The biggest music industry news | June 2024
Image credit: Ibrahim Rifath
This summer is filled not just with hot new songs but big shifts in the industry to stick your teeth into, all compiled in one place here.
Spotify launches a music-only subscription tier
Spotify have released a new tier for listeners in the U.K. and U.S.. Their new Basic tier is £1/$1 cheaper than an individual Premium account and removes the 15 hours of free audiobook listening for a music-focused experience.
Spotify have recently faced criticism for bundling their service with audiobooks. As their Premium tier comes bundled with audiobooks they now qualify to pay music publishers less. Their music-only tier should ensure full payments to artists.
Fan Links are now available from the RouteNote website
Artists can now create Fan Links directly from their RouteNote discography. Powered by PUSH.fm, these powerful promo pages allow you to bring all your links together into one place. This makes sharing the links to your new releases from every platform you’ve distributed to a breeze, enhancing your plays and career!
TikTok are re-inventing their platform for music artists
This year, TikTok have been enhancing the place that music has on their app massively. Their new Artist Accounts offer loads of new power for artists to bolster their presence and promote their content on TikTok. We’ve also seen new features like Fan Spotlight help to deepen the relationships between fans and artists.
Twitch are finally paying musicians for DJ livestreams
Twitch have announced their new music licensing deals will ensure artists get paid for their music. With their new licenses, Twitch will apportion royalties towards artists whose music is used in the livestream of DJs. This benefits both the artists whose music is played and the DJs who have only been able to livestream their mixes at the risk of having them taken down.
RouteNote Convert launches loads of new features
We launched create.routenote.com in 2022 to offer loads of handy tools to artists and beyond. Now the website is bigger than ever with new tools for creating ZIP files, QR codes, converting text, and a series of new tools to help you work with code even easier.
The music industry fights AI song generators
The RIAA are suing two of the leading AI music generators: Suno and Udio. They claim that their AI models are trained on copyrighted material which allows them to recreate the likeness of existing artists. The AI companies deny wrongdoing, claiming it is fair use. The outcome will help to shape the music industry’s relationship with AI.
Reason 13 DAW launches with brand new features
Reason, one of the world’s favourite DAWs, have launched the newest version of their software. The update brings a completely new interface to the software. Two new devices called the Polytone and Ripley Delay offer more creative inspiration as well as a number of new utilities to explore and use to experiment with your sound.
The songs of the summer 2024
Both Spotify and TikTok have released their songs of the summer lists. Each one brings together the hottest songs for the hottest part of the year, made up of new and trending hits. Whilst they share their similarities, they both offer a distinct taste of what this year’s sound could be for the summer. Stream their playlists now.
TIDAL remove MQA and 360 Reality Audio
Jay Z’s music streaming service TIDAL is dropping Master Quality Audio (MQA) and 360 Reality Audio from their service. Instead, they will be using FLAC files for high-quality audio and Dolby Atmos for immersive audio experiences. This comes shortly after TIDAL dropped their Hi-Fi subscription to just $10.99 a month.