Google may be making a big move in its efforts to secure a bigger slice of the smart speaker pie. According to reports in the Nikkei Asian Review, Google is planning a new smart speaker that will have a video screen. If these rumors come to pass, Google could have a product in direct competition with Amazon’s Echo Show in this year’s holiday shopping season. Continue Reading
Amazon is reportedly preparing to take its streaming music service to a more public position. Bloomberg reports that the tech giant will be launching a multimedia campaign in support of its streaming service. Continue Reading
Instreamatic.ai announced that it has launched an advertising campaign centered on voice response capabilities in Russia. The campaign, a joint effort with Alfa-Bank and OMD, served users a short audio tease at the launch of a radio stream that ended with a call to action for further information about the product, a debit card. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Amazon’s plans for Alexa behind the wheel, plus news updates from Afghanistan to Australia. Continue Reading
Westwood One has released a report exploring the audio landscape, with podcasting and smart speakers drawing particular attention. The study leveraged data from the Share of Ear and Infinite Dial studies to explore trends for the podcast audience as well as tracking the adoption rates for smart speakers. Continue Reading
Fans of music legend Prince got a chance to enjoy some of his talents through streaming services starting last year. Now, most of his discography from the 1990s and 2000s has arrived on streaming services. Continue Reading
The Canadian Podcast Listener will be releasing the results from its second annual analysis during the first RAIN Summit Canada in October, but Audience Insights and The Podcast Exchange have been sharing advanced glimpses. After revealing some statistics in July, the duo have shared another slide with data about podcasting in Canada. Continue Reading
CD Baby announced a new milestone: the company has 1 million songs served by its publishing administration platform. For more than 750,000 of those tracks, CD Baby administers 100% of the publisher shares. Continue Reading
Show Shouts highlights noteworthy new and upcoming podcasts from across the vast and still-growing audio medium. Today we cover iHeartRadio’s collaboration with 23andMe, a project from Cadence13 and Blumhouse Television, and a close look at crime on PodcastOne. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Streaming for musicians, now with more experimentation. The ripple effect of fraud in streaming music. Spotify co-sponsoring residencies for female producers. Continue Reading
Amazon Music has hired former Sony exec Andre Stapleton as its new head of U.S. label relations. In addition to this new role, Amazon Music is looking for a head of digital music in Brazil. Continue Reading
Amazon and Microsoft have integrated their digital assistants, which could open up new possibilities for cross-support of features and services outside of whatever hardware brand a user owns. Plans for an integration were announced last year, and the integration is just available as a preview in the U.S. right now. Continue Reading