Norway has become the first nation to set a timeline for mandatory shutoff of FM broadcasting. The country will go all-digital (DAB and DAB+) in 2017, as decided by the Ministry of Culture. More than half of the Norwegian population has a DAB receiver, and 56% of the population uses DAB every day. Continue Reading
Chicago Public Media’s WBEZ radio station received a grant of $2 million to finance its digital expansion. The money from the Pritzker Foundation is the largest donation the station has received, although WBEZ will need to raise a matching amount to receive the grant over three years. The influx of funding will help the station to double its existing digital staff, update its infrastructure, and produce new shows. Continue Reading
Guvera announced that it hit the milestone of 10 million users worldwide. According to the company’s press release, the streaming platform has seen growth of more than 35,000 users joining daily over the past 22 weeks. India has been a particularly strong market for Guvera, and it recently passed the 3 million member mark. Continue Reading
Guest columnist Steve Goldstein left Saga Communications in March to start on-demand audio company Amplifi Media. In this article, he notes the on-demand revolution that has turned TV into a “golden age,” and carries the consumer values over to audio. Continue Reading
Spotify’s ad revenue increased 53% in the first quarter of 2015 compared with the year-ago period, RAIN News has confirmed. The revenue growth corresponds with a 50% audience growth. In the last four months, Spotify has introduced new audience targeting platforms for advertisers. Continue Reading
Tidal has confirmed that CEO Andy Chen will leave the high-res streaming company. Peter Tonstad, who was formerly CEO at Tidal’s parent company Aspiro, will serve as interim CEO. The company is conducting a search for replacements. Continue Reading
“Super-serving underserved segments.” That’s one point Beth Murphy mentioned during a catch-up phone call this week. We were interested in an update on Deezer’s Stitcher acquisition and integration, as well as the evergreen question of when Deezer will fully enter the U.S. market. Continue Reading
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THIS WEEK: Anthony Bay announces Rdio Live; IFPI global music revenue report; Is Spotify worth $8.4-billion?; 6 Seconds streaming app; EFF wins podcast patent pushback. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Billboard crunches streaming royalty numbers; iHeart’s iOS redesign; Tidal adds feature for indies and emerging artists. Continue Reading
Spotify announced an executive promotion within its ranks. James Duffet-Smith will now be working as global head of publisher relations. He had been serving as the streaming company’s head of licensing business affairs, where his focus was on global music licensing concerns. Continue Reading
SiriusXM and Flo & Eddie, the company representing 60s band the Turtles, have been playing legal ping pong over the copyright for songs that were recorded prior to 1972, the date when federal copyright law took effect. The latest salvo comes from the satellite radio company, which has successfully petitioned the 2nd Circuit court to receive a review of the decisions handed down in the New York case by Judge Colleen McMahon. Continue Reading
Average listeners tuned in to BBC radio for 10 hours a week during the last quarter of 2014, according to official data from the UK broadcaster. That figure marked a drop of 14 percent from a decade earlier, when that average figure was 11.6 hours a week for the period. A representative from the broadcaster noted that although the interest among listeners is still high, many are tuning in through online or digital platforms that are not accounted for in the BBC’s traditional listening data. Continue Reading