The RIAA has released its mid-year report on the U.S. music industry, and the report continues to trace a stratospheric rise for the streaming economy. Tomorrow RAIN News will publish our detailed analysis of the report, but here are the top-line takeaways. Continue Reading
Instreamatic.ai, a voice-activated advertising platform, announced a new partnership to provide voice-activated advertisements to music streaming platform Audiomack. Listeners can interact with the brief ads by voice commands, such as asking for more information or to open a webpage. Continue Reading
Earlier this year, podcast house Gimlet Media launched a division focused on translating its audio creations into visual media. Now that Gimlet Pictures branch has hired its first development executive. Continue Reading
Spotify is best testing a new process that will allow independent artists to upload their music directly to the streaming platform. The feature is being offered to a small group of performers through the Spotify For Artists management dashboard. Continue Reading
The Amazon Alexa voice assistant platform is coming to more and more gadgetry around the home. This week began with rumors of at least eight new Alexa devices to come before the year’s close, and the week is ending with a leak confirming two of them. Continue Reading
BuzzFeed News has closed down its podcast production studio, a move that will end several of its in-house shows. According to sources, BuzzFeed News will continue to greenlight podcasts, but will do so with third-party production studios. Continue Reading
SoundCloud announced that it will have a presence on the Official Charts Company in the UK. All plays of licensed, monetized tracks on SoundCloud will be counted towards chart performance. Continue Reading
Amazon may have held the lead as smart speakers entered the marketplace, but Google is hot on its trail. According to Strategy Analytics, the Google Home Mini was the top-selling smart speaker in the world during the second quarter. Continue Reading
The Guardian is the latest news publication to create a daily podcast for a deeper dive into current events. The new show will be hosted by political editor Anushka Asthana and is slated for launch by the end of the year. Six audio journalists have been hired by The Guardian to produce the currently unnamed program. Continue Reading
DAX, the digital audio arm of Global, announced that it is the exclusive distribution and monetization partner for an audio drama titled America 2.0. The serial political drama, an original podcast from Global, is co-created by J.S. Mayank and David Carlyle. Continue Reading
The Music Modernization Act has passed by unanimous consent in the Senate, an approval that marks a huge step forward towards overhauling mechanical licensing in the United States. The legislation took a risky path of hotlining, where unanimous support is required for approval. Continue Reading
AdsWizz has teamed with Communicorp Media for a new digital audio advertising exchange in Ireland. The audioXi service launches with 20 million monthly impressions from more than 20 independent publishers. Continue Reading