Live365 has informed at least some of its webcasters that it will be shutting down at the end of the month. The Internet radio hosting platform laid off the bulk of its staff and left its offices at the end of December, shortly after the Copyright Royalty Board decision about new rates, and the expiration of a law protecting small webcasters, sent shockwaves through the webcasting community. Continue Reading
App Annie released its 2015 Retrospective report, and as usual, it has some pointed insights into both the mobile and mobile music markets. Spotify took the crown for revenue and users worldwide, but there are several countries where more localized streaming services had the most participation. Continue Reading
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Is Serial the most successful podcast ever? You’d think so, reading media hype about it. Confusion about podcast success metrics is a deeply rooted problem. Individual network solutions give early movers an advantage, and customized ad-serving technology is putting intelligence into the system too. Continue Reading
Slate’s Panoply division has created a new platform focused on creation, monetization, and distribution of podcasts. The new content management system is called Megaphone. It was built on ad-insertion technology from Audiometric, which Panoply acquired in August. Continue Reading
Just about anyone working in the broadcast or media worlds should be familiar with Studs Terkel. The Pulitzer Prize-winner made his name on his probing interviews with both the leading thinkers of the day and the average workaday citizens of the United States alike. Now, a new project by Chicago’s WFMT Radio Network aims to preserve and digitize Terkel’s radio shows. RAIN News readers have also been granted exclusive access to a pair of his interviews from the late 1960s. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio is announcing today that is 80-million registered users, up from 70-million in June, 2015. That rate of growth enables the claim that iHeartRadio is growing “faster than Facebook or any other streaming music service.” Click through for terms used in the audience wars. Continue Reading
7digital is partnering with eMusic to power the digital music platform following its re-launch. Under this arrangement, eMusic will access its licensed content for customers through the 7digital catalog. 7digital will also assume responsibility for rights holder reporting and will provide other enhancements to eMusic’s service in user experience and content. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: When and why podcasts ads work; Patreon’s serious Series B round; Apple launches Music Memos recording app. Continue Reading
Several big news items came out of France-based Deezer today. First, the on-demand streaming service has secured €100 million (about $109 million) in a funding round. The influx of money will go toward growing the service’s audience, introducing new products and features, and building more programmed experiences for listeners. Second, Deezer announced that it has increased the size of its music catalog. Continue Reading
Spotify has acquired two companies, adding their talent to its product development and engineering teams. One purchase is Cord Project, the other is Soundwave. No financial details of the purchases were disclosed. Continue Reading
A new edition of an annual research projection from MyersBizNet forecasts 7.7% growth in ad spend across audio/radio, video/TV, display, video, mobile, and other categories. Terrestrial radio is predicted to grow 5% across “legacy” and digital advertising opportunities. Internet radio is projected at 25% growth. Continue Reading
MusicWatch has shared research into consumer sentiment about what listeners want in a music streaming subscription. When asked what feature would encourage them to pay for their tunes, far and away the top answer was control over a completely on-demand service at 39%. However, 11% said “sound quality as good as the recording studio.” Continue Reading