109-611: Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1952 – August 26, 2004) was an American singer. Her signature song , the platinum-certified 1982 single " Gloria ", stayed on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist, peaking at No. 2. It also reached number one in Australia and Canada . Branigan's "Gloria" was a cover of a song written by Italian singer-songwriters Giancarlo Bigazzi and Umberto Tozzi . In 1984, she reached number one in Canada and Germany and No. 4 in
218-495: A blockchain startup that had been developing a decentralized database system for managing attribution, and other metadata for media. This was followed in May 2017 with the acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Niland, which uses technology to improve personalisation and recommendation features for users. In November 2017, Spotify acquired Soundtrap , an online music studio startup. On 12 April 2018, Spotify acquired
327-647: A works council was established in 2023. Swedish trade unions have unsuccessfully attempted to bargain collectively with Spotify since 2023. Spotify GmbH employees in Berlin established an electoral board in February 2023, which prepared the election for the works council in April. Spotify AB does not recognize any trade unions or have any collective agreements in Sweden. Spotify ended joint-negotiations with
436-604: A Spotify engineer in Malmö , set up the channel #kollektivavtal in the internal company Slack , which means " collective agreement " in Swedish. The channel grew to 2,000 participants. 700 employees have since joined Unionen, with another 100 each joining Engineers of Sweden and Akavia. Catalini Smith no longer works at Spotify. Writers Guild of America, East represents two union affiliates at Spotify Studios and The Ringer . The United Musicians and Allied Workers campaigns for
545-624: A U.S. CD reissue of Branigan's first album. Branigan's nine-track debut album, Branigan , was released in March 1982. The first single from the album was " All Night with Me ", which reached No. 69 on the Billboard charts in early 1982. The album alternated four energetic up-tempo songs with five ballads, including one of the few songs written solely by Branigan, "I Wish We Could Be Alone". " Gloria ", an Italian love song recorded in 1979 by Umberto Tozzi and successful in several European countries,
654-509: A competitor". Furthermore, he stated that "There is nothing in Apple's conduct that 'amounts to a violation of applicable antitrust laws.' Far from it. ... I would be happy to facilitate an expeditious review and approval of your app as soon as you provide us with something that is compliant with the App Store's rules". In the following months, Spotify joined several other companies in filing
763-457: A data science consulting firm and analytics company. In a comment to TechCrunch , Spotify said that Seed Scientific's team would lead an advanced analytics unit within the company, focused on developing data services. In January 2016, they acquired social and messaging startups Cord Project and Soundwave, followed in April 2016 by CrowdAlbum, a "startup that collects photos and videos of performances shared on social networks," and would "enhance
872-552: A deal with Chernin Entertainment to produce movies and TV shows. In 2020 and 2021, Spotify and DC , a brand at the time under Warner Bros. Entertainment signed deals to create audio shows on the platform around characters such as Catwoman, Wonder Woman, the Riddler, Batgirl, Superman and Lois Lane, among others. In 2022, Spotify became the official streaming partner of FC Barcelona . In May 2022, Spotify announced
981-757: A fairer redistribution and compensation system for musicians. The United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) was established in 2020 during the onset of the Corona pandemic . One year later in 31 cities worldwide, 27,500 musicians joined UMAW's campaign #JusticeAtSpotify to demand a compensation of one cent per audio stream . Moreover, they are asking for a fairer redistribution system, as smaller artists are disproportionately disadvantaged on Spotify. One month after Spotify acquired Gimlet Media in February 2019, 75% of staff at Gimlet Media went public, signing union cards and seeking voluntary recognition . In August, The Ringer ' s editorial staff voted to unionize with
1090-421: A few songs) that a popular and well-established recording artist or band is most closely identified with or best known for. This is generally differentiated from a one-hit wonder in that the artist usually has had success with other songs as well. A signature song may be a song that spearheads an artist's initial mainstream breakthrough, a song that revitalizes an artist's career, or a song that simply represents
1199-704: A franchise-record 11-game winning streak during the 2018–19 season . A few Blues players visited a bar in South Philadelphia called Jacks NYB to watch the NFL Wild Card game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears . A club member kept yelling, "Play 'Gloria! ' " and DJ Matt Cella obliged by putting on Branigan's catchy pop hit every commercial break. "They just went nuts when they heard it, and we loved watching it," Blues forward Robby Fabbri said. "So we just happened to get
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#17327881252071308-529: A high point in an artist's career. Often, a signature song will feature significant characteristics of an artist and may encapsulate the artist's particular sound and style. Signature songs can be the result of spontaneous public identification, or a marketing tool developed by the music industry to promote artists, sell their recordings, and develop a fan base. Artists and bands with a signature song are generally expected to perform it at every concert appearance, often as an encore on concert tours, sometimes being
1417-511: A historic mid-season turnaround to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, leading to the song entering ice hockey lore as an "unlikely championship anthem". Branigan's legacy manager and representative Kathy Golik embraced the trend and traveled to St. Louis to publicly represent Branigan among the Blues fanbase during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs , later stating her belief that Branigan and "Gloria" "will forever be intertwined" with
