Never a dull moment with music service Tidal, and companies associated with it. Rumors are afloat that tech giant Samsung might acquire the Jay Z-owned music service. The rumors are loud enough to draw a denial from Samsung. At the same time, new rumors say that Samsung-owned Milk Music might be discontinued, leaving a hole in Samsung’s consumer ecosystem. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Is Podcasting radio’s golden age? Mark Mulligan’s interesting viewpoint on the BBC Music App. New book: Radio 2.0 Continue Reading
A platform called Songtradr comes out of beta today, hoping to create a market that is both friendly and accessible to creators, and productive for producers searching for perfect project music. RAIN News spoke with Founder & CEO Paul Wiltshire. Continue Reading
Meerkat, the app which spearheaded into live video, is giving up its product model and shifting onto a new (as yet undisclosed) course, ceding competitive ground to Periscope and Facebook Live. In so doing, Meerkat illustrates the perils of sustaining an… Continue Reading
The Guardian announced that it will be hosting a show on Apple’s Beats 1 radio project. Dubbed Breaking Good, the show will see the UK publication hosting music leaders sharing their favorite recent tracks. The Guardian will air four episodes of Breaking Good over the course of March. Continue Reading
The Radio Advertising Bureau released its 2015 results, revealing digital revenue surpassing $1 billion for the first time. Digital revenue rose 5% from $973 million to nearly $1.02 billion over the course of last year. “More and more advertisers are extending the unmatched reach of broadcast radio by taking advantage of radio’s off-air and digital options,” RAB President and CEO Erica Farber said of the results. Continue Reading
Sony Music has announced two developments related to the digital music space. First, its Swedish office has created an app for streaming royalty management. Second, it is also currently seeking to hire a director of global playlisting strategy. Continue Reading
After the announcement of Revolver Podcasts’ launch last month, the Hispanic-focused audio network has already expanded its programming. The new shows will cover lifestyle and politics topics. Continue Reading
Amazon has created a new Echo product that’s smaller, cheaper, and designed to amp up your music options. The Amazon Echo Dot has the same type of features as the company’s original voice assistant: control smart devices, check the weather, fetch information, and play music. But it’s intended to make the music component sound a little better than the first Echo. Continue Reading
Spotify has added a former top VH1 exec to its top leadership. Tom Calderone, whose past posts included president of VH1, is now the streaming platform’s global head of content partnerships. Continue Reading
First Episode is a Friday podcast discovery feature spotlighting new and almost-new shows. In this edition, a new program from WTOP, deep interviews by Kevin Rose, and a couple of TV lovers talk with actors. It’s Friday. Get listening. Continue Reading
Facebook has added a Spotify tie-in to its Messenger app. It’s the first music platform to work with the social network’s messaging program. The updated version began rolling out to both iOS and Android this week. Continue Reading