iHeartRadio has officially launched its two new streaming audio services, rolling them out widely after a month of testing. The two services emerging from beta are iHeartRadio Plus and iHeartRadio All Access Powered By Napster. Both were introduced in December; RAIN News conducted a review of the new features. Continue Reading
Podtrac has issued its list of top podcast publishers for December 2016. The list, a monthly catalog of the top clients using Podtrac’s measurement systems, comes out each month. Total global unique streams and downloads for December were 186 million, a drop of 8% from the previous month. Continue Reading
The past year has shown how difficult it can be to make predictions. Here, guest columnist Steve Goldstein does something different, laying out key trends. Here are four “mega” trends which will likely affect podcasting in 2017. Continue Reading
Ford and Toyota have formed the SmartDeviceLink Consortium, an alliance of car companies and software developers intended to create alternatives to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the leading suppliers of smartphone integration in dashboards. The effort hopes to bring some oxygen into a closed duopoly governed by the world’s two leading operating systems. Continue Reading
Spotify and GroupM, which struck an alliance in November, have executed a study (Streaming State of Mind) into streaming media consumption, listener demographics, mobile listening, and ad spend. Part of Spotify’s effort to evangelize streaming audio to advertisers, this deep and expansive survey delivers interesting insights. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: a youTuber’s revenue; Donald FM; loss of serendipity. Continue Reading
SESAC has been acquired by the Blackstone Group. The collection and licensing society bills itself as the only one in the U.S. handling public performance, mechanical, synchronization and other rights under a single umbrella. Financial details of the acquisition have not been revealed, but the deal is projected to close by the end of Q1 2017. Continue Reading
Everybody seems to want SoundCloud to be acquired, though the company itself does not publicly contribute to speculation. The latest? A report of unnamed sources saying Google is now investigating a SoundCloud purchase. Continue Reading
Pandora is announcing today the wide release of its two newest ad formats: Muted Video and Responsive Mobile Display, after six months of testing with a handful of launch advertisers. Test partners included Denny’s, Google, Express, and the Lexus Dealers Association. The beta period enabled Pandora to develop usage metrics. Continue Reading
BuzzAngle Music issued an annual report about music consumption in 2016. Overall music consumption increased 4.9% over 2015, from 394.5 million album project units to 413.9 million project units. Streaming consumption skyrocketed up 82.6% to 250 billion streams for the year. Continue Reading
The British Phonographic Industry released its official 2016 annual report. Total music consumption for the year rose 1.5% to 123 million album equivalent sales. The past year saw 45 billion audio streams served to UK listeners. Continue Reading
Happy New Year!
RAIN News is pleased to present predictions from 29 thought-leading guest futurists. 2017 will carry forward the audio industry’s reputation for quick, disruptive change. Continue Reading