Tomorrow is the big launch of Apple Music. The tech company has been dominating the news with minor updates and announcements about its subscription streaming service over the past few days, so here’s a roundup of what listeners should know before the new platform’s debut, from exclusives to celebrity involvement to the technical details. Continue Reading
James Cridland Weekly Links is a column by the U.K.’s radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: James begins with a couple of his articles, then moves on to the international roundup. Lots of anticipation of Apple Music, which launches on Tuesday, and some reaction to Google’s ad-free Internet radio. Continue Reading
What is audience retargeting? Guest columnist Megan Malone explains how it works, and how retargeting can yield digital revenue for radio stations. Continue Reading
Rivet Radio announced that one of its original productions has garnered an Edward R. Murrow Award for “Best Use of Original Sound by a Small Online News Organization,” Rivet’s third Murrow bestowal. Continue Reading
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The weekly update of the streaming audio industry, from RAIN News. THIS WEEK: Spotify doubles down on data; radio’s generational shift; Obama goes on a podcast; Asheville radio station goes non-commercial for one month. Continue Reading
Sirius XM has agreed to pay $210 million to settle a lawsuit centered on royalties for recordings made before 1972. The settlement covers about 80% of oldies played by Sirius, and allows the satellite radio company to play those labels’ old recordings through the end of 2017. Continue Reading
Sweden has revised its plans for a transition to digital radio. Minister for Culture and Democracy Alice Bah Kuhnke said that there isn’t enough support at this time to justify the complete transition. She said the government would follow the international adoption of the technology and see if a future transition would be viable. Continue Reading
Indie licensing agency Merlin conducted a survey of its members and found that digital service revenue increased in 2014 for nearly three-quarters of its respondents. Digital revenue now accounts for more than half of overall income for more than half of Merlin’s members. The survey pointed to streaming and subscriptions as key factors in the growing digital revenue. Continue Reading
TuneIn announced that it is launching a native app for the Xbox One game console. The app syncs with other devices that run TuneIn’s software and allows for the home screen of the console to become personalized based on what you listen to. TuneIn also takes advantage of the Xbox One’s Snap feature, which lets two programs run side-by-side on the screen. Continue Reading
In a webcast presentation yesterday, Edison Research revealed all the podcast-related survey data from The Infinite Dial 2015. The result is a more comprehensive view of who is listening to podcasts, in what numbers, and the audience attributes. Continue Reading
Asheville radio listeners got a new station last week that plays 80’s music — and they’ll get a kick-off month-long stream of music uninterrupted by commercials — that is a commercial-free 10,000-song stream. Continue Reading
Spotify has acquired Seed Scientific, adding to its cadre of big data capabilities. Under the new ownership, Seed Scientific will focus on analyzing the interactions artists, listeners, and brands have with the streaming platform. It will be the basis of a new Advanced Analytics division at Spotify, led by Seed’s founder and CEO Adam Bly. Continue Reading