ROK Mobile announced new developments in its available phone plans for music fans. The company is offering a bundle with unlimited talk, text, data, and streaming music for $49.99 a month. The streaming music component is called simply ROK Music and it has a library of 20 million songs. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web. The ongoing discussions of Apple Music’s place in the industry have pulled out a range of opinions. We select pieces from MediaPost’s London editor, a Bridge Ratings survey, and Jeffrey C. Smith writing in Re/Code. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia and Unified have jointly announced a long-term partnership to develop audience-targeting datasets that can be applied across iHeart’s sprawling radio, streaming, mobile, and event portfolios. The deal includes an unspcified investment by iHeart in Unified. Continue Reading
Generations of country music have played on the radios of Ford F-Series pickups over the past 60 years. The station is hosted by songwriter Otis Gibbs, who introduces songs, radio-style, and also features interviews and a live studio session performances. Companion graphics stick with the experience. Continue Reading
In a tradition of featuring thought leaders in the online audio industry, RAIN today announced that Jake Shapiro, Chief Executive of public radio marketplace PRX, will present the keynote speech at RAIN Summit Atlanta, September 29. Continue Reading
Line Music has officially launched in Japan. It will offer two price tiers, the first costing 500 yen (about $4) a month for 20 hours of streaming. The second tier costs 1,000 yen (about $8) for unlimited listening on the platform. The streaming service is owned by Japan-based messaging company Line, and it also has involvement from Universal Music Japan. Continue Reading
Pandora’s Chief Revenue Officer John Trimble says that a mere eight seconds might be the perfect ad length for mobile video. “Looking ahead, I could envision video and audio ads as short as eight seconds being something advertisers and listeners will be interested in,” he said. According to AdWeek, the radio service isn’t going to imminently make a switch to a new ad length, but is considering a broader effort to reach the coveted young demographics. Continue Reading
8tracks has secured a new cluster of content partnerships, and a new line of debt financing. The newly expanded library helps DJs build playlists more easily, and the financing will go to product and engineering. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: IAB research in mobile video; spotify offers an exclusive track; a rumor about Apple Music pricing in India. Continue Reading
The Download on Podcasts is a weekly feature sponsored by PodcastOne.
It seems like everyone is getting into podcasting — creators, networks, measurement companies, ad-tech companies, and now the transcription firm GMR Transcription, which announced the launch of an audio-to-text service. Does it make sense? We looked at two podcasts using the service.
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Czech Republic launches large T-DAB+ trial; Apple Music will be below standard audio quality; a rough outlook for indie Internet radio. Continue Reading
Attorneys from Universal Music Group have responded to an investigation that the label colluded with other leading music companies to push out free, ad-supported tiers from streaming services. In a letter responding to a subpoena, UMG denied having any agreements with Sony Music, Warner Music Group, or Apple to “impede the availability of third-party free or ad-supported music streaming services.” Continue Reading