Sony Music posted recorded music revenue of 303.65 billion yen ($2.7 billion) in the first nine months of 2017. Streaming was responsible for 43% of that nine-month total, or 129.23 billion yen ($1.1 billion). Continue Reading
Acast is looking to go public on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and will be shuffling its leadership. In preparation for listing, Acast is changing up its leadership. CEO Måns Ulvestam and Chief Strategy Officer Karl Rosander, both company co-founders, will step down from their current operational roles and Chief Revenue Officer Ross Adams will step in as the new chief executive. Continue Reading
Pandora has added 250 Featured Playlists to its subscription tier. This addition is a series of playlists curated by the Pandora team centered on themes such as working out, break-ups, and romance. The playlists indicate continued development on behalf of Premium subscribers, after that service was repositioned earlier this year. Continue Reading
Audiosear.ch and its parent company have announced that they are winding down operations and support beginning on Nov. 28. After that date, users of the podcast discovery and search platform will not have access to Audiosear.ch’s API endpoints, website, or other features. Continue Reading
NPR Music has hired Lauren Onkey as its new senior director. In this role, Onkey will collaborate with local member stations, the sponsorships team, and the events team. She will also work closely with NPR Music’s journalists, critics, video team, and podcasters in this capacity. Continue Reading
Spotify’s approach to video appears to be in a state of flux. Bloomberg reported that Spotify has cancelled its original video series. Unnamed sources told the publication that the strategy reboot is part of an effort to find a monetization strategy that doesn’t involve recorded music and royalty payments. Continue Reading
audioBoom has hired a new head of sales for the UK. Oli Walters will fill this role for the on-demand audio company. His resume includes time with Bauer Media, where he was group head of radio for its Dentsu Aegis business, and with Absolute Radio. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Get better retention via top of hour idents. Lots of RAJAR review. Continue Reading
UK telecom Three has added Apple Music to its Go Binge data-free program. The streaming music platform will be added on November 27 for customers with an “advanced” contract or a SIM-only plan with at least 4GB of data. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio announced that it is running a special promotion that combines its new on-demand music subscription in time for Halloween. The company is hosting a free preview weekend for iHeartRadio All Access powered by Napster that lets people try out the service without a subscription. Continue Reading
Sirius XM secured a court win in Florida over royalties for music recorded prior to 1972. The satellite radio company was sued by Flo & Eddie, representing two members of The Turtles, in Florida, New York, and California over whether it has to pay royalties when it plays songs that were recorded before the adoption of federal copyright law. Continue Reading
Spotify’s UK operations collected revenue of £237 million in 2016, up 27% from the previous year. Subscription revenue was the main driver of the year’s growth with a 26% increase. Continue Reading