RAIN Hotspots: Week of March 10 – 14
The five most-read articles last week: iHeartRadio’s news bulletin; Amazon’s possible music service; Mixcloud’s ambitions; Neil Young’s very successful bad idea; RAIN Poll results. Continue Reading
Digital dollars lead 2013 revenue growth for broadcast radio
The Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) today released a 2013 revenue report for broadcast radio. By a wide margin, digital revenue led other income segments in year-over-year comparisons. Overall revenues were flat in 2013, when examined through two lenses: full year-over-year, and Q4 2013 vs. Q4 2012. Digital is growing fast from a small percentage of total radio revenue — 5% in 2013. Continue Reading
Amazon reportedly inching toward a music service (SECOND UPDATE)
Amazon is reportedly negotiating with music labels about an Amazon-branded music service. According to Recode’s sources, the talks are not flying along because Amazon is asking for more favorable licensing terms than those negotiated by music-only services. Continue Reading
Rdio acquires Dhingana; will expand to India’s music market
In an interesting and opportunistic maneuver, U.S.-based music service Rdio has acquired teetering Indian streaming platform Dhingana. Dhingana will power Rdio’s India launch sometime this year. The Indian music business is estimated at $170-million, mostly comprised of Bollywood (or “filmi”) songs. Around the edges, Indipop, regional music, devotional songs, and infiltrations of Western pop are additional categories. Continue Reading
Streaming music chief says streaming music will never be a primary medium, then takes it back
The General Manager of Rhapsody-owned Napster Europe caused some raised eyebrows, confused head-scratching, and probably an internal memo or two, when he was quoted in an Inquirer interview saying that streaming platforms will always be mainly discovery tools for buying CDs. The remark clearly didn’t play well, so Schliesche went back to The Inquirer to revise the record. Continue Reading
Anthony Gherghetta: Why new media should not underestimate old-school radio principles
This guest column is from Anthony Gherghetta, Creative Director at The App Studio in Melbourne, Australia. “Broadcast radio is at a pivot point where it needs to slightly change direction or risk being left behind. In two or three years the ship will have sailed. Revolutions need revolutionaries and radio needs them now.” Continue Reading
Apple might (and should) make iTunes Radio a stand-alone app
Currently, iTunes Radio is packed into the default Music app, the icon for which which cannot be removed from the iPhone/iPod/iPad desktop. The iTunes Radio brand is not spelled out anywhere in the system. As a review point of the service and its accessibility, we think iTunes Radio should exist as a separate identity in iOS. Continue Reading
Pandora’s “brand equity” is soaring in Harris EquiTrend study
Nielsen-owned (as of February) Harris Interactive conducts an annual nationwide poll of U.S. consumers to determine what it calls “brand equity.” Harris has released the 2014 edition, and called out streaming services for their rapid gain in positive brand recognition over the last two years. Continue Reading
RAIN Poll results: Would you buy a data plan for your car?
In the wake of Audi’s announcement of its Internet-enabled 2015 A3 model car, with high-speed 4G LTE connectivity built in, we asked reader whether they would pay for a data plan for their cars. It was the most lopsided RAIN Poll yet. Continue Reading
The SXSW Experience: Interactive Weekend
M. Luke McDonell is a writer, artist, and photographer living in San Francisco. A veteran of South by Southwest, she is contributing airy contributions from the 2014 show. This SXSW report is from the first weekend of SXSW Interactive. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio mobile bulletin on NYC disaster: good digital idea, poor radio experience
Editor’s Notebook: Shortly before noon today, my Android phone pinged with an iHeartRadio notification of a deadly explosion and building collapse in New York. Good job. But the resulting radio experience was ruinous, putting radio’s commercial-load problem in bold relief. There might be a solution. Continue Reading
Neil Young’s PonoMusic goes against all trends, but is wildly successful on Kickstarter
PonoMusic fixes what Neil Young regards as a quality problem with existing music players. He has created a high-quality audio ecosystem (player + download store) that goes against at least three current rends in music consumption. Nevertheless, the PonoMusic Kickstarter campaign is a goal-smashing success. Continue Reading