1526-573: A letter with the European Union 's antitrust body indirectly accusing Apple and Google of "abusing their 'privileged position' at the top of the market", by referring to "some" companies as having "transformed into 'gatekeepers' rather than 'gateways'". The complaint led to the European Union announcing that it would prepare an initiative by the end of 2017 for a possible law addressing unfair competition practices. Spotify released
1635-492: A lost season. Following their January 7 victory over the Flyers, which was Binnington's first NHL start, the Blues played "Gloria" in the locker room to celebrate their victory, with it then becoming a regular locker room ritual. When their arena DJ learned of it, he began playing the song in the arena to rally the team. From January 2019 the Blues would post a 30–10–5 record in the remaining games to finish at 45–28–9 and qualify for
1744-529: A music production marketplace for people in the music industry to collaborate on projects, and distribute music tracks for licensing. On 19 November 2019, Spotify announced the acquisition of the exclusive rights to The Last Podcast on the Left . On 5 February 2020, Spotify announced its intent to acquire Bill Simmons ' sports and pop culture blog and podcast network The Ringer for an undisclosed amount. On 19 May 2020, Spotify acquired exclusive rights to stream
1853-567: A new partnership. In December, Spotify and Tencent 's music arm, Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), agreed to swap stakes and make an investment in each other's music businesses. As a result of this transaction, Spotify gained a 9% stake in TME with TME gaining a 7.5% stake in Spotify. In February 2018, Spotify integrated with the gaming-oriented voice chat service Discord on desktop clients, allowing users to display their currently playing song as
1962-600: A partnership with the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference for 2017, presenting specific content in special playlists through an SXSW hub in Spotify's apps. The integration also enabled Spotify within the SXSW GO app to help users discover and explore artists performing at the conference. Two more partnerships were announced in March; one with WNYC Studios , and one with Waze . The WNYC Studios partnership brought various podcasts from WNYC to Spotify, including Note to Self , On
2071-703: A partnership with the online game platform and game creation system the Roblox Corporation , the partnership saw Spotify as the first streaming brand to have a presence within the game with the launch of "Spotify Island". In March 2023, Spotify announced a partnership with Patreon , which Spotify claimed would "enable creators to expand their creative business through direct payments from fans, and allow fans to listen to their Patreon content on Spotify". In July 2015, Spotify launched an email campaign to urge its App Store subscribers to cancel their subscriptions and start new ones through its website, bypassing
2180-477: A playoff spot, eventually advancing to the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals , the teams' first Stanley Cup Finals since 1970 , where they defeated the Boston Bruins in 7 games to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The dramatic turnaround in the Blues' fortunes following their adoption of "Gloria" led to it being embraced as their new victory anthem. The song is played at Enterprise Center every time
2289-457: A rebranding move and to organize its tools for creating, managing, growing, and monetizing their content in one place. In January 2015, Sony announced PlayStation Music, a new music service with Spotify as its exclusive partner. PlayStation Music incorporates the Spotify service into Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 gaming consoles, and Sony Xperia mobile devices. The service launched on 30 March 2015. In March 2017, Spotify announced
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#17327881252072398-505: A reduction in royalty fees to do so. Select albums would be available only on the Premium tier for a period of time, before general release. The deal "may be months away from being finalized, but Spotify is said to have cleared this particular clause with major record labels". New reports in April confirmed that Spotify and Universal Music Group had reached an agreement to allow artists part of Universal to limit their new album releases to
2507-497: A rich presence on their profile, and invite other users with Spotify Premium to group "listening parties". In April, Spotify announced a discounted entertainment bundle with video-on-demand provider Hulu , which included discounted rates for university students. In May 2020, Spotify teamed up with ESPN and Netflix to curate podcasts around their Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance , and in September, Spotify signed
2616-673: A successful performance on the main stage and by television and thus increasing its popularity both in Chile and in the rest of Latin America. Branigan's fifth album, Touch (released July 7, 1987) marked a change in her career. Under new management and using different producers, Branigan took a more active role in her work and in the studio, seeing her return to dancefloors with the Stock-Aitken-Waterman -produced track " Shattered Glass ", written by Bob Mitchell and Steve Coe, of
2725-511: A top-30 adult contemporary hit with "Never in a Million Years". Branigan added production to her list of credits with her cover of Vicki Sue Robinson 's disco-era "Turn the Beat Around" and the atmospheric "Let Me In", a cover of an Eddie Money song. The album also includes '"Unison", which was the title track for Céline Dion 's English debut CD in the same year. The album's closing track, a cover of Bryan Adams ' "The Best Was Yet to Come",
2834-437: A troubling pattern of behavior by Apple to exclude and diminish the competitiveness of Spotify on iOS and as a rival to Apple Music , particularly when seen against the backdrop of Apple's previous anticompetitive conduct aimed at Spotify ... we cannot stand by as Apple uses the App Store approval process as a weapon to harm competitors." Sewell responded to the letter: "We find it troubling that you are asking for exemptions to
2943-551: A win the next day and made it our win song." The next day the Blues went on to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers in a 3–0 shutout. Jacks members say they have trademarked "Play Gloria" and they have sold over 700 shirts bearing the phrase. At the time, the Blues had the worst record in the league at 15–18–4, had fired head coach Mike Yeo , called up rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington from the minor leagues to replace struggling starter Jake Allen , and seemed bound for
