After many hints, signals, and seeming delays, Spotify has filed for a public listing on the New York Stock Exchange, for one-billion dollars. Spotify will trade on the NYSE as the ticker symbol SPOT. As expected, this is a “direct listing,” so there is no established share price. Public trading will start at a date to be set. Continue Reading
Cabana, the digital audio division for AdLarge, announced that the Parents on Demand Network is joining its roster of podcasts. Parents on Demand shows cover topics from pregnancy to adoption to parenting teens. Broadcast television journalist Sunny Gault launched the network after her first child was born, and worked with AdLarge as her ad sales partner. Continue Reading
Two big developments emerged today that could have a sweeping impact on India’s streaming music landscape. First, Amazon Prime Music has rolled out in India. Second, Tencent announced an investment round of $115 million in local streaming service Gaana. Continue Reading
Podtrac’s ranker of the top 20 podcasts in January has been released. The top slots remained mostly unchanged from the December 2017 chart, with This American Life continuing to hold court. The bottom half of the January chart had some shake-ups, with the ordering from the previous month scrambled and two new shows making the cut. Continue Reading
The IAB released new research examining consumption of media on a regular basis. The study, titled Personal Prime Time, included questions about how and why respondents chose to engage with that type of media. The section on podcasts reveals some useful demographic data and motivations for when people listen. Continue Reading
In yet another sign of the power of podcasts, Atlantic Records has announced plans to launch an in-house audio content branch. This team will include a dedicated podcast production team and a podcast studio at the label’s headquarters in New York City. The first creation of this new division debuts today. Continue Reading
Liberty Media, majority owner of Sirius XM and minority owner of Pandora, has offered a term sheet that would grant it ownership of a 40% stake in iHeartMedia for $1.159 billion. This move is an eleventh-hour deal in reaction to iHeartMedia’s difficult financial situation. It also isn’t the first time Liberty has broached a last-minute audio investment. Continue Reading
The Los Angeles Review of Books has launched a new channel called Podcast Review. The site includes both reviews of podcasts and interviews with podcasters. Only three interviews have been posted so far, but they promise compelling insights from the minds behind the audio. Continue Reading
Amazon is continuing at least one of its podcast-inspired video projects. The company has ordered a second season of Lore, an anthology show exploring the origins of urban legends and myths. Continue Reading
Ford made several announcements about its Sync 3 AppLink connected car platform during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Podcasting company Acast will have its mobile app made available on the service. Continue Reading
Triton Digital’s programmatic audio ad exchange, a2x, is being integrated with MobPro, a mobile media agency based in Amsterdam. This deal will offer MobPro advertisers the option to include online audio in their programmatic purchases. Continue Reading
Twitter has written off the investment it made into SoundCloud. The social media company put about $70 million into the audio platform in 2016 through its Twitter Ventures unit. Twitter explained in its 2017 annual report that the money invested is “not expected to be recoverable within a reasonable period of time.” Continue Reading