Hungama, one of India’s home-grown streaming services, is looking to raise more than $100 million. The company is reportedly in negotiations with Intel Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners, both of which have been involved in previous Hungama investments. Continue Reading
Sponsored by AudioBoom
A six-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming audio.
THIS WEEK: Streaming surpasses CD sales in 2014 RIAA report; iTunes Radio goes to programmatic sales; Rdio’s new social features; Rhapsody plays on Twitter; BBC seeks to reinvent radio. Continue Reading
Broadcast attorney David Oxenford digs into the Songwriter Equity Act in this comprehensive analysis of proposed legislation. “This is perhaps one of those questions that can never be answered — which is more important, the song or the singer?” Continue Reading
Today’s brief news items are all about Apple: Beats Music royalty payouts; the future of car radios; UMG ready to settle musician lawsuit. Continue Reading
RAIN News founding editor Kurt Hanson traveled to Milan for Radiodays Europe 2015. This bulletin covers highlights of Tuesday’s sessions. Continue Reading
Starting today, Apple is making digital ad buying easier and more targeted for marketers in iTunes Radio, the company’s non-interactive online radio service. One of the first outside partners to offer iTunes Radio to buyers is AdsWizz. iTunes Radio inventory is now available on AdWave, the company’s global audio ad marketplace. Continue Reading
Deezer’s first foray into the U.S. was a much-discussed Elite plan that centered on an exclusive partnership with Sonos. As previously forecast, the Elite offering is now available in all of Deezer’s markets, but still only on Sonos speaker hardware.… Continue Reading
Microsoft introduced an integration between Xbox Music and OneDrive that will allow listeners to access their own music from the cloud. This updated cloud functionality gives Xbox Music the go-anywhere on-demand listening for entire libraries that it had previously lacked. Continue Reading
Aspiring DJs may have a new app to check out. Fradio was developed by Australian streaming service Guvera, and it also has support from celebrity DJs Steve Aoki, A-Trak, and Crookerill. With such an interesting premise and pedigree, and as a part-time DJ myself, I figured this was worth a look. Continue Reading
Double-digit growth in all forms of streaming buttressed the U.S. music industry against the continued slide in music purchases, holding the industry’s total value steady at 7-billion dollars. For the first time, streaming revenue surpassed CD revenue. Continue Reading
There are many ways to measure online audio campaigns — impressions and CPMs, return on investment, banner clicks, engagement. A RAIN Summit West panel discussion, featuring Heidi Browning from Pandora and other industry experts, will focus on best practices for measuring effectiveness. Continue Reading
Rdio announced several new features to its online listening platform at SXSW. Many of them are centered around interpersonal activity. First, the iOS version has revamped its sharing interface. Second, after someone has shared a song, the recipient can reply to the sender and have a conversation. The final new conversation feature better loops in social media for interacting with artists. Continue Reading