spotify

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Says The Platform Is ‘Ready’ To Increase Subscription Prices In The US

by
Spotify logo
Getty Image

Spotify can be used for free, but to unlock more features, music lovers can subscribe to one of the streaming services’ premium tiers. The most basic of those plans, for a single user, currently costs $9.99 per month in the US. That could change soon, though.

Yesterday (April 25), in a conference call discussing Spotify’s first quarter earnings (as Billboard notes), Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said, “I think we are ready to raise prices, I think we have the ability to do that, but it really comes down to those negotiations [with major music industry stakeholders].”

Ek also noted, “We did raise prices in 46 different locations and markets last year, and even in those markets, we were still out performing. I feel really good about our ability to raise prices over time — that we have that ability — and we have lots of data now that backs that up. We may have been marginally helped by being a lower-cost provider, but it isn’t a primary part of our strategy and it’s not something that we’re thinking about. Instead, we’re working with our label partners to work […] to figure out what’s the best opportunity to do that. And that’s a more complex trade. When the timing’s right, we will raise it.”

This comes after Spotify had about $3.3 billion in total revenue during the first quarter of 2023. That’s a 14-percent increase over 2022, but as Billboard notes, it’s “slightly lower than the company expected as macroeconomic fears crimped Spotify’s advertising business by around $20 million.”

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Believes AI Is ‘Huge For Creativity’ But Acklowledges ‘The Scary Part’

by
daniel ek
Getty Image

AI recreations of popular musicians’ voices have become a rising trend, with Drake and The Weeknd’s fake “Heart On My Sleeve” song being pulled from streaming platforms, Grimes saying she’s OK with it, and Liam Gallagher calling an Oasis AI album “mega.” Still, Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, offered his thoughts on just what this means for the future of the music industry,

“On the positive side, this could be potentially huge for creativity,” Ek said on a conference call, according to Billboard. “That should lead to more music [which] we think is great culturally, but it also benefits Spotify because the more creators we have on our service the better it is and the more opportunity we have to grow engagement and revenue.”

Earlier this year, the streaming service announced an AI DJ aspect to the app, which develops song recommendations for users based on their listening history and features narration from an AI bot.

“I’m very familiar with the scary part… the complete generative stuff or even the so-called deep fakes that pretend to be someone they’re not,” Ek added during a recent episode of Spotify’s For The Record podcast. “I choose to look at the glass as more half-full than half-empty. I think if it’s done right, these AIs will be incorporated into almost every product suite to enable creativity to be available to many more people around the world.”

Currently, Universal Music Group and the National Music Publishers’ Association are some standing against AI, as the record label released a recent statement to the publication:

“The training of generative AI using our artists’ music (which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law) as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on DSPs, begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation. We’re encouraged by the engagement of our platform partners on these issues – as they recognize they need to be part of the solution.”

Lil Wayne Surpasses 25 Billion Streams On Spotify

by

There’s hardly a rapper like Lil Wayne who adapted and prospered through the evolution of the music industry in the past 30 years. When CDs were at the height of popularity, he was a member of the Hot Boyz, revving for his solo debut. Then, he shifted the mixtape game indefinitely during the mid-aughts. Still, he remains a giant on streaming platforms across the board, especially Spotify. New reports claim that Weezy F. Baby has officially passed 25 billion streams on Spotify across all credits. It’s an impressive feat that goes to show how timeless his catalog is.

Still, Lil Wayne has ways to go before he could become the highest-streaming rapper, a title that belongs to his protegé Drake. Lil Wayne’s reached some phenomenal milestones throughout the streaming era. Tha Carter III, for example, recently reached 1 billion streams on Spotify, contributing to Lil Wayne’s overall streaming success. The rapper currently has 32 million monthly listeners but his most streamed records are those that he features on. DJ Khaled’s “I’m The One” ft. Lil Wayne, Justin Bieber, Chance The Rapper, and Quavo sits at 1,172,372,958. Second to DJ Khaled’s hit record is “Sucker For Pain,” Lil Wayne’s collab with Wiz Khalifa and Imagine Dragons for the Suicide Squad soundtrack that currently has 1,025,032,852 streams. 

