Sonos CEO stepping down
John MacFarlane has stepped down as CEO of Sonos. Patrick Spence, who has already served as Sonos’ chief commercial officer and president since he joined in 2012, is taking over in the top exec role. Continue Reading
Author: Anna Washenko
Spotify wants to be Barack Obama’s next employer
Spotify has a new job listing posted, but the position seems rather tailored for a specific applicant who is soon to be unemployed. The role is President of Playlists at the company. Federal-level playlist construction is a critical job requirement. Continue Reading
DGital Media partners to launch new politics show
DGital Media announced a partnership to help launch a new show dubbed Pod Save America. The podcast will cover politics and is intended to spark involvement from listeners. Continue Reading
Otto Radio gets Samsung investment, launches public API
Otto Radio has secured an investment from Samsung NEXT, the venture capital arm of the tech conglomerate. Otto Radio offers audio streams of podcasts and audio news centered on a particular listener’s own interests; think of the concept as Pandora for podcasts. The investment lines up with Otto’s launch of the Otto Everywhere API, which lets other companies access that personalized audio stream. Continue Reading
Spreaker beta testing revenue sharing for podcasts
Spreaker has announced the beta launch of a revenue sharing program. The podcast host is offering an opt-in program for splitting the revenue from audio and visual ads placed into participating shows. Continue Reading
Nielsen 2016 report: “Music consumption is at an all-time high”
“Music consumption is at an all-time high,” according to Nielsen Music’s 2016 U.S. Year-End Report. The analysis reveals that 2016 was another year with strong streaming growth and some compelling trends for albums. The entire music industry posted a 3.1% increase in overall volume, with total album consumption reaching 560.7 million units. Continue Reading
Deezer hires chief partnerships officer
Deezer has hired Pascal De Mul as its chief partnerships officer. In this role, De Mul will be responsible for building Deezer’s relationships with telecoms, hardware companies, and other partners. Continue Reading
Sirius CFO says chances of Pandora buy are “not likely”
David Frear, CFO for Sirius XM, has quashed the latest rumors about the satellite radio company acquiring Pandora. “With respect to all the chatter about [these] acquisitions, you have to look at them as them not being likely,” Frear said Continue Reading
Retailers’ group backs streaming contribution to UK music growth in 2016
The Entertainment Retailers Association has released its 2016 report, and the findings add to the body of numbers pointing to rapid streaming growth in the UK. The report named music as the country’s fastest-growing entertainment sector, with sales growing 4.6% over the previous year to £1.1 billion ($1.3 billion). Continue Reading
Nielsen Q3 report: Continued radio reach, and continued demographic trends
Nielsen has released its Total Audience Report for Q3 2016. Radio inched back up to its Q3 2014 levels of 1:52 in media consumption in an average day. Live TV still holds the lion’s share at 4:06. During the period, AM/FM radio had a monthly reach of nearly 263.84 million, up from 260.43 million in the year-ago period. Continue Reading
JBL Playlist is a wireless speaker with Chromecast
Harman International’s JBL brand has added a new home speaker product that offers wireless playback without a Bluetooth connection. The JBL Playlist has Google Chromecast built in, which means owners of the speaker can use the it to stream music, radio, or podcasts from their other devices. Continue Reading
Norway sets January 11 as digital radio transition date
After years of preparation and planning, Norway is slated to begin its total transition to digital radio on January 11. The country’s remaining FM stations will be shut down region by region starting at 11:11 AM. Continue Reading