Noisy Newsfeed? Rock Paper Scanner serves just the music tech news that matters
How do you keep on top of music & tech industry news? Tracking the stories that make big headlines is one thing— sifting through the newsfeed noise to sense the emerging trends is another. That’s why the Rock Paper Scissors team scans a broad media landscape—industry trades with names you know, and reports from independent analysts, writers, and specialists that might not be on your radar yet.
Every week, I distill what we’re tracking into my Rock Paper Scanner newsletter, a trendspotting collection of just the music business news that matters most to innovators and entrepreneurs.
I hand-pick key stories on industry revenue numbers, the big music business picture (including live, streaming, and the creator economy). Plus the fresh flavors that gaming, AI, and immersive web experiences are bringing to the business and signals from adjacent industries that point the way music is heading.
All of it comes in an easy-to-scan format that lets you take in the top level takeaways at a glance, then dive deep as you wish. See for yourself—all the stories I shared in a recent newsletter are below.
I started the scanner for friends and Rock Paper Scissors clients, and their positive response led me to open it up to you. Get my curated newsletter in your inbox every Friday: click here to sign up.
INDUSTRY REVENUE
Spotify Share Price Reaches New High as Music Stocks Get Off to Strong Start in 2025
billboard.com
Investors are betting there’s more gas in Spotify’s tank as the streaming company’s stock price...
Spotify Says It Paid $10 Billion to the Music Industry in 2024
billboard.com
Spotify paid $10 billion to music rights holders in 2024, according to a blog post published...
US$ 38.7 Billion AI in Music Market Forecast by 2033, Cloud-based Segment (71.4%), North America at 36.5% Share
einnews.com
AI in Music Market to grow from USD 4.9B (2024) to USD 38.7B (2033) at a 25.8% CAGR, driven by...
Vinyl Alliance study hails Gen-Z’s record-collecting appetite
Music Ally
Industry body The Vinyl Alliance has published the results of a survey of more than 2,500 people in...
Spotify paid out $10 billion to the music industry in 2024 – a full $1bn more than in 2023
Music Business Worldwide
Streaming company has paid out nearly $60bn to music rightsholders since Spotify was founded in...
In the wake of new Spotify deal, Universal Music Group adds $3.4 billion to its market cap; Warner Music Group shares up 4.7% as investors await similar agreement with streamer
Music Business Worldwide
Universal and Warner jointly pile on around $4 billion in market cap value following landmark...
Music Production Software Market to Grow by USD 432.8 Million (2025-2029), Driven by Rising Musicians and Artists, Report Highlights AI Impact on Market Trends – Technavio
Digital Media Net
Report on how AI is redefining market landscape – The global...
BIG PICTURE: MUSIC BIZ, LIVE, & SOCIAL
You’re wrong about DeepSeek
vox.com
Last week I told you about the Chinese AI company DeepSeek’s recent model...
Amazon Music Unlimited Prices Increase in U.S., U.K. and Canada
billboard.com
Amazon informed customers on Wednesday (Jan. 29) that the prices for Amazon Music Unlimited, the...
US investor group including Employer.com founder, Roblox CEO claims to have secured $20B+ for TikTok purchase bid (report)
Music Business Worldwide
Jesse Tinsley said his planned bid has interest from Roblox CEO David Baszucki and Anchorage...
U.S. Government Could Own Half of TikTok’s U.S. Business Under New Plan
billboard.com
Perplexity AI has presented a new proposal to TikTok’s parent company that would allow the U.S....
Spotify wins audiobook ‘bundling’ lawsuit, as court dismisses legal action brought by the MLC
Music Business Worldwide
Court grants Spotify's motion to dismiss the lawsuit Source
Whatever Happens to TikTok, Big Tech Is Coming for Its Millions of Creators
hollywoodreporter.com
Big Tech is coming for the TikTokers. With TikTok about to be shut down after the Supreme Court...
