Deezer enters U.S. market with Elite streaming subscription

Posted on by Anna Washenko

Deezer has made significant inroads in the streaming ecosystem of Europe, but soon it will make its first landing in the U.S. The first service it will offer to American listeners is called Deezer Elite. For a monthly subscription of $19.99, listeners can stream lossless FLAC files. Initially, the plan will require listeners to use a Sonos speaker system to stream the tunes, although those people will get a discount on the monthly fee. Continue Reading →

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2014 RAIN Awards: Here are the winners

Posted on by RAIN News Staff

The 5th Annual RAIN Internet Radio Awards concluded yesterday at RAIN Summit Indy, when the final winners were announced by RAIN News founding editor Kurt Hanson and managing editor Brad Hill. The RAIN Awards honor excellence in five categories, covering pureplay streaming, broadcast webcasting, international excellence, digital strategy, and the best overall online radio service. Continue Reading →

Rdio’s international outlook in Canada and Brazil

Posted on by Anna Washenko

Two recent articles reviewed the international scope for Rdio. The service is available in 60 countries, but its top markets outside of the U.S. are Canada and Brazil. Mediacaster reviewed Rdio’s business activities in Canada, the service’s second-largest market. While smartphone use in third-largest market Brazil is on the rise, ZDNet cautioned that the country does struggle with the quality of its mobile Internet services. Continue Reading →

Social music service Serendip to close; a sign of things to come for other startups?

Posted on by Anna Washenko

Serendip announced that it will cease operations on Sept. 22. In an email to its members, the company said the costs of processing all the posts and serving up playlists on both web and mobile apps were more than the small team could handle. The Israel-based startup was designed to be a music service with a social angle. It pulled music recommendations from a person’s connections on Facebook and Twitter to create playlists. It also had a lean-back radio listening component. Continue Reading →

Feed.fm secures financing round for its unique B2B music licensing service

Posted on by Anna Washenko

Most of the top online radio and streaming services place their focus squarely on individual people as their listeners. Feed.fm is turning the idea of digital music into a B2B product with its “music as a service” offerings. VentureBeat reported that Feed.fm recently secured a $1.2 million round of financing that will go toward hiring new talent for the six-person team. Continue Reading →

SHOUTcast announces new products for stream monetization, TargetSpot integration

Posted on by Anna Washenko

After the announcement of its re-launch in July, SHOUTcast has unveiled three new products to complement its existing service. These options offer broadcasters simple approaches to generating revenue, building on the integration with TargetSpot and monetization options promised in the earlier news. Continue Reading →

Spotify to test optional ‘takeover’ video ads on its free tier

Posted on by Anna Washenko

Spotify is getting visual with its latest advertising approach. The streaming service said it will test a new approach on its free version that offers listeners 30 minutes of uninterrupted listening in exchange for watching a video ad. If listeners choose to skip the video, they’ll continue to hear their regular ad-supported tunes. Continue Reading →

IAB releases first digital audio ad standard: DAAST

Posted on by Brad Hill

The Interactive Advertising Bureau will release the first standard template for digital audio advertisements today, called the “Digital Audio Ad Service Template” (DAAST). The breakthrough standard was developed by an industry coalition organized by the IAB (the IAB Digital Audio Ad Serving Template Working Group).

The purpose of DAAST is to promote a technical ecosystem in which advertisers, publishers, agencies, and consumer playback devices are aligned to coherently deliver and track streamed audio advertising.

RAIN spoke to Scott Cunningham of the IAB, and Benjamin Masse, co-chair of the Working Group and SVP of Triton Digital. Continue Reading →