In last Wednesday’s Spotify media event, the most important announcement was the launch of an expanded free service on smartphones. “Shuffle” was the buzzword of the day for Spotify. The next day, without fanfare, Google updated its Google Play music service for Android… Continue Reading
The five most-read article this week. Pandora VP speaks out; Spotify’s big announcement; the state of HD Radio; YouTube has more Led Zeppelin than Spotify; TuneIn’s year-end review.
Internet radio and streaming audio have inched toward mainstream use, but still lag other media consumption types. A new study from MIDiA Consulting (Media Insights & Decisions in Action) seeks to discover why — while profiling digital music users generally. Continue Reading
Two interesting Friday reads. David Lowery holds forth in Salon about the problem with compulsory music licenses in streaming music. He wants the U.S. government out of the rate-setting business. And, give the gift of streaming! Continue Reading
TuneIn, a leading stream aggregation platform, is promoting a 2013 wrap-up of popular and influential programs. The compilation comes from an analysis of year-end listener data, and shows of some fascinating broadcast and podcast material. Continue Reading
An unofficial revenue report reveals YouTube as a financial giant. On the content side, YouTube is winning the streaming-music war before launching its rumored music service. Led Zeppelin signed an “exclusive” streaming deal with Spotify, but already has a much larger presence on YouTube. Continue Reading
Spotify isn’t the only service expanding internationally this week. Rdio is keeping pace, adding 22 countries for a total of 51 national markets. After recent layoffs, Rdio promised to scale its business. It just did. Continue Reading
Pandora is not shy about its invasive business plan. Brian McAndrews has repeated that Pandora’s goal is to “disrupt” radio. This week at the JP Morgan Small/Mid Cap Conference, VP of Investor Relations Dominic Paschel sounded more imperialistic: “When you… Continue Reading
At yesterday’s Spotify media event, founder Daniel Ek referenced radio frequently, and not uncritically. Spotify’s new free-mobile feature targets the ease of radio, plus the personalization of the Internet age. In use, it resembles Pandora. Does Spotify have a new identity? Continue Reading
Kurt Hanson compares the Uber car pickup service to Internet and satellite radio — insofar as they improve traditional feature sets and evolve expectations of quality. Then comes the challenge to radio station owners. Continue Reading
Kurt Hanson compares the Uber car pickup service to Internet and satellite radio — insofar as they improve traditional feature sets and evolve expectations of quality. Then comes the challenge to radio station owners. Continue Reading
“Let’s get to today’s announcements,” said founder Daniel Ek after a quick intro at the Spotify Event in New York today. There were three main headlines, each one certain to make some people happy. It’s about mobile, international, and getting the Led out. Continue Reading