Quick Hits: Pitchfork’s year in streaming; Spotify’s content plans
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: The year in streaming by Pitchfork; interview with Spotify’s head of content partnerships. Continue Reading
Rumor Fact(ory): Nielsen reportedly exploring Gracenote acquisition
Nielsen is reportedly in discussions to acquire Gracenote. Variety cited sources who said such a deal would be between $450 million and $500 million. The focus for Nielsen would most likely be Gracenote’s automatic content recognition technology. Continue Reading
Spotify reportedly testing on-demand elements in freemium
Spotify is reportedly testing a new feature that would, according to The Verge, introduce select on-demand features to its free tier. The feature is called Jump and it would let freemium listeners choose the songs they want to hear on select playlists. Currently, free-tier playlists work only in shuffle mode. Continue Reading
Voice of America governance change could threaten its independence
Political and genereal news sites are abuzz with the discovery of a small but crucial provision buried deep in the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act, which restructures governance of Voice of America, the U.S.’s official broadcast presence around the world. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio: AirShr closes; digital-first radio production; ABC closes shortwave; boom 97.3 does Christmas
by James Cridland
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Radio tagging tool AirShr closes; insights about digital-first radio; no more shortwave for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; Christmasification at Boom 97.3. Continue Reading
Apple Music releases first feature-film documentary
Apple has released a new documentary feature film exclusively on its streaming music platform. The movie is titled 808 and it traces the impact of Roland’s TR-808 drum machine on a range of musical genres and artists. The trailer is watermarked with the Beats 1 logo, making the project appear to be a branded production. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Music for older ears; Deezer angling for original talk shows
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: New site makes Spotify accessible for listeners over 50; Deezer planning to launch original talk shows. Continue Reading
The Download on Podcasts: The how-to-podcast movement is on the move
sponsored by PodcastOne
Podcast discovery — it’s a persistent challenge that affects listeners, creators, and distributors. The headline problem? An ocean of content and no easy way to dive deep. One of the best ways to make podcast content visible in general internet searching is to post transcripts. A new service tackles the audio search challenge. Continue Reading
Rumor Fact(ory): Spotify drops negotiations to buy SoundCloud
Spotify has been rumored as a buyer for SoundCloud for month, but it seems that the takeover is a no-go. At least for now. TechCrunch reports that it spoke to a source at Spotify who said the potential acquisition went cold last week. Continue Reading
YouTube and NMPA reach settlement for distributing unclaimed royalties
YouTube has reached an accord with the National Music Publishers Association about royalty payments for music with unknown ownership. The settlement potentially covers any unclaimed works that appeared between Aug. 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2015. Continue Reading
Podcast company Satchel adds Patreon integration
Podcast distributor Satchel announced a collaboration with crowd-funding site Patreon. Satchel’s premise is connecting podcasts with local listeners; it first appeared on our radar in February. Now, its podcast player can be embedded with a call to action button that takes listeners to a Patreon page. Continue Reading
SFX rebrands as LiveStyle; Beatport download store will thump on
The long-beleaguered SFX has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy rebranded as LiveStyle. The company is still a specialist in electronic music, but the revamped version appears to be doubling down on live events. Continue Reading