Tools :: Co:brand – short video analytics and more
musically.com
This won’t sound like a music story initially, but bear with us. The rapid rise to prominence of AI...
How Spotify significantly shapes what you listen to
studyfinds.org
Spotify may control your exposure to new music more than record labels do. (Mar...
New Spotify and UMG deal could create pricier ‘superfan’ subscription
The Verge
Spotify and Universal Music Group have signed a new multi-year...
Breaking up the band: why solo artists have come to dominate the music charts
The Conversation
Predictions for this year’s Hottest 100 countdown revealed an interesting trend that...
FRESH FLAVOR
Tuned Global rolls out AI music features via AudioShake partnership
Music Business Worldwide
Tuned Global’s clients will now be able to separate songs and generate word-by-word lyric...
Kendrick Lamar's Synth Riders Experience debuts exclusively on Apple Vision Pro
MIXED
Apple Vision Pro users are in for a treat: a spatial-musical journey inspired by Kendrick Lamar's...
Hip-Hop Icon RAKIM Launches AI-Powered Fintech Platform To Provide Artists With Capital And Financial Literacy
afrotech.com
Hip-Hop icon RAKIM is aligning himself with artificial intelligence (AI). According to a news...
Sir Paul McCartney weighs in to the UK’s AI regulation debate
Music Ally
Worried that the government is closing its ears to your concerns about AI training? Deploy… a...
Jay Z’s Roc Nation partners with South Korea’s Musicow to launch music royalty trading platform in the US
Music Business Worldwide
Musicow purchases the copyright of a song and splits the rights into smaller portions, allowing...
10% of new tracks uploaded to Deezer are AI-generated music
Music Ally
Music service Deezer has spent the last year developing a tool to detect wholly-AI-generated music...
EXTRA CREDIT
Mark Zuckerberg says 2025 will be a pivotal year for the metaverse
MIXED
Meta's VR and AR division posted both record revenue and record loss in the fourth quarter of 2024....
The TikTok ban is reshaping creator recruitment and agency best practices on social media
digiday.com
While TikTok’s status in the U.S. still hangs in the balance, agencies are already shifting the way...
Meta's plan is working: Augmented reality is back
MIXED
After years of relative quiet, a new race for augmented reality glasses has begun, involving all...
YouTube, Spotify, others expand fan tipping
hypebot
YouTube, Spotify and an increasing number of music ands social platforms are expanding opportunites...
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About Rock Paper Scissors:
Founded in 1999, Rock Paper Scissors, Inc. is a PR and marketing firm composed of a diverse team of communicators, creatives, and business minds. We have represented thousands of music tech and entertainment tech projects from six continents. Our roster includes clients in music technology, music gear, music AI, B2B music agencies, music consumer products and apps, artist-facing and label services, music sync platforms, fintech for music, and much more.
Get in touch:
Contact our team to start a conversation about growing your company’s impact through press coverage, influencers, Kickstarter, advertising, and more.
Learn more about the PR and marketing services rock paper scissors offers.
See the success other music tech companies have earned thanks to Rock Paper Scissors PR and marketing campaigns.
About Dmitri Vietze:
Born in Nashville, Dmitri moved to NYC as a teen where he busked in the subways while studying music at “the Fame High School” for Music and the Arts. After earning his business degree, he leaned into his entrepreneurial bent and launched Rock Paper Scissors in 1999. His vision was to combine cutting edge technology and deep organic storytelling to help clients crystallize their missions in compelling ways and amplify them in innovative ways.
He continues to lead the company from music to tech and into other fields that are changing the world every day. When others told him that the company he envisioned would not succeed in college town Bloomington, Indiana, he took that as a challenge and has built a collaborative team that leans into the Midwestern ethic of hard work, warmth, and caring. Dmitri can also be found speaking on stage at conferences ranging from SXSW to Music Biz on new approaches to publicity, innovation, and resourcefulness.
