Apple Music has partnered with the UK’s Royal College of Music for classical music curation. The school will create playlists on a regular basis, with help from its staff and professors. The first playlist highlights works by British composers who have connections to the conservatory. Continue Reading
Universal Music Group posted its financial results for 2016. The company reported total revenue of nearly €5.27 billion ($5.83 billion) and total recorded music revenue of €4.19 billion ($4.63 billion). Streaming revenue outpaced physical music sales for the first time at UMG. Continue Reading
PRX and iHeartRadio are collaborating on a day of live podcast performances at SXSW. Podcasts are usually put through re-recording and editing in order to get a polished final episode, so the trend of live recordings poses a challenge for the producers. Continue Reading
Gracenote has launched connected databases for video, music, and sports metadata. By connecting these three topics, Gracenote makes a broad set of information available to global entertainment providers and makers of smart devices. Continue Reading
Spotify has been nibbling at podcast distribution for over a year, bundling a substantial range of popular shows into the otherwise all-music app. Now the global leader in on-demand music leans into on-demand podcasting with an announcement of three original shows to be launched in coming weeks. Continue Reading
We are delighted to share news sent to us from iHeartMedia: Steve Keller, CEO of iV, has been awarded the iHeartMedia Scholarship for Leadership in Audio Innovation, a program conducted with the Berlin School of Creative Leadership. RAIN News readers have a chance to meet Steve Keller next Tuesday at RAIN Online Audio Advertising Summit, where Keller is showing his work. Continue Reading
Pandora has entered into a partnership with A Million Ads, in a deal to give marketers two new tools for reaching the audio platform’s listeners. The two companies will deliver real-time personalized creative audio at scale, with ads that can take location, time of day, and weather. Continue Reading
RadioPublic, a mobile podcast listening app, is launching a discovery feature called Podcast Playlists. Each playlist is themed by topic or activity, and they are programmed by podcast experts, producers, and listeners with episodes from across different shows. Continue Reading
Webcast listening in December moved up three percent compared to the previous month, according to Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics monthly Top 20 Ranker, released today. Year-over-year listening to streams gained 11%. Click through for historical charts. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Andy Bowers talks podcasting’s future. Alex Da Kid discusses independent music companies. Continue Reading
The North American Broadcasters Association has released a position paper supporting the creation of a North American Digital Radio Standard. Based on its analysis, the group has determined that a voluntary digital radio broadcast standard would be beneficial to both listeners and broadcasters. Continue Reading
Two search engines have signed on for a voluntary code of practice that would make it harder for people to find illegal streaming and download sites. Both Google and Microsoft have signed on for this code, although neither has agreed to take specific action yet. Continue Reading