Spotify announced today that it has more than 20 million subscribers and 75 million active users on its streaming platform. The company started off 2015 with the announcement 60 million active users and 15 million paying subscribers, meaning Spotify grew quickly to hit this milestone. Spotify also closed a round of funding today valued at $526 million. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Sonos CEO on streaming’s impact and NPR listeners get an F on their audio quality test. Continue Reading
After a long build-up and a vast amount of speculation, Apple has finally announced Apple Music, its overhauled music offerings. Cook dubbed the new service “the next chapter in music,” and presented it as a single resource for listeners’ various musical needs. Most of the features and news shared by Tim Cook and his colleagues fell in line with the previously reported rumors on what it would look like. However, the team did clarify two of the key questions that had circled around Apple Music’s launch: a date and a price point. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio announced that it is making further inroads into living room listening with the launch of an app on TiVo. The app is available on the TiVo Roamio, TiVo Mini and the line of TiVo Premiere devices following the latest software update on that hardware. Continue Reading
Kobalt, a London-based music company offering label, publishing, and rights services, has launched a new digital rights collection society. The new society is called the American Music Rights Association, and is based on a U.S. collection agency that Kobalt purchased last year. It will offer both mechanical and performing rights services at a global scale. Continue Reading
This weekend, some of the music industry’s biggest names gathered in Cannes for the Midem conference. Many of the talks and interviews this year addressed the business of streaming. Here are some highlights from leaders at Sony Music, SoundCloud, YouTube, Believe Digital, and Tidal. Continue Reading
Emmis Communications announced the launch of its second mobile app for music streaming. The app is named Where Hip Hop Lives, and it’s available for iOS. The free version of the app is ad-supported, but it does have a subscription component as well. Continue Reading
We are pleased to announce that nominations are open for RAIN’s 6th Annual Internet Radio Awards. The RAIN Internet Radio Awards recognize the achievements and the best practices of the Internet radio industry. Finalists and winners will be recognized in six categories. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio announced a new audience milestone: 70-million users have registered with the streaming platform. iHeartRadio told RAIN News that the 70-million milestone was reached faster than the growth of Facebook or any other music service. The news comes with a new round of usage statistics. Continue Reading
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The weekly update of the streaming audio industry, from RAIN News. THIS WEEK: YouTube Analytics; DASH Radio emerges; Merlin magic for SoundCloud; FCC liberates Pandora; the ideal cost of music. Continue Reading
Yandex, a Russian search provider, announced the launch of a new music service called Yandex.Radio. The platform is an ad-supported collection of 100 radio stations. The channels are defined by genre, mood, or context. Yandex.Radio is available on both desktop and mobile versions, but only in the Russian market for now. Continue Reading
7digital announced two international partnerships today. The first is with mobile music company Mariposa, which serves Latin America. The second partnership is with OpenLIVE, an upcoming Australian music download platform that specializes in live recordings. Continue Reading