Information about the Spanish recorded music industry came to light over the weekend, with an optimistic report from Promusicae, a member organization of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). There were three headline points for the Spanish recording industry in 2017. Continue Reading
A few major labels (Sony, Warner, Capitol and others) are reportedly suing Fit Radio, an app which streams music for workout routines, and provides cardio coaching. The app has been downloaded a million times from the Android store. The plaintiffs say its fitness music is being used without a proper license. Continue Reading
The Media Rating Council (MRC) has published its Final Version 1.0 of its Digital Audio Measurement Standards. The MRC is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to evolve valid and reliable criteria for audience measurement, and its accreditation is a valuable stamp of approval. Continue Reading
Ad-tech company Instreamatic has won a spot in the Accelerator Pitch Event (Entertainment category) at South by Southwest in March. Instreamatic will present its interactive, conversation audio commercials to a live audience and judging panel on March 10-11 in Austin. Continue Reading
Private equity firm Diversis Capital has acquired media software company Marketron from previous owner BlackRock Capital. In the deal, Diversis names Michael Collins as Marketron CEO, exiting previous chief executive Jeff Haley. Continue Reading
Media software company Futuri is announcing today that broadcaster Alpha Media will use Futuri’s suite of audience engagements products. They include POST, TopicPulse, and Alexa Skills. Continue Reading
Diversified Canadian media company Rogers announced its commitment to programmatic audio advertising, and has selected AdsWizz to provide technology for ad insertion, ad serving, and yield optimization. Continue Reading
Warner Music Group (WMG) is reportedly attempting to ease 130 employees out of the company, offering them buyouts. According to Billboard, those staffers “deal with physical product,” which probably means the CD part of Warner’s business. The action is targeted within WEA, the distribution, marketing and sales division of WMG. Billboard’s sources indicate that the projected cost saving would be applied to distribution and marketing of streaming music. Continue Reading
We received a note that in the wake of a merger of Wildfire Radio (a radio and podcast company) and New Media Studios (a recording studio specializing in podcasts), podcast ad network AdvertiseCast has signed to represent the shows within the joined entity. Continue Reading
NPR has updated its Smart Audio Report with a post-holiday survey conducted by Edison Research. The headline result is that 16% of American adults (about 39-million people) now own a smart speaker. Smart speaker adoption is growing at the pace of smartphones several years ago. AM/FM radio listening is being replaced at a greater rate than any other activity. Continue Reading
Cabana, the podcast and digital audio division of audio ad company AdLarge, has released an eight-page online brochure for advertisers, evangelizing the podcast opportunity. It seeks to be comprehensive and concise, and succeeds in our view. Continue Reading
Mike Reznick’s Reznick Media is leveraging CES to announce that he is partnering with Frequency, a “dynamic audio” provider to audio advertisers, part of audio ad agency F Sharp. Mike Reznick was formerly EVP, Advertising Sales at Triton Digital. Continue Reading