Apple Music has taken the browser-based version of its streaming service out of beta. This web iteration of the platform has been in testing for months after its initial introduction in September. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web, once more with a focus on stories emerging from the coronavirus pandemic and its impact. Today, an exec suggests connecting with company podcasts, independent musicians’ output grows, and podcast stats about kids from PRX. Continue Reading
A streaming music app co-owned by Sony Music and Universal Music is adding a free tier. The labels operate NOW That’s What I Call Music! brand, which includes the NOW Music app for both iOS and Android mobile devices in the UK. The app now offers a free, ad-supported counterpart to its usual mid-tier subscription of £4.99 per month. Continue Reading
Warner Music Group has appointed Oana Ruxandra as its new chief digital officer and executive vice president of business development. She rejoined WMG in 2018 after two years at Universal Music Group, and was most recently the company’s interim head of business development and its EVP, new business channels – chief acquisition officer. Continue Reading
SoundExchange announced that Colin Rushing has been promoted to its chief legal officer. Rushing has been with the organization for more than a decade, and has served as its senior Vice President and general counsel since 2014. Continue Reading
Spotify’s latest move in its pitch for podcast dominance is to bring on a new hire. The role is head of podcast editorial, and the company put an emphasis on reaching Millennial and Gen Z audiences in the description. Continue Reading
SOCAN, Canada’s music publisher and composer organization, announced that its CEO Eric Baptiste has resigned. Baptiste was nearing the end of his contract as chief executive for the society, and reached “a mutual decision” with the SOCAN board to close his term, effective immediately. Continue Reading
RadioKing, an internet radio station provider based in Tourcoing, a city in northern France, reached out to us with news of a product update. There are two parts for existing and prospective stations — the Media Library where music is managed, and the server infrastructure. Our test listening went well. Continue Reading
Entercom released its latest statistics for RADIO.COM. The media giant’s digital audio and content platform recorded a record 40 million monthly active users in March. It included notable spikes on web and smart speakers. Continue Reading
Podtrac has released an extension of its monthly podcast rankers which are promoted in RAIN and elsewhere. The new product is Podcast Category Rankings, and breaks out metrics by topical categories such as News Comedy, True Crime, and all the 19 Apple Podcasts show categories. As such, the Category Rankings aspire to detail the podcast topography more exactly than the uncategorized Podtrac monthly rankers which list audience and downloads across all categories. Continue Reading
CoronaVirus Watch, a resource website and joint project of AccuRadio and RAIN, has left its beta launch and is now receiving thousands of visitors attracted to its concise and comprehensive presentation of essential updates. Continue Reading
SoundExchange released its Digital Radio Report with details about its first quarter of 2020. The organization paid out $224 million in the first three months of the year, an increase from its Q1 2019 payout of $220.7 million. Continue Reading