The Music Business Association (Music Biz) hosted a webinar to share data into smart speaker ownership. Of the more than 3,000 U.S. participants in its September music consumption survey by AudienceNet/LOOP, 10% said they owned an Amazon Echo and 3% owned a Google Home. The results shows a strong correlation between smart speaker ownership and use of the device for music consumption. Continue Reading
Public media video app VuHaus has added another Chicago station to its roster of affiliates. Vocalo Radio 91.1 is an urban alternative station with programming in hip-hop, R&B, dance, and DJ culture. It is a sister station to Chicago public media station WBEZ 91.5, and is the inaugural Chicago source to join VuHaus. Continue Reading
A new startup called UnitedMasters is looking to drive a wedge into the entrenched dominance of the major label system. Former Interscope exec Steve Stoute founded UnitedMasters, which bills itself as a specialist in digital music distribution, marketing, and insights. Continue Reading
Podtrac has published its ranking of the top podcasts in October 2017, a month with an unusual amount of shuffling among the most popular shows. Three podcasts joined the list for the first time, while the rest of the ranking included the same shows as in September. Continue Reading
Warner Music Group has entered a licensing deal with Anghami, a streaming platform serving the Middle East and Africa. Thanks to the deal, Warner’s catalog will be available to Anghami’s entire audience of more than 50 million users. Continue Reading
Deezer has launched a desktop app for both Mac and Windows that supports FLAC lossless audio. It will have exclusive video content such as interviews and performances. It will also highlight localized content for listeners in France, Germany, UK, Brazil, and Latin America. Continue Reading
Amazon announced a rollout of several products in Canada. First, the Echo suite of smart speakers and the Alexa voice control system have launched in the country. Second, Amazon has launched Prime Music for Canadian listeners. Continue Reading
Kickstarter has relaunched the subscription service Drip. The crowdfunding site acquired Drip in March 2016, saving the platform from shutting down. In its original form, Drip allowed fans to subscribe to individual performers. Under Kickstarter’s umbrella, the subscriptions will still be for individuals, but more than musicians can participate. Continue Reading
YouTube has entered a partnership with Ticketmaster for a deal that will allow artists to include tour dates on their official music videos. The new feature will roll out first to any artists with North America Ticketmaster shows. Continue Reading
Warner Music Group has signed a licensing deal to bring its catalog to Mdundo, a streaming service in Africa. The company offers both streaming and downloads, although the Warner library will only be available to stream. Mdundo has both ad-supported and paid streaming options. Continue Reading
Pandora announced new integrations with Sonos wireless home speakers. Listeners can control their music played on a Sonos device with the Pandora mobile app. It’s difficult to predict whether a company like Sonos, one that doesn’t operate its own in-house voice assistant, will see a benefit from being service-agnostic. Continue Reading
Edison Research and the Knight Foundation collaborated for a study investigating the podcast audience, with interviews of nearly 29,000 podcast listeners. All of the participants are age 18 or older and listen to at least one audio podcast from NPR, WNYC, American Public Media, WBUR, PRX, or Gimlet Media. A comparison of these results with the more general habits detailed in The Infinite Dial surveys show some marked distinctions between casual and serious podcast listeners. Continue Reading