RAIN Summit Europe, to be held in London on November 4, is the largest meetup of Internet radio and online audio professionals. It is a day-long event featuring panels and presentations, speeches and networking. The London conference marks the third annual European RAIN Summit. RAIN is pleased to announce the topic agenda for the event. Continue Reading
Tidal, the hi-fi streaming service from WiMP slated to arrive soon in the U.S. and UK, has a new head of marketing. Daniel Green assumes the top marketing job, joining Tidal after five years as director of digital strategy at Viacom International. In discussing the new appointment, Tidal CEO Andy Chen highlighted the company’s stance for offering a hi-fi service, noting that Green’s past experience covered the “consumer lifestyle” and “luxury” fields. Continue Reading
Bop.fm announced the addition of several music services to its agnostic listening platform. Pandora, Xbox Music, Rhapsody, and Napster are now a part of the program. Bop.fm allows its members to share songs across platforms, and to create playlists from music. This makes the Pandora relationship particularly interesting, since it’s a lean-back service. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: NYT on why CDs rule Japan; Dash Two on internet radio for advertising; GM narrowing focus for connected car apps. Continue Reading
Personal Audio won its patent infringement lawsuit against CBS. The company is commonly seen as a patent troll, holding intellectual property rights for what it claims is an essential part of podcasting. A jury in Marshall, Texas, supported Personal Audio’s claims and awarded it damages of $1.3 million. The company has outstanding patent suits against the FOX and NBC networks. Continue Reading
Podcast listening is a big deal — that’s the key message from Edison Research as it continues to divulge new aspects of its “Share of Ear” study, released to subscribers in June. Continue Reading
RAIN News founding editor Kurt Hanson delivered his semi-annual State of the Industry Address at RAIN Summit Indy last week. In addition to expected Star Trek references, and a disconcerting Star Wars mention, Hanson drew trendlines, isolated an important consumer demand across all media, targeted problems with certain industry products, and suggested solutions. Continue Reading
Pandora is working with car dealer Lexus to host a series of four free pop-up concerts in Southern California. According to Pandora’s press release, the streaming radio platform used its Big Data stores to determine the best artists to feature at each concert location. It will extend invitations to the Lexus Pop-Up Concert Series to Pandora listeners who enjoy the headlining musicians and similar artists. Continue Reading
In its most recent Local Commerce Monitor (LCM), an ongoing survey of advertising behaviors among small and local businesses (SMBs), BIA Kelsey found high ranking for ROI (return on investment) when advertising in streaming radio. More survey participants rated streaming radio highly for ROI than they did for over-the-air (OTA) radio. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Tim Cook talks Beats with Charlie Rose; infographic illustrates long history of music sharing; local Argentinian tax on foreign online subscription services; physical music sales up at CD Baby. Continue Reading
“Clear Channel announced today that it has become iHeartMedia, reflecting the company’s success in becoming a one-of-a-kind multi-platform media company with unparalleled reach and impact,” according to the press release. Darren Davis, President of iHeartMedia, remarked in an email, “iHeartMedia reflects the momentum of iHeartRadio and how consumers and advertisers engage seamlessly across our diverse live media platforms — broadcast radio, digital, mobile, social, TV, outdoor and events.” Continue Reading
Shazam’s Android app now has integrations with Google Play and Google Play Music All Access. The Android marketplace is now the featured resource for buying a track tagged in Shazam. Google’s on-demand music service joins Rdio, Spotify, and Deezer as ways to stream a song you’ve identified. The streaming networks are all visible by tapping the drop-down menu with the play button icon. Continue Reading