YouTube has hired Tuma Basa as its new director of urban music, confirming the move that had been circulating on the gossip mills for a few months. Basa was previously the top hip-hop curator at Spotify, where he built the Rap Caviar playlist into a must-listen destination for fans of the genre. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Mary Meeker’s annual Internet trends report, plus other news and views from the audio landscape. Continue Reading
Digital audio technology company AdsWizz won the Drum Digital Trading Award in the category of Best Overall Technology for Programmatic Trading. Of special note is that this awards program, which has been running annually since 2014, covers all media categories for digital advertising. So the top placement is not only a celebratory moment for the company, but a spotlight on the maturation of digital audio as an important programmatic advertising medium. Continue Reading
Start-up Scout.fm is elbowing its way into the crossover space of podcast listening smart speakers. The platform began as a series of experiments on the Amazon Alexa platform and after testing many different voice skills, the team developed a podcast service that tailors recommendations to each listener’s preferences. Continue Reading
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has published a report calling for new government tools and federal regulations to support a healthy digital media market. The report suggested that future policies should focus on producing and promoting high-quality content by Canadians and encouraging rapid adaptation as technologies change. Continue Reading
Live365, the venerable internet radio platform for webcasters at all levels, is now streaming in Canada. Licensing from SOCAN and Re:Sound enables the company to distribute in the U.S. neighbor. “This is only the beginning of our expansion,” says CEO Jon Stephenson. Continue Reading
WNYC Studios has partnered with Whooshkaa to open up its podcasts to Australian advertisers. Across its show roster, which includes Radiolab and 2 Dope Queens, WNYC Studios reaches more than 7 million unique listeners every month. Continue Reading
Apple Music is adding another new department, this one focused on “data-driven conversations between Apple, labels, artists and the broader industry.” That’s the description in a job posting for the streaming service, which is hiring a Charts & Market Analytics Manager. Continue Reading
Tencent is moving forward with plans for an initial public offering of its music branch. Tencent Music and Entertainment has appointment Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to lead the IPO, Financial Times reported. Continue Reading
SoundCloud has made its advertising inventory available for programmatic buys via AppNexus. A new deal between the parties brings buyers access to 15-second and 30-second pre-roll spots and in-feed audio and video spots on SoundCloud. Continue Reading
Google has made a move into programmatic audio advertising. The tech giant announced that audio ads are now available to all customers of its DoubleClick Bid Manager. The demand-side platform is rolling out the audio support with inventory from Google Play Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, and TuneIn. Pandora is slated to be added soon. Continue Reading
Entertainment hub and media player Plex announced that it has rolled out beta support for podcasts. Anyone with the Plex App can access the new feature now. Listening is available for free with a Plex account. Continue Reading