Re-imagining the Music Business
by Vickie Nauman
Guest columnist Vickie Nauman is Principal and Owner of CrossBorderWorks Consulting & Advising, and was U.S. President of 7digital for two years. Continue Reading
New Rihanna album explores distribution options (despite Tidal errors)
Considering the rhetoric at Tidal is all about artist control and empowerment, the platform has done a highly questionable job of living up to that hype when it comes to distribution. Rihanna is again the subject of Tidal’s poor management with her new album, but she still has some innovative ideas about what a contemporary album release can be. Continue Reading
Webcast listening surges in December, and in 2015 (Triton Digital Webcast Metrics)
Webcast listening in December stepped upward by 4% compared to November, and notched a 16% rise in 2015, according to Triton Digital’s monthly Webcast Metrics Top 20 Ranker, released this morning. Click through for historical charts. Continue Reading
Rumor Fact(ory): Spotify seeks to raise $500-million
The latest rumor about Spotify says that the streaming platform is looking for even more fundraising. An unnamed source is credited with the information that Spotify is looking to raise more than $500 million. Continue Reading
Apple Q1 earnings show iPhones steady while services rise
Apple released its first-quarter financial data, and the results revealed the tech company barely tipping into record-breaking territory. Overall revenue totaled $75.9 billion, up from $74.6 billion in the year-ago period. Continue Reading
New NBA podcast at DGital hosted by current Clippers guard J.J. Redick
DGital Media hit a new milestone in its programming with the launch of a weekly podcast hosted by J.J. Redick. Redick is the first and (so far) only current NBA player with his own podcast. The starter for the L.A. Clippers will discuss basketball as well as his life in Los Angeles. Continue Reading
Prime Music rolls out radio, lyrics in UK
Amazon’s Prime Music service has added more features for its UK listeners. The platform now offers hundreds of radio stations in that market, along with a song lyrics display from X-Ray Lyrics for tens of thousands of tracks. Continue Reading
CÜR Music licenses major label libraries for new streaming subscription model
CÜR Music has been gathering resources to launch a new approach to the streaming music business. According to SEC filings, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group have all licensed songs to the new platform in exchange for equity. Continue Reading
Radio programmatic at scale in 2016: A conversation with Jelli CEO Mike Dougherty
Programmatic radio advertising company Jelli released a press notice which summarizes the gains of programmatic advertising for radio in 2015. It sets the stage for a 2016 agenda of increased programmatic buying of radio ads. We spoke to Jelli CEO Mike Dougherty about buyer demand for programmatic ad campaigns. Continue Reading
Rivet Radio pivots toward B2B audio on-demand; conversation with CEO John MacLeod
Entering 2016, Chicago-based Rivet Radio is shifting to focus on serving business customers, putting its consumer-focused enterprise on the back burner for the time being. We spoke to Rivet CEO John MacLeod about Rivet’s mission to build data-smart on-demand talk content in its cloud-based system. Continue Reading
Spotify amps up hiring efforts in Japan
Spotify has been building momentum for a push into Japan, and the increasing number of job postings for the nation may indicate that the company is nearing a launch date. The streaming company currently lists 12 open jobs for its office in Tokyo. Continue Reading
Bridge Ratings data examines podcasting audience for 2016
Bridge Ratings released data about the podcasting trend, sharing audience data so far for 2016. According to their findings, 30% of study participants have ever listened to a podcast. Continue Reading