The result of a large-scale consumer survey commissioned by Spotify was released today, assessing how consumers in 10 European countries listen to terrestrial radio and Spotify’s radio-like freemium platform. Called “The New Audio,” the study is positioned to brand marketers. Continue Reading
Streaming had a strong performance in the first half of 2015, according to the latest RIAA report. Overall wholesale revenue rose 0.8% to $2.3 billion compared with the year-ago period, and overall retail value inched down 0.5% to $3.2 billion. While those percentage changes are small, they do still mark a contrast from the group’s 2014 mid-year report, where the market’s wholesale revenue dropped 2.5% as streaming growth wasn’t enough to balance the losses in other sectors. Continue Reading
Jacobs Media and the Public Radio Program Directors conducted the seventh edition of its annual survey to learn more about the preferences of public radio listeners. Among those respondents, public radio saw continued transitions to digital, with 19% of weekly usage happening on those channels. The survey also covered on-demand listening, mobile options, and sustaining memberships. Continue Reading
With no fanfare or PR announcement behind it, leading online radio service Pandora has launched a major TV spot schedule in the past week or so. Click through to watch the ad. Kurt Hanson analyzes the tone and positioning of the campaign. Continue Reading
A new study investigated the relationship between piracy and freemium music services. CALinnovates, an advocacy organization for tech and public policy, sponsored the survey. Continue Reading
Kantar Media collected data about U.S. ad expenditures, which posted a decline of 3.9% in the second quarter of 2015 for a total spend of $38 billion. Radio bucked that downward trend, showing gains in spot sales. Kantar notes an impact from increased ad time. Continue Reading
Nielsen has released highlights for its 360 Music Report of 2015. One of the highlights of Nielsen reports are the breakdowns on music spending. For the total population, online music streaming services accounts for 7% of annual music spend, and 11% goes to digital tracks or albums. Cost was the top reason for listeners in selecting a streaming service, and it was part of the top two reasons for people to not subscribe. Finally, this year’s report found that AM/FM and satellite radio was the top discovery engine. Continue Reading
A new survey from European research reveals that Spotify’s freemium plan enjoys an 8.8% reach in Germany. The study was commissioned by Spotify, specifically to bolster its advertising business in Germany. The study compared Spotify’s reach metrics with traditional radio. Continue Reading
Morning drive team “Jeff & Jer” are departing the San Diego airwaves. Whatever the reason, says Kurt Hanson, stations should try hard to retain personality talent — a key strength of radio in its competition with satellite and Internet radio. Continue Reading
A newly released survey from Technorati is formatted as a report card on programmatic advertising efficacy, from the viewpoint of the buy- and sell-sides. In it, there is a sharp point of disagreement over the key values of programmatic platforms. Continue Reading
Stephen Colbert debuted as the new host of “The Late Show” on CBS last night. One of the highlights was seeing the return of live-copy testimonial advertising from the show’s host. It was hilarious, and effective. Kurt Hanson connects the creative tactic to podcasting and music streaming. Continue Reading
Nielsen Music’s data for the week ending Aug. 27 was the lowest for digital song sales in seven years. Only 15.66 million songs were sold on digital platforms for the week. The top track for the period, “Locked Away” by R. City, sold only 92,000 downloads. On the other hand, that same week had the highest level of on-demand audio and video streams. Continue Reading