Thought Leaders

Interviews with, and contributions from, the most perceptive voices in the online audio industry.

1

Rhapsody CEO on the change to Napster and navigating the future

Posted on by Brad Hill

Rhapsody is the great uncle of on-demand music subscription services. Two months ago Mike Davis took over as CEO, quickly tightening the ship with a round of layoffs. Last week came the announcement that Rhapsody would become Napster across all territories, consolidating its brand. RAIN News dialed up a conversation with Mike Davis to discuss that decision, and talk about steering a music service through a complex competitive landscape. Continue Reading →

James Cridland’s Future of Radio: don’t choose a radio person to lead you; when the news isn’t funny; a new radio distribution medium

Posted on by James Cridland

by James Cridland

James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: A discussion of why radio leaders shouldn’t necessarily be radio people; radio shows and covering tragedy; bluetooth radio distribution in India. Continue Reading →

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Matt Graves: Napster’s Improbable Journey

Posted on by Brad Hill

by Matt Graves

Yesterday’s announcement that Rhapsody would rebrand as Napster across its global music service empire caused flashbacks in the minds of digital audio veterans. Matt Graves helped launch Rhapsody in 2001, and has worked in the online media fields for even longer. In this guest column he reviews the astonishing and unlikely history of Napster. Continue Reading →

James Cridland’s Future of Radio: iHeart’s spammy texts, the ABC’s multiplatform future, U.S. media job stats

Posted on by James Cridland

by James Cridland

James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: A few iHeart items; Australian Broadcasting Coroporation and a multiplatform future; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on media jobs; much more. Continue Reading →

James Cridland’s Future of Radio: Microsoft pulls FM out of phones, plus consumption changes and pizza

Posted on by James Cridland

by James Cridland

James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Microsoft removes FM radio from mobile devices; numbers for Netflix; streaming vs downloading podcasts; much more. Continue Reading →

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Mark Mulligan: The Two Spotify Charts You Need To See

Posted on by Mark Mulligan

by Mark Mulligan

Spotify’s recently released 2015 financials created an interesting story: strong revenue growth and market domination, along with widening losses at the bottom line. Midia Research founder Mark Mulligan peels back the layers to analyze underlying dynamics. “Rights costs are the Spotify’s Achilles Heel.” Can scaling audience growth give Spotify enough leverage to gain better label rates? If not, the outcome might be unwelcome to those rights-holders. This guest column is a must-read. Continue Reading →