When Scott Borchetta arrived at RAIN Summit Nashville he didn’t plan to make a product announcement. But an unexpected question from the audience drew him into revealing a hint of something new from Big Machine Label Group, the influential record company he founded. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Sirius XM isn’t worried about streaming rivals; seasonal listening trends on Spotify. Continue Reading
We see lots of intriguing partnerships happening among streaming services, but this is a spicy one. Spotify is now integrated into mobile dating app Tinder. Continue Reading
A new survey from MusicWatch broke out the most popular streaming services by hours listened. Its Audiocensus found that Pandora and YouTube dominate weekly time spent listening, each with a 27% share of hours in the second quarter of 2016. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia is reportedly planning to launch new paid streaming services. According to Claire Atkinson of the New York Post, the media conglomerate is working on an ad-free radio product and an on-demand music service. CEO Bob Pittman is reportedly going to make the formal announcement this week. Continue Reading
Winners of the 7th Annual RAIN Internet Radio Awards were announced Tuesday at RAIN Summit Nashville. A panel of 15 unaffiliated judges had reviewed 44 brands and services winnowed from hundreds of submission. From that process 18 finalists emerged, and six winners, one for each of six categories. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Several pieces about the iPhone 7, some technical insights into audio codecs, and the latest DAB data. Continue Reading
Bridge Ratings has published an assessment of the podcasting audience, looking not just at the current listenership but also at the people who could become regular listeners. According to its August 2016 survey, the percentage of respondents who have no interest in podcasting has declined to 55%. Continue Reading
AudioBoom has inked an exclusive deal for the hosting, distribution, and monetization of the podcast No Such Thing As A Fish. The popular British podcast features comedic investigations into obscure or unusual facts. The four hosts are researchers for the BBC2 panel show QI: Quite Interesting. Continue Reading
The RIAA has released its mid-year report, complete with data on the music industry’s first six months of 2016. The U.S. market’s H1 period for 2016 echoes the trend we’ve seen in many markets worldwide of rising results for streaming, subscriptions in particular, as downloads and physical sales decline. Continue Reading
Broadcaster and TV personality Robin Roberts is launching her first podcast. Robin Roberts: Everybody’s Got Something, which shares the title of Roberts’ best-selling book, will share stories about redemption and recovery in conversation with special guests. The podcast will have seven 45-minute episodes in its first season. Continue Reading
Early this morning Jelli released a progress report of its SpotPlan programmatic buying platform, timed to coincide with RAIN Summit Nashville and the RAB/NAB Radio Show this week in Nashville. RAIN News spoke with Jelli CEO Mike Dougherty about how the programmatic market has grown since the announcement of SpotPlan in March, and its launch in April. Continue Reading