Christopher LaRosa, a product manager for YouTube Music, is leaving to join an unnamed startup. He spent about seven years at the Google subsidiary and was a key player in expanding the musical content available via YouTube. Some of his projects included getting YouTube data to count toward the Billboard 100 singles chart and the still in-development subscription music program. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web. TODAY: UMG launches a You-Tube-derived music label; David Lowery blames music managers; a fun infographic. Continue Reading
WideOrbit, a leading provider of advertising management solutions, has acquired Admeta, a Sweden-based tech company specializing in programmatic ad-selling. With a strong focus in Europe, and clients in over 20 countries, Admeta develops technology to optimize revenue for online publishers. Continue Reading
Amazon’s Prime Music, which launched in June, has enhanced its service with “hundreds of thousands of songs,” and a big raft of new house-curated playlists. The service is pressing its strategy of providing easy lean-back listening to music mixes to Prime members, and de-emphasizing lean-forward music searching and collecting. We took the opportunity to give the service a second review, this time in an Amazon Kindle Fire HD tablet, presumably the, er, prime interface for the platform. Continue Reading
Sanjay Sharma has joined All Def Digital as president and CEO. The YouTube channel, launched by Def Jam’s Russell Simmons, is a resource focused on hip-hop music, comedy, and spoken word artists. From behind-the-scenes videos with new MCs to talk shows with the latest celebrity gossip and news, the channel is positioning itself as a multimedia resource for fans and performers alike. Sharma joins the company after almost five years at Machinima, another multichannel network that produces videos and web shows centered on video games and gamer lifestyle. Continue Reading
TuneCore announced the launch of Artist Services, a new portal to help musicians handle the business side of their craft. It includes resources for building a website, managing merchandise, and engaging with fans. It also introduced a unique feature called Track Smarts for music research. Continue Reading
Although Google’s purchase of Songza is signed, sealed, and delivered, the tech press is still buzzing over the idea that the service wasn’t the primary acquisition target. Spotify has been the subject of frequent rumors about a buy-out by the search engine conglomerate. Continue Reading
Venerable Internet radio platform SHOUTcast, which was acquired from AOL by Radionomy early this year, is re-launching this week with enhancements that should benefit SHOUTcast station owners. The SHOUTcast brand, station directory, and back-end tie-ins with mobile apps all remain intact. The noteworthy changes are intended to provide station owners with a less expensive, more lucrative, and better informed experience. Continue Reading
Business software company Marketron today announced the addition of location-based advertising to its suite of monetization products. Location-based advertising addresses the dominant trend in digital listening, which is the migration of consumers to mobile environments. An eMarketer study this month concluded that mobile advertising will surpass traditional radio advertising revenue this year. Continue Reading
Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio is partnering with ad-tech provider AdsWizz to create “unique and integrated digital advertising capabilities,” it was announced this morning. The partnership will enhance ad insertion and targeting across a wide scope of brands and content — over 840 Clear Channel radio stations that stream live webcasts on the iHeart platform. Continue Reading
Brief new items and worthy reads from around the web: Google execs join Spotify; blue notes for jazz and classical; new musical startups; UK’s anti-piracy program Continue Reading
MTV, VH1, and BET could see a resurgence in how they share music thanks to a new partnership between owner Viacom and Spotify. The deal will make artists highlighted on Viacom’s web and on-air programming easily available to listeners through Spotify playlists. Continue Reading