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A six-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming audio.
THIS WEEK: Apple raids radio; YouTube Radio; A study of streaming ad loads; WNYC podcast chief leaves for startup; Spotify licenses Sony music for Europe; Pandora launches Artist Messaging; Tumblr music takedowns. Continue Reading
Starbucks, long the purveyor of lattes and cappuccinos, announced that it will stop selling CDs at its registers at the end of March. “Music will remain a key component of our coffeehouse and retail experience, however we will continue to evolve the format of our music offerings to ensure we’re offering relevant options for our customers,” a Starbucks rep told Billboard about the decision. Continue Reading
Hifi streaming service Tidal announced a new partnership with by:Larm, which runs a music festival and conference on March 4-7 in Oslo. As a result of this deal, Tidal will present the international section of by:Larm’s artist program. Tidal and WiMP’s editor-in-chief Sveinung Rindal will also hold a session during the conference focused on how others can take most advantage of streaming services. Continue Reading
Bridge Ratings issued a correlation study that sought to understand the relationship between a song’s streaming success, and that song’s digital download sales. Bridge discovered that a correlation does exist, all the more for the biggest hits. Continue Reading
Guest columnist Chris Price of New Slang Media writes about renowned DJ Zane Lowe leaving the BBC for Apple. If that represents a convergence of broadcast radio and Internet radio, the author — a fan of streaming audio — recommends five other lessons that online radio could learn from broadcast. Continue Reading
Snapchat has been making big waves in the field of social media, most recently getting valued at a staggering $19 billion. Today, it introduced the ability to add music to your videos. The update lets people have music playing from iTunes, Spotify, and SoundCloud on their phones and then appear in their Snaps. Continue Reading
A new report from XAPPmedia looks at streaming ad loads during and after the 2014 holiday season. It measures ad load per hour, the percentage of 30-second spots, and number of advertisers encountered during the listening, in addition to other interesting results. Continue Reading
We reported on the plans for new video service Vessel back in December, and since then have gotten access to its beta. The service uses a business model of an inexpensive monthly subscription ($2.99) that promises advanced access to content. Many have positioned this video service as a direct rival to YouTube, since artists and other video creators might appreciate a paid platform more than a free video playground. After spending some time investigating what the platform has to offer, we’re excited about where Vessel might go, but it has a long road before it will be a true rival of YouTube. Continue Reading
Pandora has introduced a new feature called Artist Audio Messaging that will allow musicians to directly communicate with their fans. Lenny Kravitz is one of the first musicians to have access to the feature, and he used it to introduce a new song. The service is getting a small rollout for now, but the company said it aims to scale it up to more people over time. Continue Reading
Paul Kamp, VP of Business Development at Backbone Networks, notified RAIN that his company has released Backbone Talk, a lightweight solution to taking call-in talk programs out of the studio. Continue Reading
RAIN Summit West, April 12 in Las Vegas, has posted this year’s discussion panels, and the first 12 confirmed speakers. RAIN Summit West, a partner event of the NAB Show, is the preeminent information and networking event for the streaming audio industry. Continue Reading
PodcastOne has haired Dana Senit, formerly with TargetSpot, as its new Sales Manager, Western Region. Senit was with TargetSpot for nearly seven years. Senit has a 20-year career in sales and account management. Continue Reading