Sponsored by AudioBoom
The weekly update of the streaming audio industry, from RAIN News. THIS WEEK: Apple Music discloses audience numbers; Hubbard Radio buys into podcasting; webcast metrics for June. Continue Reading
Rhapsody’s Q2 financial data revealed customer growth of 50% over the past year, exceeding 3 million subscribers. The streaming platform reached a record revenue of almost $50.1 million for the period, up from revenue of $42.4 million in the year-ago period. However, its quarterly losses also increased to nearly $12.1 million, compared with a loss of $4.7 million in the second quarter of 2014. Continue Reading
Shazam released an update to strengthen its integration with Rdio and Spotify. Users could already listen to full songs from those platforms within the Shazam app. The recent update delivers the ability to add songs to playlists on those streaming services without leaving the Shazam app. Continue Reading
Radio Disney is continuing its digital revitalization with a launch on iHeartRadio. The Radio Disney programming will now be accessible on iHeartRadio apps across all 60 of its available platforms. Continue Reading
Spreaker announced a new feature with the launch of the Adore podcast network. This series of eight shows is selected and powered by Spreaker, but will live on a separate website. “This new Adore Network is an effort to promote, feature and drive advertising revenue to shows on the Spreaker platform,” said Rob Greenlee. Continue Reading
Apple has finally issued official numbers, with the announcement that Apple Music has 11 million trial members. Eddy Cue, the tech company’s senior vice president, spoke to USA Today about the streaming service’s performance so far. RAIN News’ Brad Hill and Anna Washenko each weigh in on whether 11 million is enough. Continue Reading
On the Move tracks hires, promotions, and other notable personnel changes in the audio industry. Spotify’s content officer exits, while Isolation/INgrooves announce a new CEO. Continue Reading
Universal Music Group has hired Jay Frank to serve as its senior vice president of global streaming marketing. In this role, he will be tasked with using data to maximize performance on streaming platforms for UMG’s artists, in addition to analyzing the effectiveness of UMG’s streaming marketing campaigns. He’ll also be responsible for curating and managing the company’s global playlists and coordinating playlist strategy for all Universal labels. Continue Reading
The Download on Podcasts is a weekly feature sponsored by PodcastOne.
In the space of two weeks, Midroll Media was wholly acquired by the venerable media company E.W. Scripps, and PodcastOne (sponsor of this weekly column) was partially acquired by Hubbard Radio, which bought into a 30% equity stake and collaborative partnership. Personalization is the hinge between radio and podcasting.
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ROK Mobile announced a UK launch of its music streaming bundle. The company offers unlimited calls and texts and 4GB of data on top of a custom streaming platform. The service will cost £24.99 a month, or about $39. Continue Reading
One of the biggest highlights of the new Apple Music streaming platform is certainly the ambitious Beats 1 radio project. But the latest industry rumors hint that Beats 1 may not stand alone forever. According to The Verge, inside sources have revealed that Apple’s contracts with labels allow the tech giant to launch up to five additional stations without renegotiating. That means that we could very likely see (and hear) a Beats 2 through Beats 6 joining the broadcast offerings. Continue Reading
Apple Music has entered into a deal with an Australian telecom company to offer a 12-month free trial of the streaming service as part of a mobile bundle. Apple Music has also signed with AMRA, the digital collections society owned by Kobalt. There are also rumors of Beats 1 producing more video content. Continue Reading