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A six-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming audio.
THIS WEEK: Streaming is bigger than AM/FM for teens; does streaming break hit songs?; Shazam is a billion-dollar company; Apple acquires a music data startup; Rdio expands again, reached 84 countries; Saavn music service hits audience milestone; Streamus makes YouTube Music easy Continue Reading
We’re used to sitting down at our computers to skim the news, or maybe even going old-school with a physical copy of the paper. Umano aims to give an audio angle to that experience. The company supplies narrations of written web content. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Billboard on global digital music projections; Spotify adds touch and swipe controls on mobile. Continue Reading
Bridge Ratings posted a new study which questioned listeners about the overlap of music they stream, and music they hear on the radio. The results portray the two mediums to be complementary in interesting ways. We spoke to Bridge Ratings President Dave Van Dyke. Continue Reading
Tidal has rolled out in five new European markets. The hi-fi streaming service is now available in Ireland, Finland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The service promises a library of more than 25 million tracks at lossless, CD quality. Listeners in the new markets will pay the same subscription price of $19.99 per month for access. Continue Reading
Indian streaming service Saavn released audience data, revealing that it has 11 million monthly active users. According to CEO and co-founder Rishi Malhotra, Saavn had 30 million people use the service in 2014. Continue Reading
Following its big launch in India, Rdio announced a push into 24 new countries in the Caribbean, Central American, and Asia Pacific region. The new markets bring the total number of countries with Rdio availability to 85. Continue Reading
When a reader and pureplay station operator sent us a government notice of SoundExchange’s intent to audit the streaming royalty payments made by Live365, iHeartMedia, and CBS Radio for 2011, 2012, and 2013, we turned to broadcast law attorney David Oxenford (author of the deeply informative Broadcast Law Blog) to find out how significant the action is. Continue Reading
A Google Chrome browser extension called Streamus is lit up with buzz after the developer posted a promotional status report on Reddit. Streamuis makes YouTube music navigation easier and more lightweight. At the same time, the extension separates the user from YouTube, and provides some of the value that YouTube’s new Music Key subscription service promotes. Continue Reading
As YouTube has risen to prominence as a music discovery tool, more businesses are looking to get involved with finding and developing its vast talent pool. One of those businesses is PopShack, a multi-channel network that aims to support the best up-and-coming pop performers. PopShack continues to grow with the addition of former Warner Music exec Conrad Withey as its CEO. Continue Reading
Apple seems to have made another musical purchase, this one with a focus on data. According to MusicAlly, UK media data startup Semetric changed its registered address to the same one as Apple Europe. The company also appears to have appointed Apple’s vice president of corporate law as a director in October. Financial details have not been formally disclosed, but the deal has been pegged at about $50 million. Continue Reading
Shazam is now valued at more than $1 billion, thanks to a recent $30 million investment in the audio-identification app. The new funding will go toward increased service capabilities and new market sectors for the service, which has more than 100 million monthly active mobile users. Shazam has received more than $100 million in venture capital funding since 2009. Continue Reading