In a fascinating and daring webinar yesterday hosted by Gordon Borrell, attendees were treated to a historical review of media technology disruption, followed by predictions in today’s media. One of those predictions: Half of AM/FM terrestrial stations will disappear by 2024, their demise driven by adoption of alternative in-car listening choices. RAIN spoke with Gordon Borrell. Continue Reading
As streaming audio advertising gradually becomes more personalized to the listener, localized ads increasingly appear. One solution — registration data — gives audio publishers a way to sell inventory on a regional basis, so listeners in a state or city hear streaming commercials localized at that level. In our recent ad-stalking, we wanted to anecdotally track how much city-localized advertising was delivered by Pandora in a 90-minute listening session. Continue Reading
Research firm BIA/Kelsey and business intelligence firm AdMall have formed an alliance to provide high-quality information to media buyers. BIA/Kelsey will furnish some data from its Media Ad View Plus product, plus comparison data of traditional vs. local spending. Continue Reading
Global digital audio ad network TargetSpot announced the launch of a new business development division today. Heading up the unit is VP of Business Development Thierry Ascarez, long-time VP of Business Development at Radionomy. Ascarez now holds both titles. RAIN spoke to Ascarez to flesh out the details. Continue Reading
In a revealing document submitted to the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), Pandora argues for lowered music licensing rates in the 2016-2020 statutory royalty period. The proposed rate range is about half the amount suggested by SoundExchange in its submission to the CRB. The key argument discloses aspects of Pandora’s private music licensing agreement with Merlin, a coalition of 20,000 music labels. Continue Reading
Pandora’s Q3 earnings call on Thursday marked an anniversary of the one-year directorship of CEO Brian McAndrews. McAndrews told a story of record-breaking financial results, and slowing audience growth. Wall Street punished the company severely in after-hours trading following the late-afternoon call, and in today’s formal session. Continue Reading
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A seven-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming music and online audio. This week: Deezer acquires Stitcher; Pandora earnings; Spotify study; Google relaunches streaming; Pandora AMP; NASA in SoundCloud.
This week: Sirius XM loses again in court; NextRadio milestone; SoundCloud’s struggles; SONY publishing threat; TuneCore payouts; Twitter’s new music feature Continue Reading
Deezer, the Paris-based on-demand music service which operates in 180 national markets, has acquired Stitcher, the market-leading podcast app. The breakthrough deal puts a whole new category of content into the Deezer library. RAIN spoke to Tyler Goldman, Deezer’s CEO of North America. Continue Reading
The inverse relationship of streaming music and music sales is well known: Streaming up, sales down. A similar symbiotic relationship exists between music concerts and music sales. But how do streaming and concerts interact? Is the relationship mutually beneficial? That’s what Spotify’s Director of Economics Will Page set out to discover in a new study. Continue Reading
Patrick Reynolds, Chief Strategy Officer of Triton Digital and a featured speaker at the upcoming RAIN Summit Europe in London on November 4, says that streaming could be the meat of the FM sandwich. That tasty analogy came up in a phone conversation with RAIN recently, in which Reynolds previewed the panel discussion he will moderate in London: “Measuring and Monetizing FM’s Online Audience.” Continue Reading
Anyone interested in buying, selling, or supplying technology for digital audio advertising should know about the upcoming standard specification for audio ads — DAAST (Digital Audio Ad Serving Template). Next Thursday, October 30, the IAB will host a webinar to introduce the proposed standard in a different format. Registration is free and open to everyone. Continue Reading
Programmatic ad buying is established in web display, but still a fairly new alternative for online radio and streaming audio. “It is a very important that we offer it as part of the mix,” Alexis van der Wyer, CEO of ad-tech company AdsWizz told RAIN. “I strongly believe that although it’s small in volume today, it will continue to grow. It will be an important component.” We spoke with the AdsWizz CEO before he takes the stage at RAIN Summit Europe. Continue Reading