Quick Hits: Programmatic; Martin Bandier; Beats 1
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web. TODAY: Programmatic audio advertising; a publishing exec speaks out; betting against Beats 1. Continue Reading
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Internet Radio Rewind #047: Apple Music, Spotify growth; 8tracks adds music; April webcast metrics
A weekly podcast from RAIN News
Sponsored by AudioBoom
The weekly update of the streaming audio industry, from RAIN News. THIS WEEK: Apple announces its new music service; Spotify hits back with growth story; 8tracks also on the move; Triton’s Webcast Metrics Continue Reading
ROK Mobile includes streaming music service in unlimited mobile bundle
ROK Mobile announced new developments in its available phone plans for music fans. The company is offering a bundle with unlimited talk, text, data, and streaming music for $49.99 a month. The streaming music component is called simply ROK Music and it has a library of 20 million songs. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Opinions and projections about Apple Music
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web. The ongoing discussions of Apple Music’s place in the industry have pulled out a range of opinions. We select pieces from MediaPost’s London editor, a Bridge Ratings survey, and Jeffrey C. Smith writing in Re/Code. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia partners with, and invests in, Unified for data and targeting
iHeartMedia and Unified have jointly announced a long-term partnership to develop audience-targeting datasets that can be applied across iHeart’s sprawling radio, streaming, mobile, and event portfolios. The deal includes an unspcified investment by iHeart in Unified. Continue Reading
RAIN announces Jake Shapiro, CEO of PRX, to keynote RAIN Summit Atlanta
In a tradition of featuring thought leaders in the online audio industry, RAIN today announced that Jake Shapiro, Chief Executive of public radio marketplace PRX, will present the keynote speech at RAIN Summit Atlanta, September 29. Continue Reading
Line Music launches in home market of Japan
Line Music has officially launched in Japan. It will offer two price tiers, the first costing 500 yen (about $4) a month for 20 hours of streaming. The second tier costs 1,000 yen (about $8) for unlimited listening on the platform. The streaming service is owned by Japan-based messaging company Line, and it also has involvement from Universal Music Japan. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Mobile video research; a Spotify exclusive; Apple Music pricing in India
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: IAB research in mobile video; spotify offers an exclusive track; a rumor about Apple Music pricing in India. Continue Reading
New podcast transcription service aims to make audio more searchable
The Download on Podcasts is a weekly feature sponsored by PodcastOne.
It seems like everyone is getting into podcasting — creators, networks, measurement companies, ad-tech companies, and now the transcription firm GMR Transcription, which announced the launch of an audio-to-text service. Does it make sense? We looked at two podcasts using the service.
Quick Hits: T-DAB+ testing in Czech Republic; audio quality questions at Apple Music; indie Internet radio outlook
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Czech Republic launches large T-DAB+ trial; Apple Music will be below standard audio quality; a rough outlook for indie Internet radio. Continue Reading
Spotify hits 20M paid subscribers, completes $526 million funding round
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
Quick Hits: Thoughts from Sonos’ CEO; results from NPR’s audio quality tests
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