Spotify’s mobile device free tier got new updates this week, allowing for greater discovery of new tunes and access to up to 15 playlists, including RapCaviar and New Music Friday. Users can also play songs on demand for the first time.

The mobile free tier will offer the same options found on the premium tier, including the same daily-mix playlists such as Discover Weekly and Release Radar, as well as a simplified home screen. Among the differences in the free and premium tiers are absence of ads, offline access to music, and more control for users.

New licenses from labels allow Spotify to offer 40 hours of personal music recommendations per week on the free tier.

During a recent revealing of the new features in New York, Spotify’s Troy Carter noted the service creates partnerships with artists, which come with financial benefits, particularly for younger artists.

“When you’re looking at the old model with physical, you get a one-time payment,” Carter said. “With streaming, there’s a string of perpetual payments. Artists who are not locked into the CD model understand it better.”

Spotify’s execs also announced Data Saver, a toggle switch that optimizes the listening experience to use less mobile data when listening to music.

Drake White will release his new EP, Pieces, the followup to his debut album, Spark, digitally via BMLG Records on May 4.

Produced by songwriter busbee, White co-penned two tracks featured alongside three additional outside cuts.

“I love writing that’s very simple, but it’s like, ‘Oh, I know exactly what you’re talking about,’ explained White. “I’m infatuated with words and trying to arrange them in a way that would make my heroes proud.”

TRACKLIST:

1. “Girl in Pieces” (busbee, Brad Tursi, Troy Verges)
2. “Grandpa’s Farm” (Brent Cobb, Adam Hood, Jason Saenz)
3. “Happy Place” (Drake White, busbee, Josh Osborne)
4. “Nothing Good Happens After Midnight” (Dan Isbell, Heather Lynn Morgan, Lindsay Rimes)
5. “The Best is Yet to Come” (Drake White, busbee, Josh Kear)

Keith Urban (L) and wife Nicole Kidman (R) perform onstage for a Spotify Fans First event on April 23, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: John Shearer/Getty Images for Spotify

Written by: LB Rogers

Over 150 lucky Keith Urban fans and Spotify listeners had the chance to preview Urban’s tenth studio album, Graffiti U on Monday, April 23 at a Spotify Fans First event at Houston Station in Nashville.

Attendees received a first-listen of the record on a custom jukebox and were able to screen print their own t-shirts. In the spirit of Graffiti U, a guitar emporium and art mural exhibition of street art was commissioned from Nashville muralists, which framed songs from the record. Tracks like “Steal My Thunder,” “Horses,” My Wave,” and “Coming Home” were selected by artists including Nathan Brown, Ty Christian, Brian Wooden, Eric “Mobe” Bass, and Aaron Martin.

As one of estimated two events Spotify is now throwing weekly across all genres, the streaming service noted how unique the invite-only events are for fans to intimately connect with artists. With streaming data, Spotify is able to locate the biggest fans in a particular region.

Urban’s made an appearance for a short, intimate performance and a Q & A, thanking Spotify and fans for coming out. With just an electric guitar, the Grammy winner played three of the 13 tracks on the record, including “Parallel Line,” which he enticed his wife, actress Nicole Kidman to come sing. 

Only with #SpotifyFansFirst does @NicoleKidman join @KeithUrban for a duet. “Parallel Line” is on his #GraffitiU, out Friday! pic.twitter.com/86wuJNHPdF

— MusicRow Magazine (@MusicRow) April 24, 2018

Additional performances included the previously-released “Female” and “Coming Home,” a title he previewed at the Academy of Country Music Awards earlier this month. With intimate lyrics on album tracks like “Gemini,” She’s a maniac in the bed/but a brainiac in her head, the Capitol Records Nashville superstar detailed how the meaning for a specific title, “Coming Home,” came after the opening lick.

“When I heard that Merle Haggard lick, it made me think of home,” said Urban. “A lot of the times for me the music draws the story versus the other way around. Where [“Coming Home”] gets personal is, a lot of us who now live in Nashville aren’t from here, but your dreams are here or you fall in love here…We love being here, but miss being able to touch base with home and the people who know the real you. That feeling has always stayed with me.”

Keith Urban performs onstage for a Spotify Fans First event at Houston Station on April 23, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: John Shearer/Getty Images for Spotify

Urban also described how the album’s title came about.

“This record felt like a free, artistic record,” he said. “In the studio [it] was literally like painting a canvas—I’d come in with nothing, start playing music. The whole thing was like a wall that I was painting on. The word ‘Graffiti’ came to me because that’s what it felt like. And the U was the audience/listener. The U is an inclusive experience, and my last name is U.”

Urban took requests to close out the performance, playing his hit single from Ripcord, “Wasted Time.” Fans took group photos in front of the artistic murals.

Earlier today (April 24), Urban released a trailer for the album (below). Graffiti U will be released this Friday, April 27.

Fans make their own t-shirts during the Spotify Fans First event with Keith Urban at Houston Station on April 23, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: John Shearer/Getty Images for Spotify

Signage seen during Spotify Fans First event with Keith Urban at Houston Station on April 23, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: John Shearer/Getty Images for Spotify

The global recorded music market grew by 8.1 percent in 2017, according to the latest IFPI report. Figures released April 24 in IFPI’s Global Music Report 2018 show total revenues for 2017 were US$17.3 billion.

Streaming remains the main driver of recovering revenues and, for the first time, has become the single largest revenue source with 176 million users of paid streaming services contributing to year-on-year streaming growth of 41.1 percent. Streaming now accounts for 38.4 percent of total recorded music revenue and its growth has more than offset a 5.4 percent decline in physical revenue and a 20.5 percent decline in download revenue. Total digital income last year accounted for more than half of all revenue (54 percent) for the first time.

2017 marks the industry’s third consecutive year of growth, following 15 years of significant revenue decline. Despite the recent uplift, revenues for 2017 are still only 68.4 percent of the market’s peak in 1999.

Frances Moore, chief executive, IFPI, commented, “It’s been another incredibly exciting year for music. The work and investment from record companies is enabling brilliant, diverse artists to break through to fans around the world, soundtracking their lives and bringing them increasingly rich and immersive ways to enjoy the music they love. The industry is on a positive path of recovery but it’s very clear that the race is far from won. Record companies are continuing in their efforts to put the industry back onto a stable path and, to that end, we are continuing our campaign to fix the value gap. This is not just essential for music to thrive in today’s global market, but to create the right – fair – environment for it to do so in the future.”

Key figures for 2017:
· Global revenue growth: +8.1%
· Digital share of global revenues: 54%
· Digital revenue growth: +19.1%
· Growth in streaming revenues: +41.1%
· Physical revenues: -5.4%
· Download revenue: -20.5%

Read the full ‘State of the Industry” report at ifpi.org