As of May 5, Amazon Music Unlimited subscription prices are rising by a dollar for Prime members. The individual plan is increasing from $7.99 to $8.99 per month, and the single-device plan is rising from $3.99 to $4.99 per month.

A recent Nielsen report revealed that according to its survey, 46% of streaming consumers feel overwhelmed by the number of platforms and titles available to them. However, viewers are not planning to slow down as 93% of respondents said they would keep the paid streaming services they have or add more over the next year.

Spirit Music Group exec Melanie Santa Rosa and drummer/composer Nate Smith have both been appointed to two advisory committee positions at the MLC. Santa Rosa is now part of the Operations Advisory Committee, and Smith is appointed to the Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee.

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Compiled by Heidi Seo


Exploration Weekly - April 08, 2022

Amazon Music Prices Are Going Up for Some Subscribers

Starting next month, the Amazon Music Unlimited individual plan for Prime members is increasing from $7.99 to $8.99 per month, or from $79 to $89 per year. In addition, the Amazon Music Unlimited single-device plan (which allows one designated Echo or Fire TV to stream music) is rising from $3.99 to $4.99 per month. The updated pricing starts on May 5. The ecommerce giant is raising the prices “To help us bring you even more content and features,” Amazon said in a customer notice on its site.

Streaming Overload: Viewers Feel Overwhelmed by Too Many Choices, Nielsen Survey Finds

According to a Nielsen report titled State of Play analyzing the state of streaming, a survey revealed that 46% of streaming consumers feel overwhelmed by the ever-increasing number of platforms and titles available to them, which can make it tougher to find specific titles in a specific place. As of February, according to Nielsen, there are 817,000 unique program titles (series, movies, specials and other programming) available via streaming services — an increase of some 171,000 titles (26.5 percent) since the end of 2019. The continued increase in the amount of available content has meant a corresponding rise in time spent streaming. And despite the widespread sentiment that the huge volume of programming feels overwhelming, viewers have no plans to slow down. A whopping 93% of respondents in Nielsen’s survey said they plan to keep the paid streaming services they have or add more over the next year.

Spirit Music Group Exec Melanie Santa Rosa Joins MLC Operations Advisory Committee

Music industry veteran Melanie Santa Rosa and drummer and composer Nate Smith have been appointed to two advisory committee positions at The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC). Santa Rosa – Senior Vice President, Global Administration at Spirit Music Group – has been appointed to The MLC’s Operations Advisory Committee. Smith, meanwhile, has been appointed to The MLC’s Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee. The Operations Advisory Committee is comprised of six representatives of music publishers, and six representatives of digital music providers. The Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee recommends policies and procedures to The MLC’s Board related to the distribution of unclaimed accrued royalties, and is comprised of five songwriters and five representatives of music publishers.

SOCAN Collections Rebound 6% to $325 Million

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) saw collections rebound 6.4% to 416 million Canadian dollars ($325.5 million) from the prior year’s total of 391 million Canadian dollars ($305.9 million), despite the pandemic’s lingering economic impact in 2021. The organization’s overall revenue increase for 2021 was driven by a whopping 29.8% growth in digital collections to 135 million Canadian dollars ($105.63 million) from the prior year’s total of 104 million Canadian dollars ($81.4 million). During the year, SOCAN added another 6,000 members and now counts membership at 180,000.

Ed Sheeran Wins UK Copyright Case Over “Shape Of You”

Ed Sheeran has won a copyright battle in UK court over his chart-topping 2017 hit “Shape of You,” after a judge ruled on April 6 that the musician did not infringe a 2015 song called “Oh Why” released by an artist named Sami Chokri. In his decision, Judge Antony Zacaroli ruled there was no evidence that Sheeran had intentionally or “subconsciously” copied from “Oh Why” when he wrote “Shape of You.” He said that “while there are similarities” between the two songs, “there are also significant differences.”

Spending on Music and Audio Apps Grew to $1.95 Billion in 2021

Analytics firm Data·ai has published its latest “State of Media & Entertainment on Mobile” report. Among its stats: the estimate that consumer spending on music and audio apps in 2021 grew by 29% year-on-year to $1.95bn. There are also some interesting quarterly charts of the top music and audio apps ranked by downloads. Between the final quarter of 2020 and the end of 2021, ByteDance’s Resso streaming service climbed from fifth place to second place, behind only Spotify in the global chart, having overtaken Shazam and YouTube Music. India is the key reason for Resso’s growth.


Random Ramblings

  • How influential was Spotify playlisting for some of 2021’s biggest breakthrough artists?
  • Machine Gun Kelly breaks record for most solo hits on the Hot Rock Chart.
  • Harry Styles breaks the Spotify single-day streaming record with "As It Was".
  • How today’s electronic music is bringing age-old folk traditions back to life.
  • GRAMMYs 2022: Must-See Moments

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