Radiotopia has selected the finalists for its Podquest competition. The contest collected ideas for new podcasts from 1,537 producers, and a group of Radiotopia and PRX staff narrowed that field to ten semifinalists. From there, four finalists have been chosen. Continue Reading
Entertainment Intelligence is a music data company that’s putting playlist analysis tools into the hands of rights-holders. The business is creating a set of apps for other music and entertainment companies, including one to track playlist performance. Continue Reading
Audio quality has been a hotly contested subject for the music industry. Some swear that high compression and low bitrate make for a mediocre listening experience. Others say the distinctions between file type are indistinguishable, at least for the average listener. A new study found data that, impressively enough, supports both sides. Continue Reading
Much research into consumer spending on music shows live concerts as the top recipient of dollars. For instance, Nielsen’s 2015 year-in-review showed that more than half of the money spent on music by an average U.S. adult went toward some form of live performance. A new infographic from Moneytips breaks down more detail about concert spending habits. Continue Reading
Doppler Labs introduced a new set of high-tech earbuds that combine sound filtering and wireless streaming. The Here One earbuds can stream music from a smartphone, either the local files or from streaming apps. They can even take phone calls. Continue Reading
Guvera has placed two subsidiaries into voluntary administration, and it is also aiming to reduce its monthly expenses. The action is the result of its planned IPO being rejected by the Australian Securities Exchange. Continue Reading
Two Apple Music news items today. First, the messaging service WhatsApp is running beta tests of an integration with the Apple streaming service. The second development is that Apple Music is nearing a launch in South Korea. Continue Reading
LyricFind has inked a deal with Google. Thanks to this expanded partnership, LyricFind will provide the lyrics displayed for Google Play Music and for Google search results. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Unsung streaming leaders land on Power Players list; a pro-YouTube piece from Financial Times; for the ultimate hipster, SoundCloud-to-vinyl pressings. Continue Reading
Deezer has broadened its deal with mobile carrier Three. After inking a deal with Three UK in November, the streaming service is also launching a bundle offer for Ireland. Continue Reading
Several YouTube leaders offered views of the company’s next steps at VidCon, a convention for the industry, creators, and fans of online video. Those steps will include investments in mobile livestreaming and expanded content offerings. Continue Reading
BitTorrent has added a streaming component to its bundle program. The entire system has been rebranded as BitTorrent Now, and is available as an Android app (iOS and Apple TV versions are coming soon). The ad-supported streaming will only be composed of content that artists have chosen to make available for that purpose. Continue Reading