iHeartRadio has reached 1 million registered users in Australia. The online audio company rolled out a new app for iHeartRadio Australia in February and also rolled out its podcasting library this year. Continue Reading
Spotify is reportedly in talks with China’s Tencent Holdings about a potential swap of stakes in advance of both companies’ planned public listings. The possible development first appeared in the Wall Street Journal (paywall), which reported that the two businesses trade stakes of up to 10%. Continue Reading
Mobile app Stationhead is bringing more music into its platform. The service lets users try their hand at DJing, turning playlists into a radio-like broadcast on the app. It launched using Spotify’s API, but has now added access to Apple Music. Continue Reading
Last year, Spotify tapped into its data troves for a clever marketing campaign. This year, it’s back in action, all themed around resolutions for 2018. The push is dubbed “2018 Goals,” and it again highlights some of the unusual factoids and data points from Spotify listeners. The campaign was developed and executed in-house and covers 18 markets. Continue Reading
In what could be described as the Kerry Trainor era of SoundCloud, starting when the Vimeo ex-CEO took over the Berlin-based streaming platform, a quickened pace of product development seems to be in progress. It’s good news for the creator/uploader community which pays a lot of SoundCloud’s bills via subscriptions for cloud storage of tracks. Continue Reading
Indie label group and distributor Merlin has entered a deal with Dubset Media to open up new revenue streams. Under this arrangement, Merlin’s catalog will be added to MixBANK and MixSCAN, Dubset’s platforms for identifying music samples used in remixes and DJ sets. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio has announced two new integrations for its listeners. First, its podcasts are now supported on the Apple CarPlay. The second development is a partnership with Comcast that will roll out iHeartRadio on the Xfinity X1 set-top box. Continue Reading
Spotify is getting into the festive spirit with a playlist of some exclusive holiday songs. The tracks are all from sessions of Spotify Singles, where performers record a few songs in the streaming service’s studios. Now, Spotify has a collection of these exclusive songs highlighted in the Holiday section. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio announced the debut of a new podcast, which also marks the official start of Bobby Bones’ Nashville Podcast Network. The new show, Good Company with Jake Owen, is part of the new podcast network launched by iHeartMedia’s nationally syndicated radio host Bobby Bones. Continue Reading
Recorded music revenue in India increased 26% in 2016. That growth exceeding the global rate of 5.9% and places the nation 19th in worldwide sales. That’s the takeaway from the Indian Music Industry’s Digital Music Study 2017. The group, an affiliate of the IFPI, noted that streaming was a key driver. Continue Reading
China is in position to be the next center of international music deals, according to a profile in the Financial Times (paywall). The publication cited data from iResearch claiming that China could see its paid online music market grow 59% this year, reaching about 3 billion renminbi ($455 million). Tencent was responsible for 78% of the Chinese market in 2016, and that dominance has allowed the conglomerate to secure licensing and copyright deals with several of the larger western music businesses. Continue Reading
Nuvoodoo dug into its latest Ratings Prospects Study of radio listeners for their reactions to advertising. The survey asked about ad relevance, and creative quality — whether the ads “sound good.” Continue Reading