Rumor has it…, I ❤ Streaming, and Snapchat makes a Spectacle: Liv Buli’s Week in Music and More
Another Friday, another Liv Buli Reading List. Buli, the data journalist for Pandora's Next Big Sound, often sees what is going to matter before the rest of us and lucky for us, she shares it with us lesser beings on Hypebot .
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By Liv Buli of Pandora's Next Big Sound
No rest for the wicked, nor the music industry it seems. Another week of big stories dropping, from acquisition talks, to major milestones, to huge hiring moves. Here’s what you should know before you head out for the weekend.
Spotify and SoundCloud have reportedly been in talks about acquisition. No comment from either party yet, and nothing has actually happened yet, so y’all can calm down. It would be an interesting move. Between features like their social community and the ability for music makers to directly upload tracks SoundCloud has something really unique, but I am not entirely sure how they would marry these services in practice. Tbd. Potensh.
YouTube hired Lyor — clutch move. Has it really been 3 years since Google invested in 300? They are killin it btw (300 that is).
iHeart announced their intention to launch an on-demand service. Immediate reaction? You get a streaming service! You get a streaming service! Everybody gets a streaming service!
Oh and of course, all the deets on Snapchat’s (Sorry, Snap, Inc.) new spectacles.
Thumbprint Radio (from Pandora) hit some major milestones this week, among them 5 billion+ spins. If you haven’t listened to your personal thumbprint radio station yet, I’d highly recommend it (though mine really only plays Adele).
On the Predictions chart this week — A younger, better(?) version of One Direction, some seriously bizarre YouTube pop, and Cynthia Meng’s favorite band ever — Vulfpeck.
Alisa Xayalith from The Naked and Famous is awesome, and their new album is going to be sick. Here are 10 reasons why you need to listen to it.
And in graphs this week: a spike on Wikipedia for Mary J. Blige, as well as for the Bruce Springsteen track she sings, after this teaser of what seems to have been an… ahem… eventful chat with Hillary Clinton went live.
Now. This is a conflicting moment for me. Let’s be clear: #imwithher
However. This has to be one of the most uncomfortable, awkward videos I have ever been witness to in my entire career of watching uncomfortable, awkward videos on the internet.
I mean, Hillary’s face.
Dear lord, please fire whoever thought this was a good idea.
That’s all I’ve got for roundup this week, go forth and conquer the weekend! Until we meet again. ????
