Quick Hits: Music start-up edition
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Stationhead blends playlists and radio. Gig.fm for music livestreaming. MUSO secures financing. Continue Reading
Listening to music is primary usage of smart speakers (NPR/Edison Research)
The breakthrough research report on smart speakers, The Smart Audio Report from NPR and Edison Research, is released today after the free webinar presentation yesterday. The research was originally presented at the RAIN Podcast Business Summit on June 21, of which NPR was the presenting sponsor. Continue Reading
Spotify hosting national RapCaviar concert series
Spotify is converting one of its popular playlists into a concert series dubbed RapCaviar Live. The streaming platform’s RapCaviar playlist has more than 7 million followers, and is the second-biggest global playlist on the service. Continue Reading
What’s old is new: Pandora resets strategy, pushing down on-demand
Pandora’s new interim CEO, Naveen Chopra, who moved into the temporary role from when ex-CEO and founder Time Westergren stepped down two days ago, is quickly in the spotlight. Chopra spoke at the 4th Annual Bernstein Future of Media Summit, and reconfigured Pandora’s strategic priorities. Continue Reading
Radio and streaming enjoy healthy reach in Australia
Radio is the top source of audio consumption for Australians, with 85% listening to either an AM/FM or a DAB+ station in an average week. That’s the update in Edison Research’s new report: The Infinite Dial Australia. Commercial Radio Australia, Southern Cross Austereo, and Triton Digital commissioned the investigation into the digital media consumption of Australians. Continue Reading
Anchor adds podcast distribution to Apple and Google
Audio app Anchor announced that it now offers distribution to podcast platforms. The burgeoning audio program lets people record short clips onto their phone. Those clips were confined only to the Anchor app, but now users can choose to publish their audio recordings to Apple Podcasts and Google Play Music. Continue Reading
Brand advertisers flock to ESPN podcast series
ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast series (announced in RAIN News in March) launched yesterday, and the company released a sponsor lineup that includes four national brands. The announcement is significant as the podcast economy is at an inflection point, attempting to evolve beyond its reliance on DRM (direct response marketing) advertisers, and draw money from the big marketing budgets of national branding campaigns. Continue Reading
Apple Music adds personalized chill tunes playlist
Personalized playlists are one of the big highlight features for streaming services, and the offerings frequently wind up overlapping. Apple Music has a new addition to its playlists called My Chill Mix. This list of 25 tracks will be updated weekly on Sundays. Continue Reading
TargetSpot enters programmatic deal with AppNexus
TargetSpot has announced a partnership with AppNexus, an independent advertising technology company for real-time sale of digital advertising. This arrangement will see AppNexus advertising partners able to programmatically buy targeted digital audio ads from TargetSpot’s inventory. Continue Reading
UK teens trend toward YouTube, social music, and free listening
UK teens are heavy music consumers on digital and streaming platforms. BPI and the ERA commissioned a study from MIDiA Research about the music habits of Generation Z, which includes millennials up to age 19. The report noted trends about their musical platforms of choice as well as other online behaviors. Continue Reading
Pandora shutting down in Australia, New Zealand
Along with the recent shifts to leadership, Pandora is planning to shut down its operations in Australia and New Zealand. Those two markets are the only ones where Pandora has expanded outside the United States. Operation in those regions will end over the coming few weeks. The shut-down is expected to impact about 1.2 million subscribers. Continue Reading
ABC Radio adds new show Motivated
ABC Radio announced a new podcast called Motivated. The program, hosted by ABC News Correspondent Mara Schiavocampo, will address health, wellness, nutrition and spirituality. New episodes will air weekly on Mondays. Continue Reading