Rounding up recent tech news that impacts livelihoods in the creative community ...

Spotify's prospects look better thanks to Universal Music deal
On April 4 Spotify and Universal Music Group announced a long-term deal where Spotify will drop its objection to windowing restrictions, and can qualify for reduced royalty payouts if it hits high-traffic streaming targets. The new window lasts two weeks after an album's drop date, making certain releases available to Spotify Premium subscribers only during that time. Single track releases will not be subject to this new restriction. UMG Chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge said, "In a market this dynamic, one evolving more rapidly than ever before, success requires creative and continual re-evaluation of how best to bring artists' music to fans ... The only constants must be great music and fair compensation for artists and creators." That dynamic market, along with corporate finance deadlines, is ultimately what persuaded Spotify to make the first-ever exception to its demand that all premium content also be available on its ad-supported free tier.

Comcast moves on mobile, expanding its Xfinity brand and platform
Leading cable co. and ISP Comcast announced its Xfinity Mobile offering on April 6, reselling Verizon network service to existing Xfinity customers. The announcement focused on affordability, mobile data, and the availability of Comcast's millions of Wi-Fi hotspots. However, there is potentially much more involved than converting Xfinity Triple-Play users (cable/internet/landline) to quadruple-play customers. By controlling the set-top box and aggregating customer data, Comcast is in a position to boost evolving digital lifestyles, such as second-screen and other multi-platform experiences. Xfinity's set-top platform came through the 2016 Olympics earning kudos, and mobile lifestyle could be considered a must-win competition for cable companies that want to remain in the digital game.

Verizon stokes anticipation for AOL+Yahoo launch
On April 3 AOL execs and spokespeople started hyping this summer's planned launch of Verizon's combined AOL+Yahoo entity, to be called Oath. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong tweeted, "Billion+ Consumers, 20+ Brands, Unstoppable Team. #TakeTheOath. Summer 2017." A spokesperson told Business Insider, "You can bet we will be launching one of the most disruptive brand companies in digital." Later, Armstrong clarified that the Yahoo brand will be strategically retained for consumers, while Oath is the term used on the corporate side with business partners.

Keith Urban honored on April 5 at 2017 GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards