Microsoft keeping Xbox Music, giving it an update

Posted on by Anna Washenko

Xbox Music will be getting an update in a few weeks, according to tweets from a Microsoft exec. Joe Belfiore, vice president for Windows Phone program management and design, said on Twitter that the service would be getting an upgrade in performance, fixes, and new features shortly. The news will come as a relief to fans of the service, which seemed like it could be on the chopping block based on Microsoft’s plans to streamline its in-house music and video teams. Continue Reading →

YouTube Music exec leaves to join startup, could impact subscription service

Posted on by Anna Washenko

Christopher LaRosa, a product manager for YouTube Music, is leaving to join an unnamed startup. He spent about seven years at the Google subsidiary and was a key player in expanding the musical content available via YouTube. Some of his projects included getting YouTube data to count toward the Billboard 100 singles chart and the still in-development subscription music program. Continue Reading →

Amazon’s Prime Music expands catalog and curated playlists

Posted on by Brad Hill

Amazon’s Prime Music, which launched in June, has enhanced its service with “hundreds of thousands of songs,” and a big raft of new house-curated playlists. The service is pressing its strategy of providing easy lean-back listening to music mixes to Prime members, and de-emphasizing lean-forward music searching and collecting. We took the opportunity to give the service a second review, this time in an Amazon Kindle Fire HD tablet, presumably the, er, prime interface for the platform. Continue Reading →

Russell Simmons’ YouTube network All Def Digital gets its top exec

Posted on by Anna Washenko

Sanjay Sharma has joined All Def Digital as president and CEO. The YouTube channel, launched by Def Jam’s Russell Simmons, is a resource focused on hip-hop music, comedy, and spoken word artists. From behind-the-scenes videos with new MCs to talk shows with the latest celebrity gossip and news, the channel is positioning itself as a multimedia resource for fans and performers alike. Sharma joins the company after almost five years at Machinima, another multichannel network that produces videos and web shows centered on video games and gamer lifestyle. Continue Reading →

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SHOUTcast re-launches with Radionomy integration and improvements for station owners

Posted on by Brad Hill

Venerable Internet radio platform SHOUTcast, which was acquired from AOL by Radionomy early this year, is re-launching this week with enhancements that should benefit SHOUTcast station owners. The SHOUTcast brand, station directory, and back-end tie-ins with mobile apps all remain intact. The noteworthy changes are intended to provide station owners with a less expensive, more lucrative, and better informed experience. Continue Reading →

Marketron announces location-based advertising solution

Posted on by Brad Hill

Business software company Marketron today announced the addition of location-based advertising to its suite of monetization products. Location-based advertising addresses the dominant trend in digital listening, which is the migration of consumers to mobile environments. An eMarketer study this month concluded that mobile advertising will surpass traditional radio advertising revenue this year. Continue Reading →

iHeartRadio partners with AdsWizz to monetize streams

Posted on by Brad Hill

Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio is partnering with ad-tech provider AdsWizz to create “unique and integrated digital advertising capabilities,” it was announced this morning. The partnership will enhance ad insertion and targeting across a wide scope of brands and content — over 840 Clear Channel radio stations that stream live webcasts on the iHeart platform. Continue Reading →