Posted by Mike McCready | April 13th, 2015 | No responses
Good morning! It’s a pretty grey but warm start to the week in London. Here’s the tech news you need to know today.
1. Streaming service Spotify is close to raising $400 million (£548 million) in new funding, which would bring its valuation to $8.4 billion (£5.8 billion). The funding is expected to come from sources including Goldman Sachs and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund.
2. Apple is in talks with Taylor Swift and Florence and the Machine about its new music streaming service. It wants artists to give it exclusive music that wouldn’t be available on other streaming sites.
3. Android creator Andy Rubin raised $242 million (£166 million) for his new venture fund. Rubin said when he left Google that he wanted to create an incubator for hardware startups.
4. Apple’s new MacBook went on sale on Friday and quickly sold out. The gold version seemed to be in the highest demand.
5. The Apple Watch also went on sale on Friday, and it too sold out. All models were gone in the US in just six hours.
6. Top Yahoo executive Mike Kerns has left the company. He was in charge of the site’s homepage.
7. Apple stock was downgraded by Raymond James. It was in reaction to poor reviews of the Apple Watch and seasonal slowdown of iPhone sales.
8. Donald Trump got in a Twitter fight with T-Mobile CEO John Legere. Legere said that he was checking out of the Trump hotel he was staying in.
9. Chinese phone manufacturer Xiaomi sold $335 million (£229 million) worth of phones in just 12 hours. The company held its “Mi Fan Festival,” which saw reduced prices for its phones.
10. Etsy is courting small investors for its IPO. It wants its shareholder base to share its values.
Mike McCready is an entrepreneur at the crossroads of music and technology. He pioneered the introduction of Hit Song Science into the music industry and followed up with Music Xray, the company he co-founded and serves as CEO. His companies have been the subject of case studies at Harvard Business School, IESE and he frequently guest speaks at many of the top business schools around the world. He helps the music industry identify high potential songs and talent and helps musicians get deals, get fans, & get better: http://musicxray.com