Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: A rallying cry for indie podcast support. Spotify Awards releases finalists. Beware the bootleg podcast. Continue Reading
Boomplay Music has partnered with MUSO for an effort to reduce piracy in Africa. The streaming service is owned by China-based Transsnet Music Limited but focuses on listeners in African countries. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia has entered a partnership with Flatiron Books to launch a publishing imprint. The new operation is called Stuff You Should Read: An iHeartBook and it will begin with four books inspired by curiosity podcasts from the iHeartPodcast Network. Continue Reading
CD Baby is ending a major segment of its operation. The company announced that it will close its online retail store on March 31. After that date, the retail store will transition into a download portal. Continue Reading
Podcast Radio, a venture to broadcast a 24-hour podcast schedule on DAB in London, is up and running. The project was introduced at RAIN Summit Europe last November. Continue Reading
Nielsen released a special edition of its Total Audience Report focused on streaming media. From the overall survey audience, 38% of participants subscribed to one paid audio platform, compared with 37% not subscribing to any. The balance shifted across age brackets. Continue Reading
Susan Wojcicki wrote a blog post to mark YouTube’s fifteen’s birthday. The video platform was registered as a website on February 14, 2005, and the current YouTube CEO shared a few figures in her post looking forward to the company’s next goals. Continue Reading
Indian telecom Reliance Industries is putting more money into its streaming music operation. The company made an investment of $19.6 million into JioSaavn. The audio platform was created in March 2018. Continue Reading
Instreamatic is announcing a partnership with Federated Media. In the deal Federated will sell Instreamatic’s interactive voice advertising opportunities to advertisers. Federated’s inventory will be added to Instreamatic’s voice ad exchange. Continue Reading
Deezer is launching a concert series inspired by its curated playlists. The streaming company plans to host a collection of small, invitation-only shows under the banner Deezer LIVE. Continue Reading
Podcast Movement Evolutions, an addition to the annual Podcast Movement conference and an expansion of it, was produced last week in Los Angeles. The event expanded on the six-year-old Podcast Movement summer gathering, offering three tickets levels and four content tracks for different types of attendee. Continue Reading
SoundCloud introduced a new feature that allows users to upload tracks from their smartphones. This feature is rolling out for the audio platform’s iOS app, with Android coming soon. Continue Reading