Lil Wayne’s Reaches New Streaming Heights

Wayne’s massive accomplishment arrives in the midst of his Welcome To Tha Carter tour. In the past month, Wayne’s embarked on a must-see tour in intimate settings where he provides day-one fans with a journey through his catalog. The rapper’s also brought through a series of guests including Drake, Cam’ron and NLE Choppa, who gifted Wayne a gorgeous new chain as a token of his gratitude. 

We could imagine that Lil Wayne will likely keep his Spotify momentum high, especially with a new album on the way. The rapper announced Tha Carter VI last summer and later, launched a pre-save link. Still, he hasn’t left fans empty handed. Along with collaborating with Swizz Beatz on “Kant Nobody” and most recently, “That Sh*t Right Here,” Lil Wayne celebrated his career with the I Am Music compilation project. 

[Via]

Spotify Experiences Major Outage, Twitter Reacts

by

Spotify is one of the biggest streaming platforms in the entire world. Overall, it is responsible for hundreds of billions of music streams. The biggest artists in the world are all found on the platform, and they largely rely on Spotify for discovery. Although some feel like the revenue splits are too low, the streaming era persists. Of course, the company has various competitors, such as Apple Music and Tidal. However, it remains the biggest platform in the world, which speaks to the name recognition.

That said, a lot of Spotify users got a pretty bad wake-up call this morning. It was immediately made clear that the platform just was not working as intended. Users were unable to play songs, and it led to mass confusion and sadness. Consequently, Spotify had no choice but to act quickly and respond. With numerous reports of an outage, the company took to Twitter. “Something’s not quite right, and we’re looking into it. Thanks for your reports!” they wrote. Subsequently, they followed this up by saying “Everything’s looking much better now! Give @SpotifyCares a shout if you still need help.”

Spotify Speaks Out

As it turns out, Spotify may have jumped the gun by saying that everything was back up and running again. In the comments underneath the above post, many made it clear that the platform still is not working. “I can’t play any songs… it just skips through everything on a playlist or just straight up doesn’t play as a single. It shows up as playing on Discord for some reason even though it isn’t,” one person wrote. “Still not working, says Spotify can’t access the song currently (happens with every song),” another stated.

Overall, this is a huge problem. On our end, Spotify is still not working, which means the same is happening to a large percentage of their userbase. Hopefully, the platform is able to rectify this issue, sooner rather than later. Let us know if you are having issues with Spotify, in the comments down below. Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world.

Fans Aren’t So Sure

Juice WRLD Hits 30 Billion Streams On Spotify Alone

by

Juice WRLD just hit another huge milestone in his career, even years after his tragic passing. Moreover, it was recently revealed that the Chicago star recently surpassed 30 billion streams on Spotify alone across all credits. With that in mind, and not even considering his streams on platforms like Apple Music and YouTube, he stands as one of the most streamed artists of all time. Recently, close friend and collaborator Cole Bennet celebrated another achievement in each of their careers. Via Instagram, he revealed that the first Juice video he ever shot recently reached 300 million views on YouTube.

Said example is just one of many where you can see the 21-year-old’s legacy and impact continue to manifest. Another takes a much more personal and somber tone, and it comes from Polo G. Furthermore, the fellow Chicago MC expressed that he stopped taking Percocet because of Juice WRLD passing away far too soon. ““It made me look at a lot of s**t differently,” Polo stated. “That made me stop popping Percocets altogether, though. ‘Cause I know he wouldn’t want me on that s**t.”

