Disney is taking the plunge into podcasting. During its NewFront presentation in New York City, the entertainment giant has announced that the Disney Digital Network will release at least one podcast this year. Continue Reading
Spotify shared its first quarterly earnings report since the company listed on the New York Stock Exchange last month. Despite a solid performance in listener and subscriber numbers, Wall Street was unimpressed with the results. Spotify’s stock price sunk after the data was released, falling from about $170 per share to about $153 per share. Continue Reading
audioBoom is contributing to “Better Hearing Month” (May) by launching the Listen-In Campaign in collaboration with the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Starkey provides hearing aids and healthcare to people with hearing impairment in 100 countries. The podcast company has enlisted at least 16 podcasts it represents to participate in the fundraising. Continue Reading
SoundCloud announced that Nancy Hood is joining the audio platform in the role of senior vice president, listener. In this capacity, Hood will lead the growth and expansion of SoundCloud’s global consumer listener business, including consumer subscriptions and advertising. Continue Reading
Spotify has announced a new deal with Instagram for an integration with the social network. Also, Music Business Worldwide reports that long-time exec Angela Watts is leaving the company. Continue Reading
Billboard is adjusting how it calculates streaming equivalents for two of its charts, as was previously discussed last fall. The new equations will give greater weight to streams from paid subscription on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 charts. Continue Reading
Apple announced its financial results for the second quarter ending March 31. The tech giant reported quarterly revenue of nearly $61.14 billion. That’s a 4% increase from the second quarter of 2017. Quarterly earnings rose 30% on-year to $2.73 per diluted share. Continue Reading
Programmatic specialist Jelli has announced several developments for its executive leadership. First, the company hired Rich Knopke as chief revenue officer. He will lead efforts to grow revenue and expand strategic relationships with radio broadcasters and digital audio publishers. Continue Reading
Edison Research released data from The Infinite Dial: Heavy Radio Listeners, a subset of data from its 2018 analysis with Triton Digital. These results focus on Americans who reported listening to more than one hour of radio in the past day in their audio diaries. The heavy radio listeners account for about 30% of the over-12 population. Continue Reading
Gimlet Media is hosting a contest to find a new, original voice to be the next big podcast host. The company is partnering with perennial podcast advertiser Squarespace for the competition. The duo is encouraging applicants who have perspectives outside what has become mainstream for podcasting. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio is releasing a daily news podcast, joining a niche space in audio that is becoming more popular with listeners and publishers. The Daily Dive will have new 15 minute episodes every weekday at 6 a.m. Eastern. iHeartMedia producer, writer, and editor Oscar Ramirez will host the program. Continue Reading
The BBC has entered a deal with Sweden-based podcast company Acast. Under this partnership, Acast will be the official partner for commercialization of BBC podcasts and audio outside of the UK. The deal is a joint initiative between the BBC World Service and BBC Radio & Education. Continue Reading