Apple has finally issued official numbers, with the announcement that Apple Music has 11 million trial members. Eddy Cue, the tech company’s senior vice president, spoke to USA Today about the streaming service’s performance so far. RAIN News’ Brad Hill and Anna Washenko each weigh in on whether 11 million is enough. Continue Reading
On the Move tracks hires, promotions, and other notable personnel changes in the audio industry. Spotify’s content officer exits, while Isolation/INgrooves announce a new CEO. Continue Reading
Universal Music Group has hired Jay Frank to serve as its senior vice president of global streaming marketing. In this role, he will be tasked with using data to maximize performance on streaming platforms for UMG’s artists, in addition to analyzing the effectiveness of UMG’s streaming marketing campaigns. He’ll also be responsible for curating and managing the company’s global playlists and coordinating playlist strategy for all Universal labels. Continue Reading
The Download on Podcasts is a weekly feature sponsored by PodcastOne.
In the space of two weeks, Midroll Media was wholly acquired by the venerable media company E.W. Scripps, and PodcastOne (sponsor of this weekly column) was partially acquired by Hubbard Radio, which bought into a 30% equity stake and collaborative partnership. Personalization is the hinge between radio and podcasting.
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ROK Mobile announced a UK launch of its music streaming bundle. The company offers unlimited calls and texts and 4GB of data on top of a custom streaming platform. The service will cost £24.99 a month, or about $39. Continue Reading
One of the biggest highlights of the new Apple Music streaming platform is certainly the ambitious Beats 1 radio project. But the latest industry rumors hint that Beats 1 may not stand alone forever. According to The Verge, inside sources have revealed that Apple’s contracts with labels allow the tech giant to launch up to five additional stations without renegotiating. That means that we could very likely see (and hear) a Beats 2 through Beats 6 joining the broadcast offerings. Continue Reading
SoundExchange announced that it has surpassed $3 billion in digital royalties paid to recording artists and labels since 2003. Last year, the organization issued payments of $773 million, representing about 16% of total revenue from the entire U.S. recorded music industry. Continue Reading
Guest columnist Steve Goldstein left Saga Communications in March to start on-demand audio company Amplifi Media. In this article, he reports on the charged energy at the recent Podcast Movement conference where he spoke … and notes a striking absence of broadcasters. Continue Reading
As Pandora approaches its 10-year anniversary, the online radio company is launching a new campaign for brand awareness that loops in a surprising media source: TV. The new video ad is already out online, but it will move to broadcast television in the fall. Continue Reading
Webcast listening in June remained nearly flat from May’s numbers, according to Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics Top 20 Ranker, released today. The aggregate of Triton’s top 20 measured clients moved less than one percentage point downward month-over-month. Strong mobile and year-over-year performance. Continue Reading
The Netherlands government announced that it will issue 34 DAB+ licenses for regional radio stations. The nation’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said that only commercial stations that already have a legal permit for DAB+ would be allowed to sign up for consideration. Continue Reading
Apple Music has entered into a deal with an Australian telecom company to offer a 12-month free trial of the streaming service as part of a mobile bundle. Apple Music has also signed with AMRA, the digital collections society owned by Kobalt. There are also rumors of Beats 1 producing more video content. Continue Reading