Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:
Why Time Spent Listening has dropped: Edison Research published a blog post with a deeper dive into the Time Spent Listening metric of its audio analysis. This marked the second year of decline for TSL, even though other data showed to positive trends for online audio. According to the post, casual listeners and on-demand options may be influencing the TSL numbers.
Omnifone’s personnel changes and new products: B2B music provider Omnifone announced a shuffle and refocus. Doug Imrie has been promoted to CEO from his previous post as managing director and chief operating officer. He replaces Jeff Hughes, who will now be the company’s chairman. In addition to the shuffles, Omnifone announced a new Global Metering Hub, designed to offer real-time performance and consumption reporting to rights-holders from digital media distribution platforms.
A round-up of the royalty lawsuits: The legal papers have been flying fast and furious in recent months, with multiple plaintiffs filing lawsuits against streaming services over mechanical royalties. Billboard has a round-up of the current wave of legal actions that have been making headlines. It also breaks down the complaints in simple language, so if you want a primer on the cases that will be unfolding in the future and why they’re important, it’s worth a look.
State of podcasting in Australia: Australia recently hosted a conference focused on podcasts. Producers Bec Fary and Jon Tjhia talked about the state of podcasting in the nation and where it still needs to grow. “I think the industry is maturing; there will be bigger audiences, there will be more money and more sponsorship in line with what is happening in America,” Fary said, noting that the Aussie community would eventually be facing similar challenges of monetization as U.S. podcasters currently have.