Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Behind the scenes at AccuRadio; Rhapsody arrives on Wii U; college students and podcasts; new ideas for Apple Music? Continue Reading
Sonos announced a big business shakeup, including layoffs and a new focus in how it will bring music into the home. In a blog post discussing the changes, CEO John MacFarlane spoke about how the home audio landscape is changing and how the company wants to stay at the forefront of that transition. He pointed to the growth of streaming, and subscription tiers in particular, and the increased interest in voice controls as the reasons for the pivot. Continue Reading
STRATA released results from the latest of its quarterly ad agency surveys. The responses found that 54% of agencies are more interested in streaming audio than they were a year ago. The Q4 2015 survey also addressed questions about programmatic buying, which has also gained in interest among agencies. Continue Reading
French local trade body SNEP reported that the nation’s recorded music market declined 7% last year to €426 million. Digital revenue did increase 14.7%, but only totaled €152.3 million, making it just 36% of the nation’s total music income. Continue Reading
Denmark’s music industry posted a third consecutive year of growth, with data from the IFPI revealing a 3.7% increase in total recorded music income last year to 453 million Danish kroner ($67 million). Streaming music income posted significant growth, rising 26.5% to 323 million kroner ($48 million) last year. Continue Reading
Podcast company Midroll Media announced that it will be shutting down the Wolfpop network of shows. Ten of the 13 shows from the Wolfpop roster will migrate into Midroll’s Earwolf network. Continue Reading
SoundExchange is launching a new tool for seeking and finding data about international standard recording codes. The SoundExchange ISRC Search Site is a free resource for exploring the roughly 20 million ISRCs reported to the industry organization. From this new database, the ISRCs can be used for tracking and reporting use of sound recordings. Continue Reading
SoundCloud announced that Alison Moore will serve as the company’s new chief revenue officer. Moore’s past experience at HBO and NBCUniversal will go toward helping the audio company to launch a new subscription service some time this year. Continue Reading
Never a dull moment with music service Tidal, and companies associated with it. Rumors are afloat that tech giant Samsung might acquire the Jay Z-owned music service. The rumors are loud enough to draw a denial from Samsung. At the same time, new rumors say that Samsung-owned Milk Music might be discontinued, leaving a hole in Samsung’s consumer ecosystem. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Is Podcasting radio’s golden age? Mark Mulligan’s interesting viewpoint on the BBC Music App. New book: Radio 2.0 Continue Reading
A platform called Songtradr comes out of beta today, hoping to create a market that is both friendly and accessible to creators, and productive for producers searching for perfect project music. RAIN News spoke with Founder & CEO Paul Wiltshire. Continue Reading
Meerkat, the app which spearheaded into live video, is giving up its product model and shifting onto a new (as yet undisclosed) course, ceding competitive ground to Periscope and Facebook Live. In so doing, Meerkat illustrates the perils of sustaining an… Continue Reading