If 2013 was the year when labels released their star albums on Internet radio, 2014 is starting by reversing that trend. Clear Channel announced that Bruce Springsteen’s new album, “High Hopes,” will launch today with a one-hour radio documentary/preview. Continue Reading
British rock band Oasis has yielded to time and trend, adding its 10 albums (representing over 70-million album sales) to Spotify, Rhapsody, Deezer, and Rdio. As usual with announcements like this, but rarely mentioned, YouTube already carries Oasis extensively, with full albums, live performances, official videos, and the band’s own YouTube channel. Continue Reading
Shazam and SoundHound identify songs on the radio for hundreds of millions of users. Both apps make it easy to turn the song into a starting point in Rdio, Spotify, and other online services. Shouldn’t there be a way radio can participate in the song-identification gateway? We have an idea. Continue Reading
Why has AM/FM lost 30 percent of its key listening metrics since 2008? Founding editor Kurt Hanson reflects on history, harkens back to the day when he ran a leading ratings company, and disputes a theory. HINT: it’s not about the Portable People Meter. Continue Reading
RAIN Summit NYC (“Pureplays and Podcasts”) has finalized a slate of panel topics targeting the content and business sides of online audio. Today is the final day of early-bird pricing, offering the afternoon-plus-cocktails event for only $49. Continue Reading
It’s official: Beats Music will open for subscription on January 21. It is clear from initial marketing, screenshots, and the long announcement from CEO Ian Rogers that Beats will focus on personalization and hand-crafted listening stations. If that doesn’t work, Beats has two more cards in its pocket. Click for the RAIN Preview. Continue Reading
It is perhaps no surprise that when Inside Radio surveys its readers, 82 percent of whom are radio veterans with at least 15 years in the business, the results are going to be pretty darn pro-radio. Still, the most eyebrow-raising point of the magazine’s year-end reader survey for 2013 might be filed in the Denial folder. Continue Reading
Weekend Perspective is a quick and concise summary of the week’s high points in Internet radio and online audio. It was an eventful week! Catch up fast, refresh your neurons, and prepare your thoughts for the coming week. Continue Reading
The five most-read articles this week. Pandora’s astounding valuation; a unique new advertising partnership; a guest column by Jennifer Lane; a new music service is like Pinterest for music; Nielsen reports sharp growth of streaming music in 2013. Continue Reading
Why has AM/FM lost 30 percent of its key listening metrics since 2008? Founding editor Kurt Hanson reflects on history, harkens back to the day when he ran a leading ratings company, and disputes a theory. HINT: it’s not about the Portable People Meter. Continue Reading
Rob Greenlee has been working with podcasts since 1999, is currently content manager for podcasts for Windows Phone, the latest role in a long series of positions with Microsoft. He is co-host of The New Media Show, a video podcast about the business of podcasting. We spoke with Rob Greenlee about The New Media Show, and the business of podcasting generally. Continue Reading
NextRadio would be in every car if Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan had his wish. Speaking in yesterday’s earnings call to investors, scheduled during CES week when connected cars were the focus in Vegas, Smulyan and CFO Patrick Walsh focused on NextRadio quite a bit. Does iHeartRadio compete with NextRadio? Continue Reading