Pandora has announced a private placement of $300-million worth of convertible notes — essentially, the company is raising cash. Wall Street is sending P stock tumbling down a steep hill. Pandora is gearing up for a monumental redefinition of its business in 2016. Continue Reading
Google acquired online radio platform Songza nearly a year and a half ago, July 1 2014, and today the announcement comes that the Songza brand, and stand-alone app, will be discontinued at the end of the year. Songza features and playlists will continue within Google Play, where they have resided since last October. Continue Reading
Rusty Humphries, new programming head of USA Radio Network, is putting radio — a real-time medium — into the “trending now” mix as a bet that traditional over-the-air broadcast can be as fast and whip-smart as the speedy online platforms. Continue Reading
It’s the season to look back and review the year. Music services normally take a data-centric approach, listing off the top artists, bands, streams, customized stations, and playlists. Deezer too a road less traveled, commissioning comic illustrator Brian Williamson to memorialize 10 musical moments of the year. Continue Reading
Triton Digital has announced that Spreaker is the latest podcast provider to join Triton’s a2x programmatic ad exchange. Spreaker is the first U.S.-based podcast company to join a2x — Sweden-based Acast went on board in August. Continue Reading
Dave Grimaldi, currently Director of Public Affairs at Pandora, has been appointed Executive Vice President of Public Policy for the IAB, and head of that organization’s Washington, D.C. office. Grimaldi joined Pandora in April, 2014, and was on board through Pandora’s participation in the “Webcaster IV” process which ends this month. Continue Reading
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Two recent innovations, from Pandora and Live365, indicate that podcasting is entering the realm of lean-back Internet radio. If it becomes a trend, podcasts could be woven more tightly into the streaming audio ecosystem. Continue Reading
Swedish-based podcast company Acast today announced the hiring of Sarah van Mosel as Chief Commercial Officer. Mosel, who departs her position as VP of Sponsorships at WNYC, will work in Acast’s New York office. It is not the first time Acast has recruited from WNYC Continue Reading
The results are in! Sound like election night? In a sense, the release of Adele’s new album, 25, served as a referendum in many people’s minds. The issues? Magnitude of stardom, and distribution strategy. Some numbers, a bit of conjecture, and a conclusion. Continue Reading
After three years of development, Radio Rewind has launched its audio recording, archiving, clipping, and sharing platform. The service allows radio stations to auto-record some or all of their broadcast content, then reach into the archive to clip excerpts for social sharing. On the public side, anyone can clip audio and share. Continue Reading
One aspect of the music licensing ruling expected from the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has been delivered, as an answer from the Register of Copyrights to a question posed by the CRB. The question? Whether webcasters could pay different royalty rates to major labels and non-major labels. Continue Reading
Nielsen released new data which profiles Millennials by political affiliation. The study promotes audio marketing to Millennials, especially via AM/FM and satellite radio. Nielsen also notes that “digital channels have a big impact.” Continue Reading