The 6th annual RAIN Summit Europe returns to London for the fourth year, November 7 at the beautiful BP Theatre in the British Museum. Four key presenters have joined the speaker roster, bringing research, new industry developments, and immersive audio theater. Continue Reading
XAPPmedia, one of several companies which provide technical assistance to radio station presence in smart speakers, is today launching a self-serve solution for Amazon Alexa. Continue Reading
July webcast listening slipped 4% compared to the month before, in a pattern we saw last year in June and July. Every one of the top 20 brands measured by Triton Digital saw a reduction in listening during July. The year-over-year view shows that the tide was higher even as the summer waves got a bit smaller. Continue Reading
Taking advantage of U.S. investing regulations started in 2012, electronic music streaming specialist Digitally Imported (DI.FM) has launched a crowdfunding campaign for non-institutional investing. With a current valuation of $12 million, the company is looking to raise as much as $1.07 million on the Wefunder platform. Continue Reading
Pandora and Sirius XM have closed the strategic investment announced in June. Sirius XM has purchased 307-million Series A shares of P stock for a $480-million investment in the internet radio firm. At the same time, Sirius execs James E. Meyer (CEO), David J. Frear (CFO) and Gregory B. Maffei (Chairman) joined the Pandora board. Maffei is now chairman of both companies. Continue Reading
Voice is a platform, not a device, and will eventually exist everywhere. That perspective enlarges the stakes, and deepens the urgency, for all audio publishers to get up to speed with skills and content. Continue Reading
On Tuesday, November 7, the sixth annual RAIN Summit Europe will hold forth at the British Museum in London. This exceptional gathering of online audio professionals brings together thought-leading executives from the U.K. and continental Europe for discussion, research, and other presentations. Continue Reading
We learn from Billboard that Ty Roberts, Chief Technology Officer of Universal Music Group (UMG) has left the company after a little more than a year. Ty Roberts’ sideways career move from Gracenote to Universal was seen by many as a significant signal that the music industry could, to some extent, reinvent itself as a technology industry — or at least a tech-flriendly, tech-fluent one. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio and National Public Radio (NPR) are doing business. An announcement on the iHeart blog says that over 30 NPR podcasts are now available. We count 36 shows in the app today — mostly hit shows that any podcast directory would like to distribute to retain fans. Invisibilia, TED Radio Hour, Fresh Air, Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Politics, and other familiar titles are in there. Continue Reading
TuneIn is sending around a launch note for its First Play section, which contains exclusive early releases of episodes in new and established podcasts. First Play is an unadorned section within the TuneIn app, in which we found 11 participating podcasts. Networks that are in this plan include WNYC Studios, Gimlet Media, HowStuffWorks, Wondery, and Feral Audio. Continue Reading
Beverly Hills live music listening platform LiveXLive Media has agreed to acquire Slacker Radio for $50-million. The maneuver comes immediately after appointing Andy Schuon as company president; the acquisition is Schuon’s first action. He had been on LiveXLive’s advisory board. Continue Reading
Digital audio sales company AudioHQ announced today an alliance with British sports media company talkSPORT to distribute Premier Leagues football (soccer) match radio coverage, and represent its ad inventory. The distribution will happen on the TuneIn platform — TuneIn has for several years built a broad catalog of radio sports coverage. Continue Reading