Sirius XM announced that it has hired Denise Karkos as its new chief marketing officer. Karkos will helm brand and digital marketing for both Sirius XM and Pandora, as well as driving growth of the subscriber and listener audiences. Continue Reading
Podtrac released the September edition of its Top 10 Podcast Publishers list. (See below.) Podtrac notes that month-over-month reach gained one percent, while the year-over-year metric was 64% increase in unique listeners. NPR and iHeartRadio trade positions again. Kast Media enters the top-10 group. Continue Reading
Spotify has had two more departures from its team, both involved in the programming and curation teams. Tunde Ogundipe, head of African music and leader for Jamaican music, and Humanshu Suri, senior editor and Indian music expert, have left the streaming service. Continue Reading
Tidal announced two leadership promotions. The streaming service has upped Tony Gervino to the role of EVP, editor-in-chief, and Elliott Wilson has been appointed as chief content officer. Both execs have been at Tidal since 2017 and will report to CEO Richard Sanders. Continue Reading
The Pho media/law email list tipped us to a web app which purports to block radio commercials and DJ talk between song sets. Called Adblock Radio, the renegade mission statement is “We improve your radio experience.” Proclaiming itself as the… Continue Reading
A few eagle-eyed listeners noticed that YouTube Music was gradually rolling out a discovery playlist at the end of September. That playlist was one of three that the video platform will officially launch later this month, the latest step to bring its offering more in line with the standard programming at rival streaming services. Continue Reading
A new company called Knowable officially launches today, aiming to bridge the gap for audio in educational purposes. It offers a library of courses, ranging from 4 to 8 hours long, hosted by subject experts. The library covers a range of topics with a focus on self-improvement and business subjects that aren’t covered in traditional academic settings. Continue Reading
Spotify hosted a Canada Audio Day event featuring data about listenership in the country. The survey of almost 8,000 Canadians, conducted in collaboration with Kantar, explored the how radio and Spotify’s free tier intersect in six of the country’s major markets. Continue Reading
SoundCloud has rolled out its paid subscription program in Austria. SoundCloud Go+ offers ad-free listening to SoundCloud’s catalog, as well as offline sync and options for higher audio quality in streaming. Continue Reading
Pandora has redesigned its mobile app to introduce new features focused on personalization and discovery. The updates include the mobile launch of the Pandora Modes feature that rolled out to the web version in March. Continue Reading
Spotify is continuing to expand its podcast options for listeners. The latest move is an option to include both music and podcasts in a single playlist. The company noted in the blog post announcing the update that this has been a frequently requested feature. Continue Reading
Rob Proctor is stepping down as CEO of podcast company Audioboom. He has resigned as both CEO and director effective immediately. COO Stuart Last will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent replacement. Continue Reading