Blueprint Radio, an independent radio promotion company based in the UK, announced a move into podcasting. The business launched a new branch called Blueprint Pods that will work on findings artists placements on podcasts. Continue Reading
Amazon has introduced a certification for developers building skills for its Alexa voice assistant. The certification is fittingly called AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty. Amazon said this marks the first time it has provided a certification for developers. Continue Reading
Podcast tech company Megaphone crunched numbers related to how and when listeners use Apple Watches for podcast listening. Megaphone characterizes the results as a “stealth success story.” The report, posted by Megaphone’s data analyst Luke Riley, is HERE. Listening via… Continue Reading
Independent music distributor CD Baby announced a partnership with Audible Magic, a specialist in digital content identification, licensing, and monetization. Under the terms of their arrangement, CD Baby will use the RightsRx service from Audible Magic to find content rights conflicts before music is sent to a digital platform. Continue Reading
The Crime Junkie podcast has signed cabana as its exclusive ad sales partner. The new deal expands on an existing relationship between the true crime podcast and the digital audio arm of AdLarge Media. Continue Reading
Apple Music is making some minor quality of life improvements to one of its signature features. The “For You” section of the streaming service, which has curated editoral playlists, will be updated with new content multiple times a day. Continue Reading
Universal Music Group’s quarterly earnings continued to grow on the back of a strong streaming performance. The label’s parent company, Vivendi, has released its first-quarter results as it moves ahead with plans to sell off a stake in UMG. Continue Reading
We noted last week that Apple Podcasts might launch a web browser version of iTunes Podcasts (or, similarly, the Podcasts iOS app). At that time the launch seemed incomplete. Now it seems like a full-on web product … and an important milestone. Continue Reading
Billboard is reporting this morning that Amazon plans to offer and ad-supported streaming music service possibly similar to services offered by Pandora or Spotify. If true, service would join other Amazon listening services already in the market. Continue Reading
Research firm Canalys has released a new report with projections for smart speaker sales this year. It anticipates that the global install base for the product category will increase 82.4% from 114 million units in 2018 to 207.9 million units in 2019. The company forecast that smart speakers would have a larger audience than tablets by 2021. Continue Reading
Most podcasters are used to issuing a call-to-action of “subscribe,” but that language may be sending the wrong impression to the vast audience of non-podcast listeners and keeping them away. Continue Reading
Podtrac has released its March 2019 podcast publisher ranking. It was a month of growth, with seven of the top ten increasing their U.S. unique monthly audience from the previous month. The average U.S. unique monthly audience for this group reached 8.2 million, edging up 1% from February 2019 and up 43% from March 2018. Continue Reading