FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai issued a statement that pushed for Apple to activate FM chips in its phones. Although his missive focused on the laudable goal of public safety in emergencies, the pointed dig at Apple appears misguided. Apple iPhones haven’t contained FM chips for more than a year. Continue Reading
The 6th annual RAIN Summit Europe returns to London for the fourth year, November 7 at the beautiful BP Theatre in the British Museum. Four key presenters have joined the speaker roster, bringing research, new industry developments, and immersive audio theater. Continue Reading
Spotify has added another personalized playlist to its programming. This one is titled Your Time Capsule, and it says it will “take you back in time to your teenage years.” Music is a powerful tool when it comes to nostalgia, but does Spotify deliver? Here’s our take from the RAIN News team. Continue Reading
Apple Music has surpassed 30 million subscribers. That’s the top-line takeaway from Billboard’s recent conversation with the streaming service’s leadership. Jimmy Iovine, Zane Lowe, and Larry Jackson sat down with the publication to talk about their strategy for attracting even more paying listeners and expanding into all sorts of new exclusive content. Continue Reading
Amazon hosted a jam-packed day of announcements on Wednesday, with a heavy focus on expanding its Echo product line and bringing its Alexa voice controls to more places. Continue Reading
Audio.ad has collaborated with the Mobile Marketing Association to compile a guide for digital audio advertising in Latin America. This playbook is a free download available in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. It contains statistics, concepts, and best practices around digital audio consumption in Latin American markets, including case studies of successful brands. Continue Reading
Reuters is reporting that Spotify’s latest private trading numbers are now valuing the streaming company at about $16 billion. The publication cited unnamed sources familiar with the latest deals for Spotify, although the company declined to comment on the rumor. Reuter’s sources predicted that by the time Spotify goes public, it could be worth at least $20 billion. Continue Reading
B2B music provider 7digital has entered a partnership with famed guitar brand Fender. Under this deal, 7digital will collaborate with Fender to help the company grow its offering of online and mobile products. Continue Reading
NPR and Edison Research have released the second part of their study on smart speakers and voice control. The first part was released during RAIN’s Podcast Business Summit in New York this June. The latest presentation of The Smart Audio Report focused on the specific activities and details of how and why people are using this new product segment. Continue Reading
YouTube has adjusted its approach for how content creators can get paid by their fans. Last week, the video platform announced that it is ending its paid channels initiative, a program that allowed channel owners to directly sell access to their videos to individual subscribers. In its place, YouTube is broadening its sponsorship model. Continue Reading
Taking advantage of U.S. investing regulations started in 2012, electronic music streaming specialist Digitally Imported (DI.FM) has launched a crowdfunding campaign for non-institutional investing. With a current valuation of $12 million, the company is looking to raise as much as $1.07 million on the Wefunder platform. Continue Reading
In a month of shifts in its show rankings, Podtrac’s publisher rankings followed suit, with a new face joining the August 2017 lineup. WBUR dropped out of the top 10 for the month, making room for newcomer Barstool Sports at No. 9. This publisher made its debut on the show rankings for August with its Pardon My Take podcast. Continue Reading