Podcasting company Gimlet Media has raised $15 million in a new financing round. Stripes Group led the financial support for the business, which may now be valued at as much as $70 million. Continue Reading
The arbitration between the Radio Music License Committee and SESAC has yielded a new, lower licensing rate for participating stations. For the license period between Jan. 1, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2018, RMLC-Represented Stations will see a 60% discount applied to its SESAC license rate card. Continue Reading
Spotify has made several developments this week aimed at expanding its footprint for podcasts. First, Bloomberg reports that Spotify will promote podcasts in its mobile app and in advertisements in exchange for positive buzz from show hosts. Second is a distribution deal with Australia’s Omny Studio. Continue Reading
A month after Pandora turned a corner with a new CEO, new board members, and new minority owner, the company released Q2 earnings. During the webcast investor call interim Chief Executive Naveen Chopra went through the basic financial metrics and took questions from investors. Click through for key points in the Q&A. Continue Reading
Amazon is hiring for hundreds of positions in Australia, with a heavy focus on the music department. This has sparked speculation that the tech giant will be launching its Amazon Music streaming platform in that market in the coming months. Continue Reading
Pandora has posted its financial results for Q2 2017. The audio company’s performance over the three month period showed growth in several important metrics, although its sale of Ticketfly did have an impact. Continue Reading
Spotify has reportedly reached a new subscriber milestone. Sources familiar with the streaming company told the Financial Times that it now has 60 million paying listeners. The milestone would mean that Spotify added 10 million subscribers since March. Continue Reading
GfK MRI conducted a study that explored the popularity and audience trends of podcasting. The Survey of the American Consumer determined that about 8.6% of U.S. adults, or about 21 million people, either downloaded or listened to a podcast in the past 30 days. That rate rose from 7% in last year’s survey. Continue Reading
Bloomberg has reported that SoundCloud may be nearing deal with private equity firms. If the news is accurate, this development could mark a turning point in the audio company’s financial health after a year of job cuts and high-profile exits. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: New speakers announced for the Next Radio conference. RAB podcasts about radio. Denmark’s progress toward an FM switchoff. Continue Reading
A new company has joined the ranks of podcast networks. Podglomerate offers production, distribution, promotion, and monetization services for podcasts. Jeff Umbro, who hosts the Writers Who Don’t Write podcast, is the owner of Podglomerate. Continue Reading
Apple’s mobile devices have been keystones of its product family for much of its present-day business. In 2017, we are seeing the shifts in where Apple is putting its resources and what it views as trends for music, where the company has long worked to position itself as a leader. First, this year marked the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone. Second, Apple has discontinued both the iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle. Continue Reading