NPR has entered a new partnership with Amazon that will increase the amount of content to listeners with Alexa-enabled devices. Requests to “play the news” on Alexa have defaulted to the most recent NPR hourly newscast. Going forward, this voice skill will offer a continuous listening experience of content from the broadcaster. Continue Reading
Apple Podcasts are going to move toward a standalone web presence. This week, several tech outlets reported that the web listening experience would be getting separated from iTunes. A few podcasts are getting preview versions that show a URL of podcasts.apple.com rather than requiring either the iTunes app or website to play. Continue Reading
Edison Research and Triton Digital released the 2019 Podcast Consumer Report today in a webinar, loaded with metrics from Edison’s monumental Infinite Dial and Share of Ear consumer research studies. The program and its nearly 30 data-infused slides were presented to Edison SVP… Continue Reading
Pandora has revealed new insights from the Share of Ear report from Edison Research. The audio company posted some of the key takeaways from the Q1 report on its Pandora for Brands blog. The highlights are all about digital listening and its impact on broadcast. Continue Reading
Podcasting app Castbox has added a new feature called Community. It adds a dedicated feed in the app for posts about what people are listening to, bringing a social component to the platform. Continue Reading
“Radio/Podcasts” is a category in the recently released Peabody Award nominations. In it, 11 programs are cited: Bag Man MSNBC (MSNBC) Believed Michigan Radio (NPR) Buried Truths WABE (WABE) Caliphate The New York Times (The New York Times) Ear Hustle… Continue Reading
Several streaming services drew the ire of songwriting groups when they moved to appeal the mechanical royalty rates set by the Copyright Royalty Board. Although Amazon, Google, and Pandora are also participating in the appeal, Spotify has been shouldering the bulk of the critique. Continue Reading
Hollywood has been turning to podcasts for creative inspiration, but major movie releases are also finding other ways to work with audio. An upcoming stop-motion animation movie titled Missing Link is being promoted with a new Alexa skill. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Streaming and environmental sustainability. Peabody Award nominees include podcasts. Why keep your CD collection. Continue Reading
Universal Music Group has inked a licensing agreement with uduX, a streaming music service based in Nigeria. The deal will bring uduX listeners access to UMG’s catalog of Nigerian and international artists. UMG is the first major to sign with this service. Continue Reading
TikTok has seen global popularity as a mobile platform for short-form music videos and lip syncing, and there have been multiple new developments surrounding the app. First, the service has been working to build itself as a music discovery platform. The second major development is higher up the chain, involving labels. Continue Reading
Triton Digital announced that Montreal-based music, media, and technology company Stingray is its latest client. Triton will take charge of monetizing the streaming audio content on the Stingray Music mobile app. Continue Reading