Ultimate Chart (a/o June 17th):
Not recognition, geo-relevant recognition. SoundHound, a close competitor to Shazam, has just partnered with Rdio on a geo-aware recognition app update. Beyond the initial song identification, the update displays recognitions in your immediate vicinity, with Rdio powering samples.
Pandora is now crawling back from a cratering blow on Wall Street last week. At the Thursday bell, shares of 'P' finished slightly up at $8.59 after being submerged in the $7s. That's still relatively depressed, and follows a bearish quarterly forecast and broader 'fiscal cliff' anxiety.
Sad, but during the weekend our biggest search term was, 'Is Jenni Rivera Alive'. Now, that matter has been settled for good: forensic medical examiners in the Monterrey, Mexico region have positively matched Rivera's DNA samples, leaving no doubt of the identity. The remains have been released to the family; looming fights include allegations of cooked plane logs and pilot error.
Separately, sales of Rivera albums and downloads are now surging, part of a rather macabre-yet-predictable post-mortem playout. One insider told Digital Music News that this is just the beginning, especially as retailers (physical and digital) continue to stock, promote, re-release, etc., ahead of the Christmas rush.
Warner Music Group (WMG) posted another mega-loss for its latest fiscal year, though CEO Stephen Cooper pointed to continued growth on digital formats. Broader revenues edged downward, while losses topped $112 million, narrower than year-ago red of $205 million.
Are the other DIYs just doing it wrong? The latest do-it-yourselfer to step into the space is Amsterdam-based Songflow, which is approaching the problem with a highly-social, YouTube-ready, bundle-friendly approach. That's on top of the typical distribution endpoints like iTunes and Spotify. The Songflow platform, built using the FUGA API, focuses on an upfront fee and gives all subsequent royalties back to the artist. Check it out, songflow.com.
I roll my own... subscription service. Skrillex and his digital imprint OWSLA are the latest to unveil a personalized subscription service, a collaboration with Ghostly International's drip.fm (more on that here). Paying devotees of 'The Nest' will receive all sorts of exclusives, deals, and pre-sale first looks.
Bigger than sports? According to a just-released social networking report from Pew Research Center, 63 percent of Americans prefer to share music and movies over other topics. That number rises to 67 percent across a broader, 21-country survey set, with community and sports falling just below 50 percent on the whole.
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