SFX Entertainment’s latest move is re-focusing Beatport, turning it into a free streaming service that currently has no advertisements. The new streaming service will be part of T-Mobile’s Music Freedom program, meaning that T-Mobile users can use the service on mobile without using up 4G data.

As this happens Robert F.X. Sillerman, Founder, CEO, and Executive Chairman of the Board hopes to take the company private. Sillerman has offered to buy the majority of shares that he doesn’t own for $4.75 per share in cash. SFX closed at $3.70 per share on February 24th, but is trading at $4.76 per share at of February 25th 10:19 AM PST.<!–/*
* The backup image section of this tag has been generated for use on a
* non-SSL page. If this tag is to be placed on an SSL page, change the
*   ‘http://72.52.81.231/revive/www/delivery/…’
* to
*   ‘https://72.52.81.231/revive/www/delivery/…’
*
* This noscript section of this tag only shows image banners. There
* is no width or height in these banners, so if you want these tags to
* allocate space for the ad before it shows, you will need to add this
* information to the tag.
*
* If you do not want to deal with the intricities of the noscript
* section, delete the tag (from … to ). On
* average, the noscript tag is called from less than 1% of internet
* users.
*/–>

// <![CDATA[
var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https://72.52.81.231/revive/www/delivery/r9.php':'http://72.52.81.231/revive/www/delivery/r9.php');
   var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999);
   if (!document.MAX_used) document.MAX_used = ',';
   document.write ("”);
// ]]>SFX went public in October, 2013. They priced their IPO at $13 per share.

Sillerman says he “is prepared to assist” if the Board decides to sell to an alternate buyer.

Forbes reports that minority shareholder Maglan Capital is unhappy with Sillerman’s offer. Maglan owns 1.5 percent of stock. They think the company is worth over $10 per share.

 

Nina Ulloa covers breaking news, tech, and more: @nine_u

The post SFX Entertainment’s CEO Wants to Buy Up Shares & Take the Company Private appeared first on Digital Music News.

Source: Industry News

Remember last September on your 3rd date with the cute boy from Starbucks, you decided to share your music taste? Big step, I know. It took guts. But he was so darn charming and hot, in a sweet way. And boy could he make a caramel macchiato. But you’re pretty darn confident in your music library. Perfectly curated. Impeccable playlisting. And above all, no filler. Or so you thought. Remember the shock on his face when he got to the U’s? And muttered those fateful words, “U2?” Shooting back a sarcastic “yeah right,” you didn’t quite realize that he was serious until he flipped the phone around to your face. BAM! Right there, in between Tyler, The Creator and UB40 (you know, if it went there that night) was U2. How?! Oh dear lord. As you could see the judgement settling in, you knew you were not going to reach a Red Red Wine infused 4th date.

U2, now so infamously, “gave away” their latest album Songs of Innocence to every iTunes user. It appeared in every iTunes library and on every iPhone – whether the user (500 million of them) liked it or not. It was nearly universally chastised by everyone in the industry. So much so that Bono came out and said “Oops, I’m sorry about that. I had this beautiful idea and we got carried away with ourselves.”

+Billboard Refuses to Recognize U2’s Latest Album… 

Well, 5 months later, people are still listening to it. Or rather, when their iPhone was set to shuffle, it landed on a U2 song accidentally. The study by the Kantar group states that 23% of the sampled 978 iOS users listened to U2 at least once in the month of January.

The press release issued by the PR group Nasty Little Man, and regurgitated by nearly every other music blog that has covered this, (incorrectly) summed up the study stating: “An independent study has concluded that U2 accounted for 23% of all music listened on iOS devices throughout January 2015.” Uh, that’s kind of different wouldn’t you say?

Of the 978 users sampled, 23% listened to U2 at least once. The 2nd and third place most listened to artists were Taylor Swift with 11% and Katy Perry with 8%. Maroon 5 also had 8% and Rihanna accounted for 7% of the sample user base.

Ari Herstand is a Los Angeles based singer/songwriter and the creator of the music biz advice blog, Ari’s Take. Follow him on Twitter: @aristake

The post Nearly 1/4 Of iTunes Users Listened To U2 In January appeared first on Digital Music News.

Source: Industry News