Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:
The most-covered Christmas songs: Five Thirty Eight, the website led by statistics mastermind Nate Silver, published an analysis of the most-covered Christmas songs from Spotify’s library. For those Grinches who are already sick of holiday music around every turn, it’s proof that maybe we have enough renditions of “Silent Night.” For the happy elves who are enjoying Christmas movies, there’s also a list of the top tunes from holiday movie soundtracks.
Where are Spotify’s Shows? At a big press event in May, Spotify announced plans to incorporate both podcasts and video content into its audio streaming platform. In August, a community representative said that those features would be rolling out “in the coming weeks,” but we still haven’t seen a full launch for them. Some users, including us here at RAIN News, are starting to question when we’ll be seeing the updates. International Business Times covered how the slow process might be impacting Spotify.
Vox talks podcasting: We see lots of think-pieces about the role of podcasts and where the audio format is going. In case you want a refresher, Vox has published a roundup of podcasting’s recent rise in popularity. As always, the site offers good insights and a look at the bigger trends in business and technology that support podcasts.
A new feel for classic rock radio: Most listeners have a mental image of big hair and leather jackets when it comes to ‘classic rock radio.’ Billboard examined whether the vibe of this stalwart of the airwaves might change, and how, as the songs on the rotation shift to other decades.
The brain drain at the BBC: Yesterday’s news about George Ergatoudis’ departure marked just the latest in a wave of exits from the BBC in favor of positions at streaming and digital media services. Music Ally wrote about this brain drain at the broadcaster and what it means for the storied broadcaster.