3052-613: Is available in most of Europe, as well as Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania, with a total availability in 184 markets. Its users and subscribers are based largely in the US and Europe, jointly accounting for around 53% of users and 67% of revenue. It has no presence in mainland China where the market is dominated by QQ Music . The service is available on most devices, including Windows , macOS , and Linux computers, iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, smart home devices such as
3161-902: Is listed (through a Luxembourg City -domiciled holding company , Spotify Technology S.A. ) on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American depositary receipts . Spotify offers digital copyright restricted recorded audio content, including more than 100 million songs and 6 million podcast titles, from record labels and media companies. Operating as a freemium service, the basic features are free with advertisements and limited control, while additional features, such as offline listening and commercial-free listening, are offered via paid subscriptions . Users can search for music based on artist, album, or genre , and can create, edit, and share playlists . It offers some social media features, following friends and creating listening parties called "Jams". As of December 2022, Spotify
3270-519: Is played. Spotify was founded in 2006 in Stockholm , Sweden, by Daniel Ek , former CTO of Stardoll , and Martin Lorentzon, co-founder of Tradedoubler . According to Ek, the company's title was initially misheard from a name shouted by Lorentzon. Later they conceived a portmanteau of "spot" and "identify". In February 2009, Spotify opened public registration for the free service tier in
3379-475: Is the company's slated advisor on the matter. After making its debut on the New York Stock Exchange on 3 April 2018, CNBC reported that Spotify opened at $ 165.90, more than 25% above its reference price of $ 132. On 3 July 2020, cybersecurity firm VPNMentor discovered a database containing 380 million individual records, including the logins and passwords of Spotify users. The database
Laura Branigan - Misplaced Pages Continue
3488-590: The Call Her Daddy podcast. In November 2021, Spotify acquired audiobook company Findaway, including its publishing imprint OrangeSky Audio. In December 2021, Spotify acquired Whooshkaa, a podcast tech company that develops specialized technology that allows radio broadcasters to easily turn their existing audio content into on-demand podcast programming. In February 2022, Spotify acquired Chartable and Podsights. Both are podcast advertising companies. In 2022, Spotify Greenroom rebranded as Spotify Live, which
3597-543: The Ghostbusters soundtrack (1984), and Miami Vice (1984). In 1984, she won the Tokyo Music Festival with the song " The Lucky One ". Her chart success began to wane as the decade closed and after her last two studio albums Laura Branigan (1990) and Over My Heart (1993) garnered little attention, she generally retired from public life for the rest of the 1990s. She returned to performing in
3706-914: The Ghostbusters soundtrack . The song was written by Diane Warren and The Doctor. Branigan's vocal coach was Carlo Menotti, and she worked with Steve Lukather ( Toto ), Dann Huff ( Giant ) and Michael Landau ; keyboardists Greg Mathieson, Harold Faltermeyer , Michael Boddicker and Robbie Buchanan; bassists Nathan East and Dennis Belfield ( Rufus ); drummers Carlos Vega and Doane Perry ( Jethro Tull ); percussionists Paulinho Da Costa and Lenny Castro; and guest vocalists including Joe "Bean" Esposito and background vocalists including The Waters Sisters (Maxine and Julia), James Ingram , and Richard Page and Stephen George ( Mr. Mister ). As her stature grew, she attracted Grammy-winning producers including Phil Ramone, Richard Perry and David Kershenbaum . She performed duets with John Farnham as well as Latin pop artist Luis Miguel . In 1984, Branigan's live show
3815-553: The Amazon Echo and Google Nest lines of products, and digital media players like Roku . As of December 2023, Spotify was the 47th most-visited website in the world with 24.78% of its traffic coming from the United States followed by Brazil with 6.51% according to data provided by Semrush . Unlike physical or download sales, which pay artists a fixed price per song or album sold, Spotify pays royalties based on
3924-433: The Boston Bruins , the Blues' opponent in the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals , started re-purposing the "Play Gloria" meme it earned a rebuke from Branigan's Twitter page which went viral. Custom-made Blues jerseys with Branigan's name and the number 82 surged in popularity during the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, with one being displayed on Branigan's Twitter page, along with other Blues merchandise sent by fans. "Gloria" reappeared on
4033-705: The COVID-19 pandemic , Spotify registered a fall in users in late February, but it has seen a recovery. In March 2022, Spotify had 182 million premium subscribers. At the end of Q2 2022, Spotify reported 188 million paying subscribers and 433 million total users. At the end of Q3 2024, Spotify reported 252 million subscribers and 640 million monthly active users. The Financial Times reported in March 2017 that, as part of its efforts to renegotiate new licensing deals with music labels, Spotify and major record labels had agreed that Spotify would restrict some newly released albums to its Premium tier, with Spotify receiving
4142-598: The Patty Loveless single " How Can I Help You Say Goodbye ", a cover of Roxette 's song " The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye ", and "Is There Anybody Here But Me?" (Pessis, Wells), a smooth mid-tempo number. Branigan recorded a duet with David Hasselhoff which was hugely successful for being broadcast as the closing track of the Baywatch TV series. The single I Believe was originally released on CD album in 1994. After 1990, Branigan's chart success cooled in
4251-596: The Warwick Musical Theatre in Rhode Island. On Branigan's seventh and final studio album Over My Heart (August 17, 1993), the singer again produced (with Phil Ramone ), and wrote and arranged. It included "Didn't We Almost Win It All" (by Branigan and Brian BecVar) (released as the first single), a cover of Cher 's song " Hard Enough Getting Over You " (released as the second single), a cover of
