Deezer has inked a partnership with Cable & Wireless Communications, a telecom in Latin America and the Carribean. According to the CWC press release, music is the second most popular feature for the region’s mobile users. The telecom will be offering the Deezer Premium+ standalone service. Continue Reading
After our review of Slacker’s inventive new app, which represents a meaningful re-launch of the brand and its content focus, we wanted to dig deeper. Jack Isquith, SVP of Strategic Development and Content Programming, joined us on the phone for a chat about his priorities and the thinking behind Slacker’s reinvention. Continue Reading
New app. New logo. Sharpened focus. Slacker Radio has joined the year-end rush of music service upgrades (Rhapsody, YouTube Music Key, Shazam, Musx, Tidal) with a new iOS app that doubles down on Slacker’s signature hosted playlists. Continue Reading
When the New York Times referred to music consumption as a “culture of free,” XAPPmedia CMO Bret Kinsella took to his keyboard to compose a sharp rebuttal. “Don’t fall for the narrative,” he cautions. Continue Reading
The Association of National Advertisers (ANA), a leadership group that represents 640 companies carrying 10,000 brands and spending 250-billion marketing dollars, declared “Programmatic” its 2014 Word of the Year. The ANA surveyed 349 participating members to choose that term. What is the future of programmatic advertising in audio? Continue Reading
Shazam jumped on the bandwagon of 2014 roundups with a listing of the top tracks and artists tagged in the song ID program. The findings fell pretty well in line with what Spotify and other music services have been reporting, but Shazam added some interesting predictions to its blog post by noting some of the artists it expects to break out in 2015. Continue Reading
Spotify today announced the launch of a geo-targeted advertising platform for its ad-supported freemium service level. The initial rollout includes the top 15 listening markets. Launch partner Triton Digital provides verification metrics through its Webcast Local Metrics product. We spoke to Spotify ad exec Brian Benedik. Continue Reading
Spotify released its 2013 financials, with a basic P&L that tells a vigorous growth story, higher revenue, and lower loss compared to the previous year. At the same time, most of the gross revenue was paid into the music industry as licensing expenses. Continue Reading
Sponsored by AudioBoom
A six-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming music and online audio. This week: YouTube Music Key subscription service; Irving Azoff prepares to sue; Beats Music in iOS; Uber & Spotify invent the connected taxi; Pandora is king of mobile; Billboard chart is modernized for streaming; NPR streaming metrics; listening to sports on TuneIn. Continue Reading
Installing Beats Music as a built-in iOS app creates headlines, and is an obvious maneuver, but it barely lessens the challenge faced by Apple in the brutal music subscription space. It will not, by itself, move the needle for Beats or Apple. A crucial new effort is needed, and Apple has not demonstrated creativity in the music space for years. Continue Reading
With the “freemium” model of ad-supported, semi-interactive listening under attack in some quarters, YouTube has formalized whole-album listening in its new YouTube Music section. The impact might be to raise consumer expectation of a highly interactive feature in a free, ad-supported service. Continue Reading
In a brisk 51-minute conference call with investors yesterday, Pandora described its strategy in the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) proceeding, explained why it thinks music licensing costs (to labels) should be lower, and fielded questions about the company’s key partnership with Merlin labels. Although Pandora executives often speak at investor conferences, and conduct quarterly earnings calls, the single-topic focus of yesterday’s call was unusual. Continue Reading