Omnifone’s business and assets are being purchased by an unknown party. The joint administrators accepted a bid of $10 million from a U.S. source, but the document did not disclose a name. Continue Reading
Google piracy report 2016 music has released its annual piracy report. The analysis highlights YouTube’s role both with the still-growing creator community and to the music industry. It is also well-timed as a response to the label and artist critiques that YouTube doesn’t do enough for the industry. Continue Reading
Teens and young adults are a desirable demographic for most businesses, and a new report from the Music Business Association and data partner LOOP examined their music listening and buying habits. On-demand streaming accounted for 51% of total listening time on a typical day for the 15-19 age group, compared to the 24% average across ages. Continue Reading
Google Play is rolling out a new feature for expanded sharing across multiple people. The Family Library supports up to six individuals sharing a single account. All members will have access to every app, game, movie, TV show, and book added to the joint collection. Continue Reading
Mobile game Pokemon Go has taken the world by storm. Spotify announced today that the game has triggered a spike in listening too, with more than triple the streams of Pokemon songs logged in the past week. Continue Reading
ESPN Audio and FiveThirtyEight are planning a new podcast project, and are hiring staff for it. The show is based on the sports documentary series 30 For 30, and will be spearheaded by Jody Avirgan. Continue Reading
Australia-based Whooshkaa announced that it will be using new audio sharing technology from Facebook, so its shows can be played directly from the social network’s main feed. “After months working with Facebook, we’re delighted to be the world’s first podcasting platform to take advantage of this new audio sharing technology, joining the likes of Spotify and the United States’ National Public Radio,” founder Rob Loewenthal said. Continue Reading
The BBC’s iPlayer Radio app is now available for the first time outside the UK. The mobile app is now available in Ireland in what the broadcaster has called the “first stage of a global rollout.” Continue Reading
Spotify has been putting up big numbers in recent months as it grows a subscriber base. Now, sources say that the streaming service reportedly has expanded to about 37 million paying subscribers. The company has not confirmed that number, but given its recent rates of listener acquisition, the reports aren’t much of a surprise. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: A Discover Weekly data dive; Rdio accuses Sony of antitrust activity; UK report finds piracy on continued decline. Continue Reading
Audible has added a new subscription option called Channels that focuses on short-form audio content. The subscription includes original shows from Audible alongside and news and shows from publishers such as The Wall Street Journal, The Onion, and Scientific American. Continue Reading
Today at the Podcast Movement conference Libsyn announced that its hosted podcasts can now easily integrate with iHeartRadio. At the same time, Libsyn has updated its producer analytics tool to measure listenership in each of a podcast’s distributed destinations. Continue Reading