As the United States faces an emboldened white supremacist movement, many businesses have taken stronger stances to limit the spread of racist and fascist messages. After a direct call-out, streaming services have been spurred to take action and remove hate bands. Here’s a timeline of what transpired this week, and how similar situations could be prevented. Continue Reading
Shazam has been quietly but quickly securing its reputation as an invaulable smartphone resource. The company’s latest business deal shows how far it has come from its beginnings as an audio identification tool. Shazam is being added to Samsung Electronics’ 2017 Smart TV platform. Continue Reading
Electric Jukebox has been quiet for several months, but the company and its unusual approach to streaming music is back with a new product. The UK-based business originally entered the scene with a gadget-heavy approach to streaming. Now, it has a second product called Roxi. Continue Reading
Apple is still gunning for a big move into video, according to the latest industry buzz. The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported that the company plans to invest about $1 billion in its video plans over the next year. A source told WSJ that the money could translate into up to 10 new programs. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Japan and the vinyl trend; more on Spotify playlists; how much do podcasting pros actually make? Continue Reading
Spotify has been tightening its integration with Facebook, particularly with the social network’s direct chat system. After an initial integration in 2016, followed by capabilities for group playlist creation in June, Facebook Messenger can now offer Spotify music recommendations. Continue Reading
Omny Studio has entered an agreement to license its platform to CBS Radio. The arrangement grants CBS Radio access to Omny Studio’s podcast hosting, analytics, and social sharing tools. Australia-based Omny will provide infrastructure for the more than 350 original and on-demand podcasts that comprise CBS’ audio programming. Continue Reading
Pandora announced that Roger Lynch, Founding CEO of Sling TV, is the new Chief Executive of Pandora starting September 18. Lynch will replace Interim CEO Naveen Chopra, who will resume his previous role as CFO. The announcement came just after the U.S. market close. P stock is up over 4% at this writing, in the after-hours market. Continue Reading
TuneIn has raised $50 million in support of growing its online radio portfolio. Marker LLC, IVP and Comcast Ventures led the funding round, which sources told Bloomberg values TuneIn at about $500 million. The money will go toward the rights for live sporting events and original programming. Continue Reading
ASCAP announced that Tristan Boutros has joined the performing rights organization as its chief technology officer. In this role, he will lead ASCAP’s technology strategy and execution, guiding projects such as elastic computing, cloud tech, and the API roadmap. Boutros most recently worked as chief of operations at The New York Times, with prior work at Warner Music Group, BlackBerry, and IAC. Continue Reading
Spotify is hosting an event later this month where it is expected to announce its launch in Thailand. The streaming platform’s Bangkok event is scheduled for August 22. The subscription costs will likely be revealed at that time. Continue Reading
For the past several months, we’ve been reporting on the wave of musical hires at Facebook. The social network has mobilized an in-house team, including licensing and business development professionals. Now, we might be seeing where those experts will be focusing their efforts. Continue Reading