Nielsen has launched its Music Connect data product in Canada. This rollout offers clients more in-depth listener data, including for streaming and broadcasting. It covers 72 metropolitan areas across Canada, and has analytics including airplay, sales, and social media activity. According to Canadian music industry specialist Alan Cross, it could “shake up” what listeners hear on Canadian Radio. Continue Reading
Google Play Music relaunched today, announcing an update that makes machine learning a bigger part of its listening experience. That means the platform will combine listeners’ individual music tastes with contextual information such as time of day and location to offer improved song recommendations. It all happens behind the scenes, based on Google’s understanding of the user. Another step closer to the “Me Button.” Continue Reading
The rumor mill was buzzing earlier this week about iHeartMedia’s plans to enter on-demand streaming. Now, America’s biggest broadcast group has announced that it has two such services in the works, both due to launch in January 2017. Details are scarce, but there is one important feature. Continue Reading
Hillary Clinton is co-hosting a podcast about her presidential campaign. The With Her show will include conversations not just with the candidate, but with other key members of her team, from running mate Tim Kaine to supporters and staffers. the show seeks to present a different side of Clinton, in a way that podcasting is perfectly suited to do. Continue Reading
Spotify occasionally releases widgets that put data analysis tools into the hands of its users. The latest one is dubbed Organize Your Music. It surveys your saved music collection and proposes reorganization by genre, mood, decade, style, popularity, and other categories. The RAIN editorial office gave it a spin. Continue Reading
Spotify has launched a new personalized playlist feature, Release Radar, which appears in every user’s Browse section. Release Radar is Spotify’s first expansion of the technology which powers Discover Weekly, an unquestionable hit with users and a triumph of algorithmic music curation. RAIN’s Anna Washenko and Brad Hill take Release Radar for a spin, and share their impressions. Continue Reading
Pandora has signed a deal with ride-sharing company Uber. This partnership will see Pandora integrated into the driver version of the Uber app, so they can make stations and thumb songs while behind the wheel. The Pandora-enabled app will be available in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. Continue Reading
Midroll Media has announced a new podcast festival dubbed Now Hear This. The event is slated for Oct. 28-30, 2016, in Anaheim, CA, and is described by Midroll’s announcement as “a fan-focused weekend of live performances.” Mark Maron and other podcast stars will appear as headliners. Continue Reading
Nielsen’s Total Audience Report, released today, presents the latest data on radio’s U.S. listenership and how it compares to TV (including on-demand video and DVR watching) and general use of PCs, smartphones, and apps. AM/FM reach is impressive, TSL is nuanced, and smartphone use increases across all age groups. Continue Reading
Apple Music is one year old today. At Apple’s WorldWide Developer’s Conference (WWDC), the company announced that the music membership platform had accrued 15-million subscribers. That number is high or low, depending on perspective. ALSO: a much-needed redesign of the Apple Music experience. Continue Reading
Nearly 300 ad-agency audio buyers, executives of pureplay streaming audio services and the technology companies which power the space packed into the Metropolitan Pavilion for the first RAIN Streaming Audio Advertising Summit yesterday in New York. The four-hour event was… Continue Reading
In an aggressive regulatory filing by Pandora’s largest shareholder, which includes an open letter to Pandora’s board chairman, a battle has erupted for the future of the world’s largest and most influential internet radio company. Continue Reading