Audible made its name in the digital space selling subscriptions to audiobooks. Now, as podcasting’s star continues to rise, the Amazon-owned company appears to be shifting its focus to take advantage of the newest trend. Audible hired NPR’s top content developer to a new role as SVP of original content. Continue Reading
James Cridland Weekly Links is a column by the U.K.’s radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: VOX conference; interesting events and articles from around the world. Continue Reading
Money continues to flow into the burgeoning podcast category as Bonnier Growth Media, a Swedish investment firm, today announced closing a $5-million capital investment in Acast, and podcast and advertising network, also in Sweden. Continue Reading
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The weekly update of the streaming audio industry, from RAIN News. THIS WEEK: BMI wins lawsuit vs. Pandora; new streaming advertising report; Apple/Beats rumors; Rdio’s new plan Continue Reading
Digital Music News is reporting that Spotify may place some restrictions on its freemium listening tier. Unnamed sources have told that site that the free, ad-supported access could be limited to just three months under a new proposal. This is the type of change that labels and publishers have been pressuring the streaming service to make, and the leaders at Universal and Sony seem to be the driving force behind the rumored proposal. Continue Reading
Radiotopia received an investment of $1 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The podcast network will use the money to add to its portfolio of shows and to hire an executive producer. It is the second time that the Knight Foundation has contributed to Radiotopia’s development; it also gave $200,000 in February 2014. Continue Reading
Australia’s music industry is adding a new weekly chart to reflect the popularity of streams. The Australian Recording Industry Association will launch the Top 40 Audio & Visual Streaming Chart on Monday, May 18. It will incorporate plays from all official music videos on YouTube. Continue Reading
In a Manhattan U.S. District Court, a ruling in the BMI vs. Pandora royalty rate case went in BMI’s direction late yesterday, raising the rate at which Pandora must pay for BMI-represented music by 43%. Continue Reading
Research company CivicScience probed the preferences and psychographics of Spotify and Pandora users to sketch a detailed image of how they differ. Using widely distributed web-bases surveys that yielded over 8,000 replies, CivicScience sought to understand demographic and behavioral differences. Continue Reading
Rdio has added a new subscription tier focused on mobile listening to its available offerings. Rdio Select offers elements of both lean-back and on-demand listening on mobile devices for $3.99 a month. It is an innovative, carefully considered competitive gambit. Continue Reading
Today brings a fresh batch of rumors and sneak peaks into Apple’s forthcoming music service, as usual courtesy of 9to5Mac. Unnamed industry sources told the site that despite being based on Beats Music, the new platform is likely to be called Apple Music. It is also expected to integrate social features similar to ones that Apple previously experimented with in the form of Ping. Continue Reading
Ad technology company XAPPmedia announced the closing of a $3.8-million round of new capital funding. The private investors were not disclosed. After a previous funding round of $3-million, XAPP’s total funding now stands at $6.8-million. Continue Reading