4360-594: The Weeknd 's 36.068 million. Later that same month, Drake's song " One Dance " became the first song to hit one billion streams on Spotify. Upon its release in August 2017, the single " Look What You Made Me Do " by Taylor Swift earned over eight million streams within 24 hours, breaking the record for the most single-day streams for a track. On 19 June 2018, XXXTentacion 's hit single " Sad! " broke Swift's single-day streaming record, amassing 10.4 million streams
4469-565: The Writers Guild of America, East (before it was owned by Spotify). The union was voluntarily recognized by Ringer management four days later. In February 2020, Spotify announced it was acquiring The Ringer, and inheriting the previously established union. A year later, in April 2021, writers and producers ratified their first collective agreement with Gimlet Media and Ringer. It would last 3 years, with minimum base salary of $ 57,000 for Ringer staff and $ 73,000 for Gimlet producers. There
Laura Branigan - Misplaced Pages Continue
4578-403: The 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The song's resurgence in popularity has led to Branigan's management getting numerous requests for live performances and public appearances, leading them to release a statement reminding the public that Branigan is deceased, as well as adding a note about this to her social media accounts. Forbes described "Gloria" as an "unlikely championship anthem" and noted that
4687-401: The 30% transaction fee for in-app purchases required for iOS applications by technology company Apple Inc. A later update to the Spotify app on iOS was rejected by Apple, prompting Spotify's general counsel Horacio Gutierrez to write a letter to Apple's then-general counsel Bruce Sewell, stating: "This latest episode raises serious concerns under both U.S. and EU competition law. It continues
4796-733: The Apple App Store platform. Additionally, Apple stated that they have attempted to work with Spotify to integrate the service better with Apple's products, such as Siri and Apple Watch. In 2019, under iOS 13 , it became possible to play Spotify music using Siri commands. Spotify was one of the first companies to support Epic Games in their lawsuit against Apple , which was filed after Epic also tried to bypass Apple's 30% fee for microtransactions in Fortnite . In September 2020, Spotify, Epic, and other companies founded The Coalition for App Fairness , which aims for better conditions for
4905-577: The Australian No. 2 hit " Ti amo " (1984) a cover of 1977 single by Umberto Tozzi , her return to the top 40 " The Power of Love " (1987), and " Shattered Glass " (1987), which reached the top 15 of the U.S. dance chart . Her most successful studio album was 1984's platinum-selling Self Control . She also contributed songs to motion picture and television soundtracks, including the Grammy - and Academy Award –winning Flashdance soundtrack (1983),
5014-574: The Australian film Backstage . She sang on major national television and radio campaigns for products including Dr Pepper , Coca-Cola and Chrysler , which sponsored her 1985–1986 "Hold Me" tour. The year 1984, while she was working with German producer Jack White , was the height of the European synthpop era, and " Self Control ", the title track of Branigan's third album, released in April 1984 became her biggest hit internationally, topping
5123-641: The Blues and the city of St. Louis. Branigan's 1984 song Self Control regained popularity as part of the soundtrack of the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City , and subsequently became Branigan's most streamed song on Spotify and YouTube . Laura Ann Branigan was born on July 3, 1952, in Mount Kisco, New York , near New York City, the fourth of five children born to Irish-American parents Kathleen ( née O'Hare) and James Branigan Sr., an account executive and mutual funds broker; they later separated. Her younger brother William "Billy" Branigan, who
5232-618: The Blues defeated the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals, on June 12, Y98 played "Gloria" again for 24 hours. The bands Phish and Vampire Weekend , who were both holding concerts in St. Louis on the night of Game 7, performed covers of "Gloria" when they learned the Blues had won the Cup. Branigan's legacy manager and representative Kathy Golik has embraced the trend, with Branigan's verified Twitter page frequently posting support for
5341-625: The Blues win a game, leading to "Play Gloria!" becoming both a meme and victory chant for Blues fans. Local radio station Y98 played the song for 24 hours following the Blues' Game 7 double-overtime 2–1 victory over the Dallas Stars on May 8 and again two weeks later on May 22 after its Game 6 5–1 win over the San Jose Sharks to win the Western Conference Championship and advance to the finals. After
5450-433: The Blues' Stanley Cup victory could permanently alter the meaning and legacy of the song, with it becoming forever associated with the St. Louis Blues and ice hockey in general. Golik has also stated her belief that Branigan and "Gloria" "will forever be intertwined" with the Blues and the city of St. Louis. When asked how she thought Branigan would have reacted to the "Play Gloria" meme had she lived to see it, Golik said, "She
5559-482: The Blues, especially during their 2019 playoff run. Branigan's official website also got updated with a new splash page which expressed support for the Blues and proclaimed Branigan as the "Original Play Gloria". Golik stayed in St. Louis and attended every game and watch party during the Blues' 2019 Stanley Cup run as Branigan's representative among the Blues fanbase while discussing the trend with media outlets. When fans of
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#17327881252075668-697: The Media and Here's the Thing . Spotify also announced that the third season of WNYC Studios' 2 Dope Queens podcast would premiere with a two-week exclusivity period on the service on 21 March 2017. The Waze partnership allows Waze app users to view directions to destinations within the Spotify app and access their Spotify playlists through the Waze app. In October 2017, Microsoft announced that it would be ending its Groove Music streaming service by December, with all music from users transferring to Spotify as part of
