Dave Grimaldi, currently Director of Public Affairs at Pandora, has been appointed Executive Vice President of Public Policy for the IAB, and head of that organization’s Washington, D.C. office. Grimaldi joined Pandora in April, 2014, and was on board through Pandora’s participation in the “Webcaster IV” process which ends this month. Continue Reading
T-Mobile is continuing its shake-up of mobile music, adding 11 more streaming services to its Music Freedom plan. That means more places where T-Mobile customers can jam out to tunes without it counting against their high-speed data plans. Continue Reading
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Two recent innovations, from Pandora and Live365, indicate that podcasting is entering the realm of lean-back Internet radio. If it becomes a trend, podcasts could be woven more tightly into the streaming audio ecosystem. Continue Reading
Swedish-based podcast company Acast today announced the hiring of Sarah van Mosel as Chief Commercial Officer. Mosel, who departs her position as VP of Sponsorships at WNYC, will work in Acast’s New York office. It is not the first time Acast has recruited from WNYC Continue Reading
Kevin Brown has been appointed chairman at the Official Charts Company. He will be replacing BMG UK SVP Korda Marshall, who held the chair spot for three years, starting January 2016. Continue Reading
App Annie has released a report on the top mobile music apps for the third quarter of 2015. Spotify topped the charts for worldwide active users, revenue, and downloads on both iOS and Android platforms. Several of the combined charts showed a heavy international bent, featuring apps based in South Korea and India rising through the ranks to land in the top 10. Continue Reading
New research by Bain & Company determined that native digital media has reached a critical mass, and give some insights into how companies in entertainment, publishing, and services could begin to adapt. “Entertainment has passed a point of no return in its transition to native digital,” the report said. It pointed to five key points that businesses would need to address in order to see the most success and shared insightful data points to support this fast-moving trend. Continue Reading
The end-of-the-year roundups continue apace, this time with Adweek’s Hot List detailing the top 24 digital brands, startups, and games from 2015. The list included nods for the ‘hottest music app,’ and if you can remember back to last year’s choices, you’ll be seeing very familiar names. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: PRS subject to anti-competition review; BBC’s Sound of 2016; Nepal’s community radio after the earthquake; dissecting Rdio vs Spotify. Continue Reading
The results are in! Sound like election night? In a sense, the release of Adele’s new album, 25, served as a referendum in many people’s minds. The issues? Magnitude of stardom, and distribution strategy. Some numbers, a bit of conjecture, and a conclusion. Continue Reading
James Cridland Weekly Links is a column by the U.K.’s radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Positive responses to the European Broadcasting Union’s WRC-15 decision; digital radio uptake data for Australia and the UK; several reads on the BBC; much more. Continue Reading
Australia is seeing an increase in digital radio audience. Among the major capital cities, 40% of Australians have access to DAB+ digital radio either at home, at work, or in cars. That means an audience of 3.2 million in those metropolitan areas. Continue Reading