Amazon launches new wave of Echo smart home devices
Amazon hosted a jam-packed day of announcements on Wednesday, with a heavy focus on expanding its Echo product line and bringing its Alexa voice controls to more places. Continue Reading
Audio.ad co-authors playbook on digital audio advertising for Latin America
Audio.ad has collaborated with the Mobile Marketing Association to compile a guide for digital audio advertising in Latin America. This playbook is a free download available in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. It contains statistics, concepts, and best practices around digital audio consumption in Latin American markets, including case studies of successful brands. Continue Reading
Rumor Fact(ory): Spotify now valued at $16 billion
Reuters is reporting that Spotify’s latest private trading numbers are now valuing the streaming company at about $16 billion. The publication cited unnamed sources familiar with the latest deals for Spotify, although the company declined to comment on the rumor. Reuter’s sources predicted that by the time Spotify goes public, it could be worth at least $20 billion. Continue Reading
Germany is moving to digital music, most quickly among young listeners
For years, Germany was one of the staunch holdouts, a market that continued to favor music listening on CDs rather than digital formats even as most markets become dominated by streaming. A recent survey shows that the region’s views are slowly changing, mostly among its younger generations. Continue Reading
Triton Digital’s a2x programmatic exchange arrives in the Netherlands
Triton Digital announced an expansion of its partnership with One Media Sales. As a result of the new arrangement, OMS will operate Triton’s a2x programmatic audio advertising marketplace in the Netherlands, which gives advertisers and agencies their first opportunity to buy digital audio ad inventory programmatically. Continue Reading
XAPPmedia launches self-serve branded Alexa presence to radio stations
XAPPmedia, one of several companies which provide technical assistance to radio station presence in smart speakers, is today launching a self-serve solution for Amazon Alexa. Continue Reading
Summer slippage in webcast listening; year-over-year strong (Triton Digital July)
July webcast listening slipped 4% compared to the month before, in a pattern we saw last year in June and July. Every one of the top 20 brands measured by Triton Digital saw a reduction in listening during July. The year-over-year view shows that the tide was higher even as the summer waves got a bit smaller. Continue Reading
7digital inks partnership with Fender
B2B music provider 7digital has entered a partnership with famed guitar brand Fender. Under this deal, 7digital will collaborate with Fender to help the company grow its offering of online and mobile products. Continue Reading
More music, less typing, replacing radios drive smart speaker adoption in new NPR/Edison research
NPR and Edison Research have released the second part of their study on smart speakers and voice control. The first part was released during RAIN’s Podcast Business Summit in New York this June. The latest presentation of The Smart Audio Report focused on the specific activities and details of how and why people are using this new product segment. Continue Reading
Amazon’s Alexa available in Amazon Music app on iOS and Android
Amazon’s Alexa voice control system can now be used to control the Amazon Music app on both Android and iOS mobile devices. This mobile integration is being rolled out in the U.S., UK, Germany, and Austria. Alexa can respond to the same range of queries as on the smart speaker of an Amazon Echo: asking for music from a certain artist, album, genre, time period, or activity will bring up songs that meet the criteria. Continue Reading
Fair Play Fair Pay Act gets two new co-sponsors
The Fair Play Fair Pay Act has two new co-sponsors. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) have joined as co-sponsors of the current bill, which has been spearheaded by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). musicFIRST issued a statement supporting the new backers of the legislation centered on radio and performance royalties. Continue Reading
Vox announces new editor-in-chief as it expands podcasting, TV efforts
Vox Media is making more moves to shore up its leadership as the company moves into new directions for journalism and reporting. The media operation is working with Midroll Media on a daily news podcast, a large undertaking, slated to begin in 2018. In light of these plans, Vox has announced that Lauren Williams will be its new editor-in-chief. Continue Reading