Brief news items and worthy reads around the Internet: Warner Music Group releases 2014 financials; a Pono Music review calls Neil Young’s service “a tall, refreshing drink of snake oil.” Continue Reading
Ad management company WideOrbit announced that its Clarity platform, which offers streaming, ad injection, and audience measurement to audio publishers, will be the first distribution partner for Nielsen Audio’s newly developed streaming audience measurement technology. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Most innovative companies in music; Onkyo announces expansion. Continue Reading
Japan’s recorded music industry declined by about 4.5% last year to approximately 297.5 billion yen (€2.2 billion), according to initial data from the RIAJ. It’s the first time the nation’s music market has fallen under 300 billion yen since the… Continue Reading
Rdio has entered into a partnership that will integrate the on-demand streaming with live concert attendance. The company is working with AXS, a joint venture from AEG, to bring music to concert-goers. People who buy tickets through the AXS platform will be eligible for a free 30-day trial of Rdio Unlimited. Continue Reading
The Download on Podcasts is a new weekly feature sponsored by PodcastOne.
The spirit and anything-goes attitude of theCHIVE.com is carried into a new podcast, just three episodes old. The program is an interview format, and scored a big win with this week’s interview of celebrity entrepreneur Mark Cuban. Click through to listen. Continue Reading
After announcing 2 million subscribers back in July, Rhapsody and Napster have grown to 2.5 million paid subscribers worldwide. Those members listen to more than 5 million hours of music a week. A large part of the growth came from the company’s U.S. deal with T-Mobile, which contributed a 67% spike in unRadio subscriptions over the holiday season. Continue Reading
Clip Interactive, which has built its business on building interactive mobile apps for broadcast radio stations, announced that it is expanding its product line to include desktop and mobile browsers. This interactive web player will work on computers and mobile device browsers, bypassing the need for users to download a station-specific mobile app. Continue Reading
Spain’s music industry association Promusicae revealed that the nation’s music market grew about 21% to more than €149.9 million last year. It was the first year since 2001 with an uptick in sales. A large portion of that growth came from streaming services, which contributed €47.2 million in revenue. Continue Reading
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada announced its financial results for 2014, and revealed $299 million in revenue from domestic, international and private copying proceeds. The figure broke last year’s record high of $276 million. Within that total, the organization received $20 million in revenue from Internet streaming companies, up from $3.2 million in the previous year. Continue Reading
Deezer’s first foray into the U.S. market was a special Elite service offered for Sonos systems. Now that partnership is going global, with Elite access to become available for Sonos owners across Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Canada on March 19. Continue Reading
Sam Smith and Beck might have taken home the statuettes, but according to SoundHound, the big winners from the Grammys were Ed Sheeran and Jeff Lynne. Sheeran, who was up for several awards, performed “Thinking Out Loud” during the show. It was the most SoundHounded song of the event and also translated into the most purchases through the app. Continue Reading