5777-424: The Premium service tier for a maximum of two weeks. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek commented that "We know that not every album by every artist should be released the same way, and we've worked hard with UMG to develop a new, flexible release policy. Starting today, Universal artists can choose to release new albums on premium only for two weeks, offering subscribers an earlier chance to explore the complete creative work, while
5886-614: The U.S. with " Self Control " a cover of Italian singer and songwriter Raf from the same year. Both "Gloria" and "Self Control" were successful in the United Kingdom, making the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart . Seeing her greatest level of success in the 1980s, Branigan's other singles included the Top 10 hit " Solitaire " (1983), the U.S. Adult Contemporary Chart number one " How Am I Supposed to Live Without You " (1983),
5995-706: The U.S., though she was still in demand around the world and went on several global tours. In 1994, not long after the release of Over My Heart , Larry Kruteck, Branigan's husband (m. 1978), was diagnosed with colon cancer . Branigan refused to accept the medical prognosis, and left the music industry to devote her attention to him. Branigan put Kruteck on herbal treatments, eventually nursing him full-time. Kruteck survived for another two-and-a-half years and died on June 15, 1996, after which Branigan stopped performing. Branigan had official greatest hits collections released in South America, Japan, Germany, South Africa, and
6104-689: The U.S.; the U.S. collection was released in 1995. The 13-track The Best of Branigan included two newly recorded covers: " Show Me Heaven " (written by Maria McKee ) and the Donna Summer hit " Dim All the Lights ", which Branigan released in several remixes. On August 15, 1995, Branigan was a guest on the TV show Talking Food , hosted by Robin Leach and broadcast by the Food Network , and she promoted
6213-506: The United Kingdom. Registrations surged following the release of the mobile service, leading Spotify to halt registration for the free service in September, returning the UK to an invitation-only policy. Spotify launched in the United States in July 2011, and offered a six-month, ad-supported trial period, during which new users could listen to an unlimited amount of music for free. In January 2012,
6322-674: The United States, in December 2012. By March 2013, the service had 24 million active users, six million being paying subscribers, which grew to 40 million users (including ten million paying) in May 2014, 60 million users (including 15 million paying) in December 2014, 75 million users (20 million paying) in June 2015, 30 million paying subscribers in March 2016, 40 million paying subscribers in September 2016, and 100 million total users in June 2016. In April 2020, Spotify reached 133 million premium users. In countries affected by
6431-660: The Wombats . The testing was very limited in nature and was only available on Spotify's Android app in the US. In May 2023, Spotify removed tens of thousands of songs, roughly 7% of the tracks uploaded by the Boomy, due to suspected "artificial streaming", the practice of using online bots to inflate the listening statistics. The key trends for Spotify Technology are (as of the financial year ending 31 December): Spotify recognizes trade unions at its US podcasting subsidiaries The Ringer and Spotify Studios since 2019. In Germany,
6540-471: The adult contemporary chart. However, neither song was supported by a music video, and both stalled at the low end of the Hot 100 chart. On June 13, 1985, Branigan made her fourth appearance on legendary TV music show American Bandstand , performing "Spanish Eddie" and "Hold Me". In February 1986, Branigan was invited for the first time to XXVII Festival Internacional De La Canción De Viña Del Mar in Chile, having
6649-478: The album and sang "Dim All the Lights", before preparing her Summer Delight pasta dish on the show. In February 1996, she was selected to be part of the international jury at the 37th Viña del Mar International Song Festival edition, in Chile. Besides her duties as a jury member of this international musical competition, Branigan performed on February 16 on the main stage for an audience who enthusiastically sang her greatest hits. In early 2001, Branigan's return to
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#17327881252076758-560: The band Monsoon . "Shattered Glass" was performed by Branigan on the last episode of American Bandstand (hosted by Dick Clark ) to be broadcast on ABC (the show would last for two more years, first in first-run syndication and finally on the USA Network ) on September 5, 1987, becoming their last guest performer. The album also included a return to the Billboard top-40 with her cover of Jennifer Rush 's " Power of Love ", which
6867-405: The biggest hits of the 1980s. The album went gold, and the single was eventually certified platinum (sales of more than two million U.S. copies). Branigan's performance of "Gloria" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance alongside Linda Ronstadt , Olivia Newton-John , Juice Newton and that year's winner, Melissa Manchester , becoming her only solo nomination. In
6976-471: The charts in over six countries, most notably West Germany, where it spent six weeks at No. 1. The original version was recorded a few months earlier, still in 1984, under the name of one of the song's co-writers "Raf" ( Raffaele Riefoli ), and held the West German number 2 spot during this time period; Branigan's version enjoyed more success outside of Raf's native Italy, hitting No. 4 in the U.S. The song
7085-414: The company's ability to recruit top talent as Spotify grew, including access to flexible housing, better education in the programming and development fields, and stock options. Ek and Lorentzon wrote that to continue competing in a global economy, politicians needed to respond with new policies, or thousands of Spotify jobs would be moved from Sweden to the United States. In February 2017, Spotify announced
7194-434: The company's personalized playlists, better match songs with compositions, and improve the company's publishing data system. Later that month, Spotify also acquired MightyTV, an app connected to television streaming services, including Netflix and HBO Go , that recommends content to users. Spotify intended to use MightyTV to improve its advertising efforts on the free tier of service. In April 2017, they acquired Mediachain,
