Spotify’s plans for a direct public listing aren’t just impacting the streaming service. The move also means changes afoot at Universal Music Group, which owns stock in company. Universal has now made a public statement that when it sells its Spotify stock, the label will share the proceeds with its artists. Continue Reading
The British Phonographic Industry reported big numbers in music consumption for 2017, particularly in streaming. Total consumption for the year increased 9.5% to a total of 135.1 million albums and album-equivalents. The year saw 68.1 billion audio streams served, reaching more than half of the UK’s music consumption. Continue Reading
E.W. Scripps hosted its earnings conference call for Q4 2017, and the discussion included details about the Midroll Media podcasting company. Midroll generated $5 million out of the $53 million in total revenue from Scripps’ National Media group. Continue Reading
YouTube is the most popular social media network for U.S. adults. That’s the latest finding from a Pew Research Center survey, where 73% of respondents said they access the video site online or on their smartphone. Continue Reading
Gen-Z Media announced three new original podcasts made through its previously-announced partnership with PRX. Each of the shows target an audience aged six to twelve. “I want my kids to feel as excited listening to our shows as they’re used to feeling about their favorite movies and games,” Gen-Z Media CEO Ben Strouse said. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Radionet interviewed four industry pros for their predictions on streaming media in 2018. Envisioning a future where typing is replaced by voice controls. Continue Reading
ITN Productions, a UK-based television company, is making its first foray into podcasting with Audible. ITN has produced four original podcasts for Audible’s new Audio Shows platform in the UK. Its first two investigative, factually-based shows debuted with the launch of Audio Shows. Continue Reading
Gimlet Media has released a new show that targets two recent trends in the podcast space: children and voice systems. Chompers is a twice-daily podcast designed to encourage good dental hygiene in kids. It is sponsored by Oral B and Crest Kids, both dental health companies, and will have new episodes twice a day for all of March. Continue Reading
Germany’s music trade group BVMI has posted its results from 2017. The country saw recorded music revenue of €1.59 billion (around $1.94 billion) during the year, down just 0.3% from the prior year. Continue Reading
Spotify is losing one of its most influential and successful curators. Tuma Basa, the company’s global programming head of hip-hop, has decided to depart the streaming service. Basa was a driving force behind Spotify’s RapCaviar playlist, which has almost 9 million followers and has become a live concert series. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio has announced several new podcasts on its roster. First is a collaboration with Variety for Playback with Kris Tapley. Second is Enrique Santos En Overtime. Finally, Tom Brokaw has relaunched his podcast Now Hear This on iHeartRadio. Continue Reading
CISAC has published a study investigating the economic impact of safe harbor provisions on the digital market. These legal provisions were originally intended to provide copyright liability protections for digital companies when their users committed infringements. However, the study argues that safe harbors are having the opposite effect and are creating an unfair advantage for user uploaded content companies. Continue Reading