CBS Radio Inc. has filed its Form S-1 SEC registration for an expected Initial Public Offering. The mile-long document explains the basic business, summarizes financials for the first nine months of 2016, and discloses investment risks. We examined the prospectus and made notes of the digital aspects. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: BBC World Services expands its language offerings. PRX offers podcast training to radio. Big changes for Brisbane’s breakfast radio. Continue Reading
NextRadio has introduced a newsfeed as a new way to present radio station content to listeners. The feed includes items from stations such as trending tweets from a particular user’s favorite programs and other related content such as artist and song facts or concert information. Continue Reading
Nielsen has launched its Music Connect data product in Canada. This rollout offers clients more in-depth listener data, including for streaming and broadcasting. It covers 72 metropolitan areas across Canada, and has analytics including airplay, sales, and social media activity. According to Canadian music industry specialist Alan Cross, it could “shake up” what listeners hear on Canadian Radio. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Bob Lefsetz on Recode Media podcast; innovations at WNYC; interview with Radiolab founder; what’s next for political podcasts? Continue Reading
South Africa-based podcast and audio company iono.fm has received a new influx of seed funding. The company secured $175,000 (2.5 million rand) in a round led by Clifftop Colony. The financing will support strengthening domestic operations and investing in streaming services. Continue Reading
We covered the early results from Music Biz Consumer Insights and LOOP’s latest study of in-car listening, but the final report offers some more detail into the breakdown of technology choices and listener ages. For in-car listening, 75% of respondents said they listen to AM/FM radio. CD listening came in a distant second with 38%, while digital music files had 18% and streaming Internet radio had 15%. Podcasts secured just 6%. Continue Reading
Metallica is out with a new album and the band has gone an unusual route with distribution. Hardwired… To Self Destruct has been released on most of the usual digital outlets, but it is also on YouTube in its entirety. Metallica’s adoption of streaming distribution contradicts the band’s earlier resistence, and contains some irony. Then there is Radiohead, once a hold-out, which is now streaming on Spotify. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Apple revising some App Store fees; rates of trial-hopping; former ASCAP exec joins CD Baby. Continue Reading
Today brings an announcement from AdsWizz that it has obtained a partnership with demand-side programmatic buying platform RTBiQ. The alliance leverages AdWave (the audio advertising platform owned by AdsWizz) to bring digital audio ad inventory to RTBiQ’s buyers. Continue Reading
TuneIn has added offline listening and downloading for its podcasts. These features were included in the latest update to the service. Listeners can store podcasts on their mobile devices for access at any time, even when they don’t have an online connection. Continue Reading
Brian Whitman has departed Spotify. He joined the streaming company as a co-founder and CTO of The Echo Nest, which Spotify acquired in 2014. Continue Reading