7303-402: The dance hit " Satisfaction ". The album also featured an understated version of Carole King 's " Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow "; as a counterpoint to all the dance productions, it was a bare-bones piano version. (In concerts and television appearances throughout her career, Branigan accompanied herself on the piano for the song.) Also during 1984, Branigan contributed the song "Hot Night" to
7412-542: The day after he was fatally shot in Florida. In March 2011, Spotify announced a customer base of 1 million paying subscribers across Europe, and by September 2011, the number of paying subscribers had doubled to two million. In August 2012, Time reported 15 million active users, four million being paying Spotify subscribers. User growth continued, reaching 20 million total active users, including five million paying customers globally and one million paying customers in
7521-468: The development of products that help artists understand, activate, and monetize their audiences". In November 2016, Spotify acquired Preact, a "cloud-based platform and service developed for companies that operate on subscription models which helps reduce churn and build up their subscriber numbers". In March 2017, Spotify acquired Sonalytic, an audio detection startup, for an undisclosed amount of money. Spotify stated that Sonalytic would be used to improve
7630-523: The early 2000s, most notably appearing as Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway musical Love, Janis . As she was recording new music and preparing a comeback to the music industry, she died at her home in August 2004 from a previously undiagnosed cerebral aneurysm . Branigan and her music saw renewed popularity and public interest in 2019 in the U.S. after "Gloria" was adopted by the NHL 's St. Louis Blues as their unofficial victory song while they completed
7739-649: The expansion of its United States operations in Lower Manhattan , New York City, at 4 World Trade Center , adding approximately 1,000 new jobs and retaining 832 existing positions. The company's US headquarters are in New York City's Flatiron District . On 14 November 2018, the company announced 13 new markets in the MENA region, including the creation of a new Arabic hub and several playlists. In October 2015, " Thinking Out Loud " by Ed Sheeran became
7848-590: The first song to pass 500 million streams. A month later, Spotify announced that " Lean On " by Major Lazer and DJ Snake featuring MØ was its most-streamed song of all time with over 525 million streams worldwide. In April 2016, Rihanna overtook Justin Bieber to become the biggest artist on Spotify, with 31.3 million monthly active listeners. In May 2016, Rihanna was overtaken by Drake with 31.85 million monthly listeners. In December 2016, Drake's just-under 36 million monthly listeners were overtaken by
7957-535: The first version of its Apple Watch app in November 2018, allowing playback control of the iPhone via the watch. Users can also choose which devices to play music on via Bluetooth. In a further escalation of the dispute with Apple, on 13 March 2019, Spotify filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission over unfair app store practices. Two days later, Apple responded, stating that the claim
8066-462: The folk-rock band Meadow. In 1973 the group, with bass player Bob Valdez, released their debut album The Friend Ship , featuring the singles "When You Were Young", and "Cane and Able", which featured the hook line "Throw away your cane and you are able". The record was not properly promoted and never re-released. The band broke up, after which Walker Daniels committed suicide. Branigan preferred not to discuss her involvement with Meadow publicly. During
8175-547: The free trial periods began to expire, limiting users to ten hours of streaming each month and five plays per song. Using PC streaming, a similar structure to the one used today allowed the listener to play songs freely, but with ads every 4–7 songs depending on listening duration. Later that same year, in March, Spotify removed all limits on the free service tier indefinitely, including mobile devices. In April 2016, Ek and Lorentzon wrote an open letter to Swedish politicians, demanding action in three areas that they claimed hindered
8284-426: The globe. In November 2021, Spotify hid the "shuffle" button for albums following a request by singer Adele , arguing that tracks in albums are supposed to be played back in the order specified by the artist to "tell a story". In May 2022, Spotify began testing a feature that would allow select artists to promote their NFTs via their profiles. Some artists included in this initial test phase were Steve Aoki and
8393-741: The iTunes singles chart thanks to the trend, going to number 3 after the Blues won the Stanley Cup. "Gloria" would also re-enter the Billboard charts in the wake of the Blues' championship, landing at No. 46 on the Billboard Digital Song Sales chart for the week of June 22, 2019. Golik noted that streams of "Gloria" have surged across all platforms and this has had a "trickle down" effect to the rest of Branigan's catalog, with her other hit songs such as " Self Control ", " Solitaire " and " How Am I Supposed to Live Without You " seeing significant upticks in streams and downloads during
8502-414: The inclusion of apps in app stores . On 1 March 2021, Spotify confirmed that its platform would no longer have access to music from artists represented by Kakao Entertainment . However, after talking it out and renewing the contracts between the two, Spotify later announced that they had reached an agreement with Kakao Entertainment, allowing their content to be available once again on the platform across
8611-452: The last song of the setlist. Spotify Spotify ( / ˈ s p ɒ t ɪ f aɪ / ; Swedish: [ˈspɔ̂tːɪfaj] ) is a Swedish audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon . As of September 2024 , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services , with over 640 million monthly active users comprising 252 million paying subscribers. Spotify
8720-502: The long-out-of-print hit " I Found Someone ". Branigan died in her sleep at her lodge in East Quogue, New York , on August 26, 2004, aged 52. The cause was attributed to a previously undiagnosed cerebral aneurysm . It was reported that she had been experiencing persistent headaches for several weeks before her death, but had sought no medical attention for them. At the time of her death, it was widely and erroneously reported that she
