying customers, the Futurebook Conference has heard. In a panel entitled What Does the Future Publisher Look Like? Andrew Savikas, c.e.o of Safari Books Online, said: "If you give people the opportunity to share, that makes... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Glam Media, a lifestyle and fashion blog network, has acquired Ning, a platform for building social media communities. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but reports are putting the price in the $150 million to $200 million range and mostly in stock. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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