7 - 2015 - RAIN News

Test Drive: Cymbal struggles to stand out in social music apps

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Anna Washenko

Even a cursory glance at the music industry headlines and market research will show that mobile is the wave of the future. We communicate, we entertain ourselves, everything happens on smartphones. In response, we’ve been seeing a surge of startups and programmers exploring just what the mobile music space might look like. This morning I explored an entry into the field of mobile apps for social music. This one is called Cymbal. Continue Reading →

WGCU Ft. Myers goes all classical in HD

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Brad Hill

Classical music is a niche category, one which might be shrinking as its main demographic ages. Its presence on radio has reduced again and again over 60 years, even on public stations where specialized music can find audience. NPR station WGCU went HD with it. Continue Reading →

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Amazon Prime Day turns into Radio Advertising Day via Cumulus/Ipsos study

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Brad Hill

Cumulus/Westwood One leveraged Amazon Prime Day by commissioning an Ipsos study of advertising effectiveness in promoting the event. With the result favoring traditional radio ads, the survey turned a pure digital story into a testimonial of analog reach and power to drive consumer action. Continue Reading →

Sirius XM earnings: Even more confidence than last time

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Brad Hill

Sirius XM reported its Q2 earnings, and raised guidance on annual revenue and subscriber growth. The report followed and exceeded an exceptionally bullish Q1 report in April. Continue Reading →

Test Drive: Rhapsody v5.0

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Brad Hill

Music subscription service Rhapsody sent a notice that its Android app has been refreshed with new design and usability features. Version 5.0 includes several key changes, which we tested. Continue Reading →

UK listeners stream more than 500 million tracks a week

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Anna Washenko

BPI and the Official Charts Company reported that weekly audio streams in the UK have exceeded the 500 million milestone. It’s the first time to reach that metric. The country is now forecast to reach 25 billion audio streams by the end of the year. Continue Reading →

Samsung offers Google Play Music bundle, drops Deezer

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Anna Washenko

Samsung has entered into a partnership with Google Play Music, offering the owners of Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge devices a free subscription to the service for six months. This new arrangement means the end of Samsung’s bundle with Deezer, which gave six months access to the Premium+ plan. Continue Reading →

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AT&T moves toward FM reception in its smartphones

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Brad Hill

In an unexpected announcement by NextRadio that will be greeted warmly by all advocates of FM reception in smartphones, AT&T has added FM chip activation to the specification list that it gives OEM phone makers. This development carries a hopeful message to Emmis-owned NextRadio, and the stations which participate in that app. Continue Reading →

Apple Music reportedly secured 10 million listeners in its first month

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Anna Washenko

Apple Music has reportedly signed up more than 10 million people in its first month. The data point comes from Hits, which credited unnamed sources from major labels. Apple Music is still in its free trial stage for any listeners, so these alleged millions haven’t yet paid for the service. Continue Reading →

Pandora expands Sponsored Listening to all advertisers

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Brad Hill

Pandora’s Sponsored Listening program, which began a beta launch period last October, emerges today as a full-throttle marketing opportunity for all advertisers. We spoke to Lizzie Widhelm, VP of Digital. Continue Reading →

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Kurt Hanson: The Voltair Controversy

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Kurt Hanson

by Kurt Hanson

The Voltair controversy is a many-sided issue. When Randy Kabrich posted a piece of research that examined whether the audio processing technology increases ratings in Nielsen PPM markets, as Voltair claims to, Kurt Hanson was impressed — but suggests a different conclusion. Continue Reading →

AdLarge gets exclusive repping of APNews audio via AudioBoom

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Brad Hill

Audio ad sales company AdLarge Media notified us today that it has acquired exclusive ad-rep rights to Associated Press (AP) on-demand news reports on AudioBoom. Along with extending AP’s exposure to marketers, there is a reach play in the deal, which allows affiliaste radio stations to host AP audio updates on their websites and mobile apps. Continue Reading →