Amazon Audible has launched a new Alexa skill in partnership with ChooseCo, the creators of the Choose Your Own Adventure book series. The interactive storytelling skill will launch with two stories — The Abominable Snowman and Journey Under the Sea — which have 28 and 37 potential endings, respectively. Continue Reading
Apple is embarking on a new strategy for its AI department. Notably, Bill Stasior has reportedly been removed as the head of the Siri team, which he had helmed since joining the tech company in 2012. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s International Radio Trends is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: James draws some connections between radio and live television. Lots of UK news this week, including a look at BBC Sounds and the loss of Jeremy Hardy. Continue Reading
The media sphere burbled over the weekend with late-Friday reporting that Spotify is “in talks” to acquire podcast powerhouse Gimlet Media, with a price tag above $200-million. If this happens, it will be the richest institutional dive into podcasting yet. click through for details, and a history of podcast acquisitions, full and partial. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: How much will customers pay to stream? Two different features explore the idea that podcasts are the new blogs and that podcasts are the new video. Continue Reading
The Daily, the weekday news podcast from The New York Times and Michael Barbaro, is going to be getting supplementary written words. Episodes of the show, which has topped Podtrac’s monthly show rankers for the past two months, are now getting transcripts. Continue Reading
Amazon reported its fourth-quarter financial results, closing the year with more big numbers and a big focus on its smart speakers. CEO and Founder Jeff Bezos gave a comment for the earnings press release, but his sole focus was the company’s voice assistant and smart home collection. Continue Reading
As predicted in this week’s Sirius XM earnings call for Q4 2018, the Sirius XM acquisition of Pandora closed today. Pandora is now a wholly owned component of the satellite broadcaster. In the earnings call, Sirius CEO Jim Meyer had things to say about Pandora, and was explicit in laying out broad strategic thoughts. Click through for abundant quotes. Continue Reading
Spotify has been mobilizing for an anticipated launch in India, with the rumor mill pointing to a potential launch in January. However, with the first month of 2019 come and gone, Spotify is not making that hoped-for timeline. Continue Reading
YouTube has promoted Carletta Higginson to director, global head of music publishing. Higginson has been under the Google umbrella for five years, most recently as director, music publishing in North America for YouTube and Google Play Music. Continue Reading
Mixcloud has hired Joseph Strinati for a role as business director of brand partnerships. In this position, Strinati will be responsible for building commercial relationships with new and existing clients. Continue Reading
Sirius XM released its fourth-quarter financial results. Total revenue in Q4 was nearly $1.5 billion, up from $1.4 billion. Quarterly net income reached $251 million, compared with a loss of $37 million in the year-ago period. Continue Reading