Digital voice-activated advertising platform Instreamatic.ai announced its formal launch this week. The service now offers programmatic buying for voice-activated ads that would run on smart home speaker systems and related technology. The technology seems designed around the types of interactions smart speaker owners would have. Continue Reading
audioBoom announced that it is joining the ranks of original content producers. The host, distributor, and monetization expert is debuting five new podcasts through fall 2017. The shows represent several different topics across arts, comedy, news, and culture. Continue Reading
The Verge has entered a partnership with Anchor, using the short-form audio platform to help solicit reader feedback on new podcast ideas. The publisher said it is using Anchor to try out many different ideas and formats for new audio programming. Continue Reading
Podtrac has shared its podcast publisher rankings for May 2017. Most of the ranking remains unchanged from the April 2017 results, barring one new addition. The Washington Post took the No. 10 spot away from The Moth. The journalism outfit’s nine shows pulled in a unique monthly audience of 1.38 million. Continue Reading
Nielsen’s Q4 2016 comparable metrics report continued the upward trajectory for smartphone use seen in its Q3 results. Radio, on the other hand, stayed essentially flat within the U.S. media consumption landscape. Weekly reach for radio has stayed around 93% for several quarters, and radio is used an average of 5.1 days per week. Smartphones are used even more frequently at an average of 5.8 days per week. Continue Reading
MIDiA Research has released its second State of the Streaming Nation report. It offers a deep dive into both consumer behaviors and market trends for this industry, covering listeners in Brazil, Germany, Japan, Sweden, the UK, and the U.S. The report found that streaming revenue in 2016 was $7.6 billion (retail values). It projected that figure to reach $20.1 billion by 2025. Continue Reading
It has finally happened. The day that pop fans have dreamt of for almost three years. Taylor Swift has returned to Spotify. Continue Reading
Digital rights agency Merlin has posted the results of its 2017 member survey, reflecting a snapshot of the independent music label industry. Merlin’s revenue distributions have increased 52% year-on-year to $353 million. That marks an eightfold spike in member payouts within the past four years. Continue Reading
ABC Radio announced that it has entered a collaboration with Spotify to create a podcast called Brilliant Minds. In addition to the joint project, ABC Radio podcasts hosted by the network’s anchors, correspondents, and contributors will now be available on Spotify via a non-exclusive agreement. Continue Reading
The news of Sirius XM’s $480 million in Pandora wasn’t the only big development for the audio company today: Pandora has sold Ticketfly to Eventbrite for $200 million. Here, we also get a little more insight into what the outlook is within Pandora, both on the recent business activities and on its future direction. Continue Reading
Pandora and Sirius XM are getting closer ties at long last, but it’s not quite the same relationship the parties were initially planning. Sirius XM has agreed to invest $480 million in Pandora. This investment causes a ripple effect, changing some other business avenues that Pandora had also been considering. Continue Reading
Universal Music Group announced a new hire for its digital efforts. The label has brought on Tuhin Roy for the newly created role vice president of new digital business. In this position, Roy will work to forge partnerships with start-ups in the early-stage digital media sector. Continue Reading