New survey shows radio needs better streaming to attract young listeners

Mark Kassof shared data from a recent survey about the attitudes of teenagers toward FM radio. The 506 online surveys of respondents aged 13 to 20 revealed that only 7% listened to FM radio the most for music. Even online streams of terrestrial stations had limited reach. Just 16% of respondents said they listened to online radio station streams often, while 31% said the did so sometimes. Twenty percent hardly ever listened and 26% have never done so. Smartphone apps for AM and FM radio stations also had limited reach: 49% have never listened on those services. Continue Reading

Powerhouse growth of streaming revenue in 2014; music sales in double-digit slide (RIAA)

The RIAA released sales and revenue numbers for the first half of 2014. At the top line, a decrease of 4.9% in overall revenue. Streaming posted 28% growth during the half-year — those services supplied 27% of total industry revenue during the front half of the year, drawing close to the 28% share represented by physical music sales. Click through for more. Continue Reading

UK sees six-year low for digital radio sales

UK media regulator Ofcom found a 9.1% decline in digital audio broadcasting sets sold in the year ending in June. The annual digital radio report revealed that at 1.7 million sets, the past year had the lowest number sold since at least 2009. The report also showed flat performance for digital radio’s share of all radio listening, holding steady at 36.8%. Its findings for the popularity of digital radio indicated that the UK listeners are scattered in their preferences. Continue Reading

Streaming’s Share of Ear in U.S., U.K. Are Similar

Recent info from Edison Research’s Share of Ear study puts listening to Internet radio/Music in the US, among persons 12+ at 11.6% of overall listening to all legitimate sources of audio. Right around the same time we were discussing this study at RAIN Summit Indy, similar information was being presented at the Nextrad.io conference hosted by RAIN friends James Cridland and Matt Deegan. RAIN will be examining the online audio marketplace in the UK and across Europe in November at RAIN Summit Europe which will take place in London on November 4th. Continue Reading

RAIN Poll: Apple/U2 — gift or gaffe?

Apple’s universal distribution of U2’s new album — the controversy that won’t die. As the dust slowly settles, we’d like to know how it shakes out for you, whether you’re an Apple device user or not. Was the free (and forced) album a huge blunder? Or is all the complaining a waste of bandwidth? Vote your opinion! Leave a survey comment, too — as always, selected comments will be published with the poll results. Continue Reading

BIA Kelsey Local Media Forecast signals shift to digital, mobile, and video

BIA Kelsey released its annual Local Media Forecast for 2015, moving its publication timing to the fall “to align with the annual strategic planning season.” The report breaks out predicted spending growth and decline for a few broad categories, and forecasts the overall local ad-spending market to 2019. Continue Reading

Music apps post biggest spike in mobile use, according to new research

Research from Localytics confirmed that mobile is still the rising trend for music services. In the company’s analysis of app usage over the past year, people spent 79% more time in their music programs, which translates to 64 more minutes per month. Compare that with the average increase of 21% for time spent across all apps. The next closest category to music was health and fitness, which posted a 51% rise for time spent in-app. Continue Reading

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Kurt Hanson’s “State of the Industry Address” identifies digital opportunities

RAIN News founding editor Kurt Hanson delivered his semi-annual State of the Industry Address at RAIN Summit Indy last week. In addition to expected Star Trek references, and a disconcerting Star Wars mention, Hanson drew trendlines, isolated an important consumer demand across all media, targeted problems with certain industry products, and suggested solutions. Continue Reading

Small and medium businesses report high ROI for streaming ads (BIA Kelsey)

In its most recent Local Commerce Monitor (LCM), an ongoing survey of advertising behaviors among small and local businesses (SMBs), BIA Kelsey found high ranking for ROI (return on investment) when advertising in streaming radio. More survey participants rated streaming radio highly for ROI than they did for over-the-air (OTA) radio. Continue Reading

Nielsen streaming radio measurement in the wings

At RAIN Summit Indy last week, Jeff Wender, Nielsen SVP of Digital, spoke on the Big Data panel, during which he fielded this question from the audience: “Could you give us an update about where Arbitron [Nielsen Audio] is in measuring streaming radio, and what we can potentially see in the future?” Nielsen president Steve Hasker divulged more detail at a Goldman Sachs conference. Continue Reading