Quick Hits: Thoughts from Sonos’ CEO; results from NPR’s audio quality tests
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Sonos CEO on streaming’s impact and NPR listeners get an F on their audio quality test. Continue Reading
Nielsen finds Canadians are streaming more, but may only want to spend $6 for it
Nielsen has released a Music 360 report focused on the Canadian market. The report found that time spent listening to music in Canada has risen 20% since 2013. Nielsen also found that streaming volume has increased 94% since it began tracking that metric for Canada in July 2014. Another interesting data point from that research was an assessment of how much the respondents would be willing to pay for streaming services. Continue Reading
Webcast listening reaches new high ground in April: Triton Webcast Metrics
Webcast listening rose 1% month-over-month in April, and 39% year-over-year, according to the Webcast Metrics Top 20 Ranker just released by Triton Digital. Click through for historical trend charts. Continue Reading
TargetSpot launches international programmatic monetization platform for audio publishers
TargetSpot has introduced an international programmatic monetization platform called TS BlueBox. The DAAST-compliant service is designed to help create revenue for digital audio publishers with a single integrated solution. It currently includes the U.S., the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, and Belgium, although more countries will be added later in 2015. Continue Reading
The media reacts to the Apple Music debut
Yesterday, the world got its first official look at Apple Music, the newest player to join the streaming music field. To call it a highly-anticipated debut would be an understatement. As befits such a big announcement, the media has come forth with an intriguing mix of thoughts and opinions about what Apple is and isn’t bringing to the table. Here’s a selection of what people are saying about Apple Music. Continue Reading
BBC continues with DAB expansion plans
The BBC announced that it has expanded its DAB coverage. Over the past two months, the broadcaster has added 11 sites to its list of supported stations. Its end goal is to cover 97% of the population by the end of 2015. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Weekly Links: BBC, Radioplayer, U.S. public radio, and much more.
by James Cridland
James Cridland Weekly Links is a column by the U.K.’s radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: James sends his bulletin from Cologne, featuring news from the BBC, Radioplayer, and U.S. public radio. Continue Reading
Apple Music gets a debut at last, but with few surprises
After a long build-up and a vast amount of speculation, Apple has finally announced Apple Music, its overhauled music offerings. Cook dubbed the new service “the next chapter in music,” and presented it as a single resource for listeners’ various musical needs. Most of the features and news shared by Tim Cook and his colleagues fell in line with the previously reported rumors on what it would look like. However, the team did clarify two of the key questions that had circled around Apple Music’s launch: a date and a price point. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio rolls out native TiVo apps
iHeartRadio announced that it is making further inroads into living room listening with the launch of an app on TiVo. The app is available on the TiVo Roamio, TiVo Mini and the line of TiVo Premiere devices following the latest software update on that hardware. Continue Reading
Kobalt introduces new global digital music collection society
Kobalt, a London-based music company offering label, publishing, and rights services, has launched a new digital rights collection society. The new society is called the American Music Rights Association, and is based on a U.S. collection agency that Kobalt purchased last year. It will offer both mechanical and performing rights services at a global scale. Continue Reading
Missives from Midem: Streaming is a hot topic for the industry conference
This weekend, some of the music industry’s biggest names gathered in Cannes for the Midem conference. Many of the talks and interviews this year addressed the business of streaming. Here are some highlights from leaders at Sony Music, SoundCloud, YouTube, Believe Digital, and Tidal. Continue Reading
Emmis launches subscription streaming app for hip hop fans
Emmis Communications announced the launch of its second mobile app for music streaming. The app is named Where Hip Hop Lives, and it’s available for iOS. The free version of the app is ad-supported, but it does have a subscription component as well. Continue Reading