Smart speakers present a potentially valuable new option for music services to reach listeners. The space poses a particular interest for tech firms operating in both hardware and software, since they can create brand loyalty within audiences who will buy their devices and then continue to provide revenue as subscription listeners. Continue Reading
The classic iPod may be a thing of the past, but Apple hasn’t completely ended the product line just yet. The company released a new version of its iPod Touch yesterday, adding several features to what was once a purely music playback device. Continue Reading
Podtrac has published its podcast ranker for April 2019. The Daily from The New York Times continues its dominance on this chart for another month, followed by perennial favorite This American Life in the second position. Continue Reading
Spotify has hired Karen Lawson for its operations in Australia and New Zealand. She joins the streaming service as the managing director for those two markets and will report to Global Head of Markets Cecilia Qvist. Continue Reading
Libsyn has entered a partnership with Entercom that will see its library of podcasts added to Radio.com. All of Libsyn’s shows will have the choice to opt in to this distribution deal. Libsyn has more than 4.9 million episodes across about 62,000 active podcasts that will now be distributed to the Entercom digital platform. Continue Reading
Triton Digital has signed another new client. It has landed an agreement with MCOT Public Company Limited, a public media broadcaster in Thailand. Triton will provide management and monetization of MCOT’s digital audio and podcast content. Continue Reading
IAB Spain has released a report on the audio industry in the country. More than half (57%) of Spanish adults said they listened to online audio in the past month, up from 44% in the 2018 results. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Labels eye podcast projects. Podcasting in the Middle East. A podcast addict goes cold turkey. Continue Reading
Adam Parness is departing Spotify. He joined the streaming service in 2017 for a post as global head of publishing, and has played a key role in building up the visibility of songwriters and producers within Spotify’s ecosystem. Continue Reading
SoundCloud announced that it has acquired Repost Network, a rights management and distribution company. The deal will allow SoundCloud to fold Repost features into its own offerings. Continue Reading
Sony Music will roll out two new features for royalty payments on its artist portal this autumn. First is Real-Time Royalties, which will provide immediate updates about a performer’s global earnings and account balances. The second feature is Cash Out. Continue Reading
Deezer has entered a partnership with Future publication Metal Hammer that will see new, exclusive content centered on heavy metal music appearing on the streaming service. Metal Hammer magazine is collaborating with Deezer on a series of interviews with notable names from the music genre. Continue Reading