Podtrac released its top twenty podcast ranking for February 2018. The ranking is based on Podtrac’s measurement data for unique monthly audience. Placement for shows that do not use Podtrac’s service are determined by using publicly available data in a proprietary algorithm from the company. Continue Reading
Streaming grabbed control of nearly two-thirds of music industry revenue in 2017. It’s another year of impressive financial results that proves the digital shift in listening still has not hit its peak. The annual report from the RIAA found that subscription streaming income helped drive the industry to another year of growth. It was the first time since 1999 that the sector saw two consecutive years of material growth. Continue Reading
Muso has released its Global Piracy Report for 2017, and it shows a mixed bag for the state of fighting illegal access to music. It was the second-largest piracy segment behind television. Music piracy specifically increased 14.7% from 2016, with 73.9 billion visits worldwide to music piracy websites. Continue Reading
The latest Nielsen Podcast Insights report examines how podcast advertising impacts listener purchases and spending habits. First, it highlighted strong growth in the “avid podcast fan” audience, defined as households with the highest scores for their expressed interest in various podcast genres. Continue Reading
Podtrac has published its February 2018 ranking for podcast publishers. At the top of the chart, nothing has changed from the previous month. In the lower half of the ranking, order of the publishers has been rearranged and one new company made its debut. Continue Reading
Independent label network Merlin has seen its earnings from Latin America increase five-fold in the past three years. Based on current growth rates, Merlin’s 2018 revenue from Latin America are projected to exceed $60 million. Streaming appears to be a key driver of that international growth. Continue Reading
Music sales in Japan totaled 289 billion yen ($2.7 billion) in 2017, a dip of 3% from the previous year. According to the annual report from the Recording Industry Association of Japan, online music distribution sales rose 8% to 57.3 billion yen ($538 million). Continue Reading
Nearly 20% of U.S. adults now own a smart speaker, according to a survey spearheaded by Voicebot, in collaboration with PullString and RAIN Agency (not the same as RAIN News). Extrapolated, the results from its survey of more than 1,000 adults indicate that about 47.3 million people own the devices. Nearly two-thirds of all households said they own just one smart speaker. Continue Reading
The Infinite Dial kicked off with a look at ownership trends in technology and media. Most telling, the research from Edison and Triton focused on the growth in smart speakers. Awareness of the device segment was 71% for Amazon Alexa, up from 57% last year, while Google Home awareness rose from 45% in 2017 to 56% in 2018. Considering the recent ad blitzes for the segment, John Rosso joked that those who haven’t heard of them are “probably living in caves and staring at their tablets.” Continue Reading
The Infinite Dial 2018 shows steady growth in online audio. The latest installment of the research project found that 64% of survey respondents, or an estimated 180 million people, listened to online audio in the past month. Weekly online audio listening has risen at an even more dramatic clip. Continue Reading
AM/FM radio is holding onto its strong lead as the most-used source of audio in cars. According to the latest Infinite Dial results, 82% of respondents ever tune in to AM/FM radio. That rate is the same as was reported in 2017, and down from the 84% in 2016. Continue Reading
Pandora continues to top the awareness of audio brands in the Infinite Dial 2018. The audio company had 85% awareness among the respondents. iHeartRadio rated second in awareness at 67%, followed by Spotify at 65%. Both Apple Music and Amazon Music clocked in with 60%. Continue Reading