As 2016 crawls to a close and 2017 emerges on the horizon, it’s time for that most time-honored of traditions: the year in review. Music companies of all stripes have released their assessments of top performers from the past twelve months. Here’s a collection of the high points from 2016. Continue Reading
The velocity of change in podcasting this year has been non-stop. All of those events are significant and clearly illustrate the momentum in podcasting, but the year appears to be closing with potentially the biggest announcement of all. Facebook is rolling out “Live Audio.” Continue Reading
Google is creating a podcast series for agencies in its Partner program. The shows will educate Partner participants in skills related to digital advertising, business, agency life, and Google products. Continue Reading
Mood Media has entered a partnership with Denon Electronics to make its Mood Mix available on the HEOS wireless multi-room sound system. This means that Mood Media’s commercially licensed streaming music service can be used more easily by businesses that own HEOS systems. Mood Mix is specifically designed for use as a soundtrack in retail environments. Continue Reading
One year ago this column complained about Facebook’s lack of native audio — a feature for users to post an audio file directly to Facebook, rather than linking out to it. Facebook’s slight has been the world’s biggest example of how audio takes a back seat to video. This week, Facebook abruptly turned its face toward the light (well, the sound). Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: NPR boss talks podcasts and radio; digging in with Deezer; all about Apple Music. Continue Reading
Facebook has posted job openings centered on sound design, indicating that the social media company may have designs for more original music creation. The latest posting is for an in-house music composer, a role that requires at least 10 years of professional experience in the industry. Continue Reading
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its annual report of ‘notorious markets,’ a listing of the areas posing the greatest risk to American creative industries. The report specifically details the recent trend of stream ripping as an issue focus. Continue Reading
PRX announced the first round of participants in its Project Catapult training. This program, first announced in September, is designed to give podcast training to public media radio stations. Continue Reading
A new study from survey company Morning Consult, best known for its political opinion work, concentrates on audio platform preferences of American adults. The study questioned 2,000 respondents about their use of Spotify, Pandora, AM/FM, purchased music (CDs, downloads) iHeartRadio, Amazon Prime, Tidal, Apple Music, and Google Play. Continue Reading
Facebook has finally launched a native format for posting audio-only stories to its social media network. It’s a long-awaited move for the audio industry, but there are still some questions and limitations about this service. Continue Reading
Amazon may be the newest player elbowing into the subscription streaming music business, but it’s closing the year with a blockbuster announcement: Garth Brooks is bringing his entire catalog exclusively to the platform. The country music star, a long-time digital hold-out, will put 16 albums onto Amazon Music beginning Dec. 24 at midnight Eastern time. Continue Reading