Juice WRLD Achieves Massive Spotify Streams Milestone

Not only that, but the “Pop Out” artist’s decision even influenced his own father to follow in his footsteps. “Being able to see that and say, ‘Damn, my son can get it together’ — I need to [as well],” Taurus Bartlett Sr. said. Despite his deafening absence, fans still get plenty of music from Juice WRLD often thanks to his estate releasing posthumous tracks. While this practice isn’t favored by many out there, it at least gives fans some sense of what could’ve been. Moreover, the most recent offering from Juice comes from his recently released single, “The Light.“

However, those posthumous releases often come with baggage- and sometimes, they’re not treated with due respect. For example, fans expressed outrage when Juice’s name was removed from the cover art of a posthumous The Kid LAROI collab. “I had NOTHING to do with this & had no idea it was even a thing until now,” LAROI tweeted to clarify. “I’ve hit the label and asked them to change it back. I’m sorry & genuinely have no clue why [they changed it] without my permission. I would never approve of that. EVER.” Regardless of that unfortunate development, let us know your favorite album or songs from the late legend down below. Also, log back into HNHH for the latest news and updates on Juice WRLD.

Spotify Songs Are Being Ignored By The Millions

by

Spotify has been a game-changer in the music industry. The streaming platform has made it easier for big-name artists to connect with their fans. Additionally, many would argue that Spotify has democratized the industry. Gone are the days when budding artists were forced to sell mixtapes to passersby on the street. Furthermore, Spotify has lessened the need for artists to be noticed by big-name producers or record companies. Now, wannabe music stars can simply record their songs and upload them to the internet.

However, there is a downside to Spotify’s explosion in popularity. The amount of people on the platform has caused oversaturation. Subsequently, many of the songs are being ignored. Baller Alert took to Instagram to shed light on a new study that shows that much of the music being uploaded to Spotify is not being listened to. The study says that nearly a quarter of music uploaded to the platform received zero plays last year. Subsequently, that accounts for about 38 million songs. Additionally, the study also says that another 67 million songs on the platform received less than ten streams. That accounts for about half of the songs on Spotify.

Spotify Still Dominated By Big Names

Meanwhile, the study went on to place the number of total songs on Spotify at around 158 million. That means that about three-quarters of all of the music on the platform is largely going unheard, Furthermore, these numbers seem to suggest what most observers likely already knew. Spotify is dominated by big names. Artists like Eminem, NBA YoungBoy, and Miley Cyrus do massive numbers on the platform. Meanwhile, the majority of artists receive little to no play.

Obviously, music is a very difficult industry to break into. Most people who set out to become big-name musicians never meet their goals. Moreover, attracting an audience can be a difficult task. Indeed even highly talented artists will never will never taste stardom. However, one of the more perplexing things about the study is that people aren’t even listening to their songs. Moreover, it seems they are not promoting the music to their friends and family.

[Via]

How To See Your Spotify Pie Chart

by
Spotify Logo
Getty Image

It’s been months since Spotify had its annual takeover of social media with Spotify Wrapped, a feature that allows listeners to share breakdowns of their most-played music. The most significant downside to Wrapped, though, is that it only comes once per year. So, a developer is now offering an unofficial solution to fill the void, and you can check it out right now.

How To See Your Spotify Pie Chart

As Metro notes, a California-based student named Darren Huang has unveiled Spotify Pie, which generates a pie chart based on the last month of a user’s Spotify listening activity.

Using it is pretty simple. Head to the Spotify Pie website (on mobile or desktop devices) and log in with your Spotify credentials. From there, the page will quickly populate a pie chart that breaks down your top genres. Hover over the slices (or, on a mobile device, tap) to see the top artists that fit into these genres. The genres can get pretty granular: My personal list included “edmonton indie” (Mac DeMarco), “seattle indie” (The Postal Service), and “dmv rap” (IDK).

Below the pie chart and its corresponding key is a list of the most-played artists, which the top picks presented in a larger font.

The site seems harmless, but as with any third-party application that accesses your data and login credentials, proceed with caution.

If that all sounds cool, check out Spotify Pie here.