8829-486: The music licensing platform Loudr. In August 2018, Spotify bought the exclusive rights to The Joe Budden Podcast and expanded the show to a twice-weekly schedule. On 6 February 2019, Spotify acquired the podcast networks Gimlet Media and Anchor FM Inc., with the goal of establishing themselves as a leading figure in podcasting. On 26 March 2019, Spotify announced they would acquire another podcast network, Parcast . On 12 September 2019, Spotify acquired SoundBetter,
8938-449: The number of artist streams as a proportion of total songs streamed. It distributes approximately 70% of its total revenue to rights holders (often record labels), who then pay artists based on individual agreements. While certain musicians have voiced objections to Spotify's royalty structure and its effect on record sales, others laud the service for offering a lawful option to combat piracy and for remunerating artists each time their music
9047-403: The podcast would be available exclusively on Spotify beginning 1 July, saying they would continue to maintain the same creative control over the show after the move. Locker Room was rebranded in June 2021 as Spotify Greenroom , and turned into a Clubhouse competitor. The same month, Spotify acquired Podz, a podcast discovery startup. Also the same month, Spotify bought the exclusive rights to
9156-470: The popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience beginning in September of that year, under an agreement valued at around US$ 100 million (equivalent to $ 116,000,000 in 2023). In November 2020, Spotify announced plans to acquire Megaphone from The Slate Group for US$ 235 million . In March 2021, Spotify acquired app developer Betty Labs and their live social audio app, Locker Room, On 12 May 2021. Armchair Expert announced on Instagram that
9265-529: The producers failed to file with Equity properly," she told the Sunday News in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. "I was sort of relieved. My voice isn't anything like Janis Joplin's, and there were 19 of her songs in the show." In later years she continued to record, and dated Tommy Bayiokos, the drummer in her band. Also in 2002, her second official US hits collection, The Essentials , was released, including
9374-463: The rules we apply to all developers and are publicly resorting to rumors and half-truths about our service." He also elaborated that "Our guidelines apply equally to all app developers, whether they are game developers, e-book sellers, video-streaming services or digital music distributors; and regardless of whether they compete against Apple. We did not alter our behavior or our rules when we introduced our own music streaming service or when Spotify became
9483-523: The singles are available across Spotify for all our listeners to enjoy". It was announced later in April that this type of agreement would be extended to indie artists signed to the Merlin Network agency. Spotify went public on the stock market in April 2018 using a direct public offering rather than an initial public offering . This approach is not intended to raise fresh capital, but to let investors get their returns. Morgan Stanley
9592-515: The spring of 1983, Branigan released her second album: Branigan 2 . Her vocals propelled her English-language version of the French song "Solitaire" toward the top of the U.S. charts. The original "Solitaire" was written and recorded in 1981 by French singer-songwriter Martine Clemenceau . Two songs included on the album began the careers for two then-unknowns: the English translation of "Solitaire"
9701-481: The stage was postponed, when she broke both of her femurs in a 10-foot fall from a ladder while she was hanging wisteria outside her three-bedroom lakeside home in Westchester County, New York , resulting in physical therapy for six months. In 2002, she performed twice as the "singing" Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway musical Love, Janis , before dropping out of the show. "I left Janis because
9810-407: The success of "Gloria", guest appearances on American television series such as CHiPs ("Fox Trap", season 6, episode 16, in which she played Sarah, lead singer of the female rock band Cadillac Foxes), Automan ("Murder MTV", season 1, episode 9) and Knight Rider . She would later appear in independent films including Mugsy's Girls (aka Delta Pi , 1985) with Oscar -winner Ruth Gordon , and
9919-399: The three trade unions Unionen and Engineers of Sweden (affiliate of SACO ) in August 2023. The three unions petitioned Spotify to negotiate back in May. 90% of Swedish workers are covered by collective agreements . In tech companies bargaining coverage is less common. Swedish labor disputes are also happening at Tesla and Klarna as of 2024 . In November 2022, Henry Catalini Smith,
10028-431: The time of her death gave Branigan's birth year as 1957, reliable sources subsequently confirmed she was born in 1952. (Branigan may have altered her age early in her career; in a 1984 edition of "American Top 40," host Casey Kasem called her a "26-year-old singer," which would have placed her birth year approximately in 1957.) List of signature songs A signature song is the one song (or, in some cases, one of
10137-499: The time of her passing Tommy Bayiokos, who also was in her band, said "Laura would have gladly satisfied fans' desire to hear it live. She would have been humbled and performed with gusto. The "Play Gloria" wave started at the Jacks NYB bar and was totally unscripted ... it's been bittersweet and a testament of Laura's musical prowess." Studio albums This nomination was not given to Laura Branigan alone. Although most sources at
10246-562: The years after Meadow broke up, Branigan had various jobs, including a stint as one of Leonard Cohen 's backup singers for his European tour in April–August 1976. Branigan met attorney Larry Ross Kruteck (1936–1996) on St. Patrick's Day March 17, 1978 at a party in Manhattan and got married after almost nine months of dating December 8, 1978. In 1979, after a chance meeting with manager Sid Bernstein on her return from Europe, Branigan
10355-711: Was 47 years old, resulting from a technical error the Associated Press published after contacting Branigan's management company. Branigan was cremated, and her ashes were scattered over Long Island Sound . At Byram Hills High School in Armonk, New York , the Laura Branigan Memorial Scholarship is given annually to a senior for excellence in the performing arts. The St. Louis Blues NHL team began using Branigan's version of "Gloria" as its unofficial victory song when they went on
