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
Latin American digital audio specialist Audio.ad announced the launch of AudioTrade, its own programmatic demand-side platform. AudioTrade will allow agencies and advertisers to purchase digital audio advertising for online radio, music streaming, and podcasts. Continue Reading
Podcasting company Acast has hired Guy Scott-Wilson as the content director for Australia. In this position with Acast, he will be responsible for expanding the company’s presence and local content strategy. Continue Reading
Spotify has hired a new managing director for the region of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Michael Krause was most recently at Deezer, spending a year as CEO of EMEA for the music company. Continue Reading
VSporto, a network of sports podcasts, has entered a deal with Gow Media to have its programming syndicated on SB Nation Radio. The partnership will see VSporto’s shows air on more than 100 SB Nation stations affiliates on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings from 11 pm to 7 am CST. VSporto’s shows cover college sports, the NFL, and the NBA. Continue Reading
Musical.ly has been purchased by Chinese social media company Toutiao for between $800 million and $1 billion. The social app’s users can lip sync along with a track to make their own music videos. Continue Reading
The BBC has introduced a new show called Podcasting House that aims to be a discovery hub for its audio content. In its introduction, the show is described as “a clearinghouse for hundreds of podcasts from the BBC.” Continue Reading
Audio companies of all stripes have been hopping on the bandwagon of smart speakers. The BBC is the latest to take advantage of the new technology in a more unique way. The broadcaster has created an interactive audio drama where listeners can influence the end result of their story. The piece, titled The Inspection Chamber, debuted as an Amazon Alexa skill in the UK this week. Continue Reading
French regulators have laid out a plan for the ongoing rollout of DAB+ radio technology in the country. Nicolas Curien of the Le Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA) detailed the plan during the WorldDAB General Assembly. Continue Reading
Music Business Worldwide is reporting that two of the major labels have started legal proceedings against TuneIn UK around possible breach of copyright. Sources told the publication that the suit alleges the UK branch of the online audio company had at least 800 unlicensed music streams in that market. Continue Reading
Apple’s plans for a major video push continue with the announcement of a new scripted TV show that expands the company’s connections with A-list Hollywood talent. In addition to the reboot of Amazing Stories announced last month, Apple has made a two-season straight-to-series order for a scripted drama centered around a network morning show. Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon star in the new project, which is still untitled at this stage. Continue Reading