Nielsen Music’s data for the week ending Aug. 27 was the lowest for digital song sales in seven years. Only 15.66 million songs were sold on digital platforms for the week. The top track for the period, “Locked Away” by R. City, sold only 92,000 downloads. On the other hand, that same week had the highest level of on-demand audio and video streams. Continue Reading
7digital has entered a partnership with Imagination centered on the FlowRadio Internet radio aggregation service. Under the terms of the deal, the two parties will jointly improve and develop the FlowRadio platform, and 7digital will use it to power IP radio services for other brands. Continue Reading
The comScore Mobile Metrix report for July 2015 included data about the top apps by reach across iOS and Android devices in the U.S. Pandora held the No. 7 spot with 43.9% reach. Apple Music snuck into the No. 14 with 24.1% reach. Continue Reading
Google has launched its Play Music streaming service in Japan. A subscription will cost ¥980 per month, but Google is offering the first 30 days as a free trial. For those who register by Oct. 18, they will lock in a discounted monthly rate of ¥780. The service will be available on Android smartphones and tablets and on iPhones. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Spotify’s song of the summer; interview with Songza founder; iTunes VP says there’s “homework” to do. Continue Reading
TuneIn is expanding its available programming in college football, announcing the addition of play-by-play broadcasts and team-specific stations for 90 college teams. These new features mean TuneIn listeners will be able to access almost 70% of the NCAA’s Division 1 football. The platform will also be carrying a talk program called “The College Football Blitz” from IMG. Continue Reading
We’ve seen some trend pieces in the past month discussing just how important it is for artists’ success to secure spots on streaming services’ popular playlists. The indie community has recognized this and is preparing to jump on the bandwagon. The Association of Independent Music in the UK has issued a request for proposal seeking an entity to operate a streaming music playlists brand focused on indies. Continue Reading
App Annie always has great insights into mobile business, and the company’s latest report reviews the most popular iOS apps to date. The report has separate lists for global popularity by download and by revenue, with separate lists for games. Pandora took the crown as the highest-grossing iOS app, while Spotify ranked fifth on that chart. Continue Reading
Universal Music Group reported its financial results for the first half of 2015. It was a milestone period for the company, with digital revenue accounting for more than half of its recorded music operation. Digital music was 50.1% of the revenue at €926 million. Total revenue from ad-funded and subscription streaming rose 34%. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Ten years of NPR podcasts; Google’s Songza-style playlists arrive in Germany; nearly three-quarters of Apple Music subs are male. Continue Reading
Considering the genre’s very name evokes the feeling of being low and sad, blues music can have a surprisingly funky side. That upbeat attitude comes out in spades on the fun and feisty Funky Blues station. Continue Reading
The Music Business Association released a new infographic with data about broadcast radio listenership by age. The younger demographics posted low numbers for this audio format. Ages 15-19 had just 24% share, while 20-24 was 33%. Ages 50 and older had a solid 61%. These results – young people aren’t that into traditional radio – echo what we’ve seen in other recent research. Continue Reading