10464-578: Was also a musician, played guitar in Branigan's backing band early in her career and later contributed to her 1993 album Over My Heart as a co-producer, arranger, guitarist, bassist and backing vocalist, in addition to co-writing the track "Over You" with his sister. He died of a heart attack on March 10, 2022, aged 65. Branigan's maternal grandparents were William O'Hare Jr. (son of William John O'Hare and Agnes B. O'Connor) and Mary Conway (daughter of Francis J. Conway and Mary Teresa McGuiness). Branigan
10573-530: Was featured on the eighth episode of the first season of the TV series, Miami Vice , entitled "The Great McCarthy", which aired on November 16, 1984. Other pop, disco, and adult contemporary hits from the Self Control album include " The Lucky One " (which won her a Tokyo Music Festival prize), the continental ballad " Ti Amo " (another Umberto Tozzi hit, and a No. 2 hit in Australia for Branigan) and
10682-532: Was misleading rhetoric and that Spotify wanted benefits of a free app without being a free app. Spotify responded with a statement calling Apple a monopolist and stated that they had only filed the complaint as Apple's actions hurt competition and consumers and clearly violated the law. It also said that Apple believed Spotify users on the app store were Apple's customers and not Spotify's. Apple responded to Spotify's claims by counter-claiming that Spotify's market reach and user base would not have been possible without
10791-569: Was one of the 20 bestselling singles in the U.S. during the Christmas season. The album's third single, " Cry Wolf ", a top-30 AC hit, did not capture the attention of pop radio stations and stalled; the ballad was recorded two years later by Stevie Nicks , and more recently by its writer Jude Johnstone . Branigan's sixth album, Laura Branigan (1990), brought her back to the Hi-NRG charts and gay clubs with " Moonlight on Water ", and she scored
10900-627: Was produced and arranged by Branigan. The 1990–1991 Laura Branigan Tour, which was kicked off with an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on July 13, 1990 was followed by a performance in the Trump Regency Showroom in Atlantic City, New Jersey on July 14, and filmed for a syndicated U.S. television show SRO in Concert , which was released on videocassette and laserdisc; on July 15, 1990, she performed at
11009-590: Was raised in Armonk, New York , and as a child attended a Catholic school in nearby Chappaqua . She attended Byram Hills High School from 1966 to 1970, starring in the high school musical The Pajama Game in her senior year. Between 1970 and 1972, Branigan attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, and supported herself by working as a waitress. In 1972, Branigan met acoustic guitarist Walker Daniels and his future wife Sharon Storm, and acoustic guitarist Chris Van Cleave, forming
11118-490: Was recorded twice, for a syndicated radio concert series and a concert video. Branigan was also nominated for an award at the American Music Awards of 1985 for favorite pop/rock female video artist, won by Cyndi Lauper . Also in 1985, Branigan performed the main theme song for the television mini-series Hollywood Wives , based on the novel by Jackie Collins . By the time Branigan's fourth album, Hold Me
11227-408: Was released as the album's second single. Branigan's version was reworked with Tozzi's own arranger, Greg Mathieson, who updated its production with fellow producer Jack White to give it what Branigan called "an American kick" to match the new English lyrics. U.S. radio stations were initially unreceptive to "Gloria", but after it was embraced by dance clubs it eventually won them over, becoming one of
11336-403: Was released in July 1985, "Self Control" was a worldwide success. The hits continued with " Spanish Eddie ", which was her sixth U.S. Billboard top 40 pop hit in two and a half years. The subsequent single release " Hold Me " was a U.S. top-40 dance hit, and Branigan's introduction of the rock ballad " I Found Someone " (co-written by Michael Bolton , a later hit for Cher ) scored even higher on
11445-529: Was signed by Ahmet Ertegun to Atlantic Records . For several years Atlantic had difficulty classifying Branigan's powerful voice. Her pop single " Looking Out for Number One ", from her unreleased album Silver Dreams , made a brief appearance on the U.S. dance chart, reaching No. 60. Two other early Atlantic singles, "Tell Him" and "Fool's Affair"/"When", followed. None of these three singles were included on her first album, but all four songs were eventually released on CD over 30 years later in 2014 as bonus cuts on
11554-496: Was subsequently planned to be shut down in April 2023. In June 2022, Spotify acquired Sonantic, a synthetic voice and video developer. In July 2022, Spotify acquired Heardle , a Wordle -inspired music trivia game, for an undisclosed amount; Heardle was shut down in May 2023. In October 2022, Spotify acquired the Dublin -based content moderation startup, Kinzen. In 2023, Spotify merged Anchor into their Spotify for Podcasters tool,
11663-528: Was the first major hit for songwriter Diane Warren , while the ballad " How Am I Supposed to Live Without You " was the first major hit for its co-writer, Michael Bolton . Branigan's version reached No. 12 on the hot 100 and spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart. During the height of her career, Branigan also made acting appearances, first in 1981 in An American Girl in Berlin for West German television, and then after
11772-492: Was thought to be evidence of an impending credential stuffing cyberattack targeting Spotify as it contained the credentials of up to 350,000 compromised user accounts. In response to the attack, Spotify issued a rolling reset of passwords for affected accounts in November 2020. In May 2013, Spotify acquired music discovery app Tunigo. In March 2014, they acquired The Echo Nest , a music intelligence company. In June 2015, Spotify announced they had acquired Seed Scientific,
11881-439: Was very sincere, very down to Earth, she would just have been very touched by it all. If she were here, I know she would have participated in a very big way. I know she's there in spirit. To see them win and to hear that song blaring and coming up in the arena and looking around and seeing people singing out as loud as they can, cheering and having a good time, it's indescribable what that's like." In addition, Branigan's boyfriend at
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