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
The British Phonographic Industry reported big numbers in music consumption for 2017, particularly in streaming. Total consumption for the year increased 9.5% to a total of 135.1 million albums and album-equivalents. The year saw 68.1 billion audio streams served, reaching more than half of the UK’s music consumption. Continue Reading
Germany’s music trade group BVMI has posted its results from 2017. The country saw recorded music revenue of €1.59 billion (around $1.94 billion) during the year, down just 0.3% from the prior year. Continue Reading
CISAC has published a study investigating the economic impact of safe harbor provisions on the digital market. These legal provisions were originally intended to provide copyright liability protections for digital companies when their users committed infringements. However, the study argues that safe harbors are having the opposite effect and are creating an unfair advantage for user uploaded content companies. Continue Reading
Podtrac’s ranker of the top 20 podcasts in January has been released. The top slots remained mostly unchanged from the December 2017 chart, with This American Life continuing to hold court. The bottom half of the January chart had some shake-ups, with the ordering from the previous month scrambled and two new shows making the cut. Continue Reading
The IAB released new research examining consumption of media on a regular basis. The study, titled Personal Prime Time, included questions about how and why respondents chose to engage with that type of media. The section on podcasts reveals some useful demographic data and motivations for when people listen. Continue Reading