Music Business

Music Publishing News Weekly Roundup 3.4.14: Island Def Jam Reorg, Sales Stats, Spotify Redesign

Spotify_artist_560Island Def Jam Motown has reorganized into three standalone labels, Island, Def Jam, and Motown Records. Each label will be restructured with a new CEO and team to better fit their respective artists. The goal of this change is to re-establish the brand and story of each label in particular Motown Records who has a long history of traditional R&B and gospel acts. This label will permanently relocate to Los Angeles.

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  • Total worldwide music sales in the U.S. has remained high with a total of $4.47 Billion in 2013. This represents an increase in sales growth by .8%. An annual global sales report called “Recording Industry In Numbers” from IFPI indicates that Japan falls 2nd with a total $3.01 Billion. This was followed by Germany who surpassed the U.K. for the world’s 3rd position. Their sales totaled to $1.37 Billion while U.K.’s totaled $1.30 Billion. According to the report, digital music made up over 60% of recorded music revenues with subscription based services growing by 65.4% in 2013.
  • Spotify has launched a new redesign for iPhone, desktop and web apps. With a darker background and more subtle icons, the new design allows for the album art to be more visible and “pop”. There is also a new feature called “your music” that serves in place of “playlists” that allows the user to more easily store the music they like. Spotify released a YouTube video on Tuesday to introduce the new layout.

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