WebLinks: Amazon To Offer Streaming, HFA For Sale

Reports have been circulating for months that Amazon is prepping the launch of a music streaming service. BuzzFeed reports that the service will be available to Amazon Prime subscribers and will only offer music that is at least six months old. It could debut this summer and work across multiple devices.
Back in March, Billboard reported that the company had presented labels with an “insanely” low offer for licensing music.
Amazon Prime already includes TV and movie streaming.
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Is HFA on the auction block? Billboard reports Rizvi Traverse, the private equity firm owner of SESAC, is planning a bid to acquire the U.S. mechanical rights organization from the National Music Publishers Assn.
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A sales slump in Apple’s iTunes store is part of the reason for the company’s purchase of Beats Music this week. Fortune reports iTunes sales per account are down 24% year over year. Sales in the App Store are expected to pick up the slack by the end of the year