Pandora and Sirius XM have closed the strategic investment announced in June. Sirius XM has purchased 307-million Series A shares of P stock for a $480-million investment in the internet radio firm. At the same time, Sirius execs James E. Meyer (CEO), David J. Frear (CFO) and Gregory B. Maffei (Chairman) joined the Pandora board. Maffei is now chairman of both companies. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: PRX CEO talks Podcast Garage plans. Sony Nashville wants to lead in streaming. Pay the performers. Continue Reading
Tidal is hosting its third annual Tidal X: Brooklyn concert. Ticket sales will benefit relief efforts for natural disasters, a fitting cause after multiple earthquakes and hurricanes wreaked havoc in across North America and the Caribbean in recent weeks. Continue Reading
Voice is a platform, not a device, and will eventually exist everywhere. That perspective enlarges the stakes, and deepens the urgency, for all audio publishers to get up to speed with skills and content. Continue Reading
Spotify has hired a new head of sales for its UK division. Rakesh Patel will start with the streaming music company in November, bringing 18 years of industry background to the team. His role of leading the UK sales team is an approximate replacement for former UK Country Manager Chris Forrester, who departed Spotify in April. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio’s music programming will soon be available in hotel rooms thanks to a new partnership with KEYPR, a cloud-based guest service platform for the hospitality industry. iHeartRadio will be accessible directly on KEYPR in-room tablets. These devices can also provide guests with a directory of hospitality services and a keyless entry option for their room. Continue Reading
Dutch music industry organization NVPI released its half-year results, which showed 30% growth in streaming sales. Streaming now holds a 65% share of total market sales in the country, boosting digital music revenue to €55.4 million for the first half of 2017. Continue Reading
Last month, we reported on the upcoming Roxi set-top streaming device from Electric Jukebox. There were no definite U.S. release dates at that time, but the company has started shipping the device stateside beginning today. B2B music provider 7digital will be Electric Jukebox’s partner, providing the Roxi music catalog for the U.S. market. Continue Reading
CBS Radio announced a relaunch of its Radio.com free mobile streaming app. The program now sports new visuals and higher audio quality. Listeners can access live streams of local radio stations and search for other CBS Radio channels by location or genre. Radio.com is also now home to CBS Radio’s podcast portfolio. Continue Reading
reVolver Podcasts announced a new partnership with Univision around the creation of exclusive content for Spanish-language and multicultural listeners. Under this deal, the reVolver Studios division will create custom audio content for Universal that leverages the company’s brands and talent. Continue Reading
Crowdfunding platform Patreon has closed a series C funding round of $60 million, bringing its total raised to $107 million. The new financing will go toward hiring and scaling growth for the patronage-based platform for supporting creative projects by artists, musicians, performers, and, noteworthy for RAIN readers, podcasters. Continue Reading
Pandora has rolled out its Video Plus ad product to all advertisers. This option means that brands only pay when users watch 15 seconds of a video ad. In exchange, the viewer temporarily unlocks listening features that would typically be available only for Pandora Plus or Pandora Premium subscribers. Continue Reading