There are many ways to measure online audio campaigns — impressions and CPMs, return on investment, banner clicks, engagement. A RAIN Summit West panel discussion, featuring Heidi Browning from Pandora and other industry experts, will focus on best practices for measuring effectiveness. Continue Reading
Rdio announced several new features to its online listening platform at SXSW. Many of them are centered around interpersonal activity. First, the iOS version has revamped its sharing interface. Second, after someone has shared a song, the recipient can reply to the sender and have a conversation. The final new conversation feature better loops in social media for interacting with artists. Continue Reading
One of the top criticisms of HD radio is gaps in coverage. A new development from Belar Electronics could help create a better experience for listeners in areas where coverage is less robust by eliminating the delay between digital and analog signals. This should allow seamless switching between the two with no noticeable gap in locations where HD signal is weaker or unreliable. Continue Reading
RAIN News founding editor Kurt Hanson traveled to Milan for Radiodays Europe 2015. This bulletin covers a fascinating research session called “Stream Battle.” Continue Reading
Today Clip Interactive announced a new capability of its Total Audience Solution platform, allowing FM reception as an alternative to streaming a radio station. In smartphones, FM reception must be enabled by activation of the phone’s FM chip. The first phone… Continue Reading
Pandora has hired Elizabeth Moody as vice president of global content licensing. She will be responsible for all content partnership strategy and negotiations. Music licensing is an imperative for Pandora and its investors, never more than this year. Continue Reading
The Download on Podcasts is a weekly feature sponsored by PodcastOne.
Micro-subscriptions on specialty crowdfunding platforms like Patreon and Recurrency offer independent podcasters a real chance at self-sufficiency. Success stories reveal an audience willing to pay for unique, personal, on-demand programs. Continue Reading
RAIN News founding editor Kurt Hanson is in Milan for Radiodays Europe 2015. This bulletin covers the event’s opening day, with photos. Continue Reading
RAIN News has learned that NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have agreed to a 17% music licensing rate increase for the 2016-2020 royalty period. The new rate anchors an agreement between the nonprofit public media outlets and SoundExchange, the royalty collection and distribution entity representing artists and record labels to webcasters. Continue Reading
Rhapsody launched a new feature today called Rhapsody audio cards that allows more than 30 million songs to be embedded and heard in full on Twitter. The new development is designed to allow listening to its catalog without ever leaving the social media app. Continue Reading
Helen Boaden, director of radio at the BBC, spoke today at the RadioDays Europe Festival about the media icon’s efforts to reinvent its broadcast presence to reflect new technologies and changing consumer preferences. The BBC is working to “reinvent radio for the Internet age” with an online audio service. Continue Reading
Patreon, a crowdfunding site based on the idea of classical patronage, has acquired Subbable, a fellow crowdfunding service. Subbable was founded by Hank and John Green, YouTube personalities known as the Vlogbrothers. While most financial terms of the deal were not revealed, Patreon will be matching migrating pledges up to $100,000. Continue Reading