The Copyright Royalty Board judges have set the new royalty rates and terms for Sirius XM. The company will pay 15.5% of gross revenues for the period of January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2022. That’s a 40% increase from the 11% share Sirius XM has been paying for royalties. Continue Reading
The awaited Podcast Analytics suite from Apple has arrived in beta. Whatever its shortfalls in the minds of some industry observers, and however ambivalent some podcast publishers might be about the intrusion of new data, Apple’s reporting of podcast consumption will sharply influence the shape, growth and revenue prospects of podcasting. Details and RAIN analysis. Continue Reading
Streaming services have explored many options to tease premium features to their free listeners. Pandora is new offering its ad-supported listeners and its mid-tier Pandora Plus listeners a chance to try out a Pandora Premium session in exchange for viewing a video ad. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio has entered a partnership with Jibo to launch Jibo Music. The music features have been added to the Jibo product, a cross between a voice-activated smart speaker and a cute robot. Jibo owners will automatically get access to iHeartRadio music through a software update beginning on Monday. Continue Reading
Amplifi Media CEO Steve Goldstein pens a follow-up to his investigation into the type of shows topping podcast charts. This time, it’s a look at which categories are the most crowded. Continue Reading
Amplifi Media CEO Steve Goldstein shares a blog post examining trends among the types of shows that are topping the podcast charts. Lots of insights and analytics about popular shows. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Subscription radio for nursing homes in Australia. Radio’s earliest tweeters. Recognition for Global. Continue Reading
Bridge Ratings has published its recap of 2017, drawing several broad trends in the music and audio industry. The company’s wrap-up said that the number of streams in 2017 increased 40% over the total for 2016. It also offered insights on programming for on-demand streaming, such as using data about a playlist’s specific audience to encourage more frequent listening and when to ease up on a song that could be over-exposed to today’s highly connected listeners. Continue Reading
In a whitepaper released yesterday on its blog, Triton Digital explains how podcast caching challenges the growth of podcasting, offeers supporting metrics, and and pledges its full support of platforms which move away from the practice. Continue Reading
Veritonic has released its 2017 Audio Logo Index, an assessment of how effective audio advertisements are and which brands in the U.S. and the UK created audio signatures that best connected with customers. The key traits highlighted in the study could be useful signposts for ad agencies looking to strengthen their in-house capabilities for audio as well as for publishers or hosts of audio content who want data to back their appeal as a source of ad money. Continue Reading
Amazon announced a new option for its Alexa voice-activated assistant designed for companies and enterprise operations. Alexa for Business can assist with tasks such as starting conference calls, scheduling meetings, and ordering office supplies. Continue Reading
Indian streaming music service Gaana announced that it has 50 million monthly active users. “It’s a proud moment for Team Gaana, not many home-grown brands have achieved this kind of milestone and very few brands in the entertainment space has been able to reach to this kind of scale in India,” COO Prashan Agarwal said. Continue Reading