Kickstarter appears to be repositioning itself as more than a crowdfunding tool for music. It purchased Drip.fm, a niche service that was on the verge of shuttering, this spring. Kickstarter is expected to relaunch Drip as soon as this year, although it has not given a firm timeline. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Updates from Pandora’s in-house data journalist; salaries for radio presenters; CBC and advertising. Continue Reading
Listeners who are committed to streaming via Apple Music have a new option for getting a better price. Apple has made gift cards available at select retail locations that offer 12 months of access for $99. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Movies and podcasts and why they don’t work; yet another opinion on exclusive releases. Continue Reading
Smartphone apps now account for half of time spent on digital platforms in the U.S. The July 2016 data from comScore confirmed the trend of smartphone dominance, with the mobile devices securing 50% of digital time for the U.S. audience. Continue Reading
Vevo has entered a partnership with MediaWorks, an independent broadcaster in New Zealand. The tie-up “will allow us to reach more New Zealanders than ever before, and be the prime location for any advertiser looking to purchase premium digital content and connect to engaged audiences,” said Glen Kyne, acting chief commercial officer for MediaWorks. Continue Reading
Podcasting network Midroll Media announced two promotions among its leadership. Erik Diehn has been upped from VP of business development to CEO. Lex Friedman has also been promoted to CRO after serving as EVP of sales and development. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Blonde has made a million; exclusives top the sales charts; a piano that can do it all. Continue Reading
PodcastOne has added a new action sports and racing show to its programming. Jim Beaver’s Project Action will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the action sports world and will have interviews will top personalities from that field. Continue Reading
SoundCloud has hired a former Google executive to join its C-suite ranks. Holly Lim is joining the audio company as CFO, the first to hold that role for SoundCloud. Continue Reading
Nielsen is always a good source for snapshots of the latest consumer trends. The group’s latest release is an infographic of total audience figures for different media outlets in an average month. However, streaming audio is a notable absence from this infographic. Continue Reading
Midia Research founder Mark Mulligan explored the broader context of the quarterly financial reports for the three major labels. Each of the majors reported increased revenue from streaming, but those data points don’t tell the complete story about where the money really comes from. Continue Reading