Amazon recently had its moments in the crosshairs over privacy concerns with Echo devices listening in on users’ conversations. Now Google’s up. A Dutch broadcaster was able to access a thousand recordings through a Google subcontractor, and overheard some things they definitely shouldn’t have. Continue Reading
Germany’s music industry posted 7.9% growth during the first half of 2019, the biggest growth rate since 1993. Trade group BVMI announced that H1 total revenue was €783.21 million, compared with €725.9 million in the year-ago period. Continue Reading
Amazon has carved out a large amount of territory in the smart speaker market, and it may have another effort under way to reach new audiences. Bloomberg reported that Amazon could be working on an Echo smart speaker with improved audio quality, one that could rival the high-end, audiophile options on the market. Continue Reading
Podcast company Blubrry announced the launch of a new feature for dynamic advertising. The tool will allow podcasters to swap the ads running in both past and present episodes. The dynamic ad option will be available at two tiers. Continue Reading
The egta has released a new whitepaper with best practices, insights, metrics, industry facts, and advice for European radio stations to better understand and participate in podcasting. the free download is titled Podcast Monetisation Strategies and Best Practices. Continue Reading
Stream listening gained about 2% month-over-month in March, according to the Triton Digital Webcast Metrics Top 20 Ranker. Pandora, leader of the pack, gained three percent from January, to move above 2-million average active sessions for the first time since last August. Continue Reading
Stitcher and Wondery have partnered for a joint venture named Podfront UK that will make both companies’ podcasts available to advertisers in the UK. Podfront UK will be led by managing director Ruth Fitzsimons. She joins the new venture from Audioboom. Continue Reading
Podcast company Acast announced that it has launched in Germany. The new office will be led by Stefan Zilch as the regional managing director. Zilch previously held a similar post at Spotify, helping the streaming company with its German launch in 2012. Continue Reading
Sirius XM announced a new expansion to its streaming offerings. People on the Sirius XM Select subscriber plan now have access to the satellite radio company’s mobile app and connected devices at home as part of their package. That will add more options (at no extra cost) for about 30 million Sirius XM users. Continue Reading
YouTube is making some adjustments to its Content ID platform. The new changes are related to manual claims in the system for copyrighted audio. While they may make things clearer for people making content for YouTube, copyright holders will have an additional step to take. Continue Reading
Voxnest has been publishing several analyses about different corners of podcast listening, and the latest one is about show categories. The company’s new report finds that listening habits vary across different show subjects, which could mean different best practices for podcasters in terms of publishing times and time-specific advertisements. Continue Reading
The BBC has announced a trio of new controllers, including an appointment to head its latest effort in mobile audio. Jonathan Wall is the first controller for the BBC Sounds app. Continue Reading