Guest columnist Steve Goldstein explains what he sees as the biggest issue with car infotainment systems: that they are ugly, not user-friendly, and don’t offer a great audio experience. In his mind, that’s good news for radio. Continue Reading
Billing itself as a service for “the YouTube generation,” Soundrop has shifted to become a digital music distribution platform. The business is only distributing to five businesses to start: Apple Music, iTunes, Spotify, GooglePlay, Amazon, and Deezer. Later in 2017, it expects to add Pandora and YouTube. Continue Reading
Billboard is converting its genre album charts to a consumption methodology that accounts for listening on streaming music services. The company first transitioned its Billboard 200 chart to this new accounting system in 2014. The first genre charts with the new methodology will be published on January 31. Continue Reading
The most star-packed podcast we’ve seen, both in the cast and production team, is set for its 10-episode launch on Feb. 7, nearly a year after it was announced. Developed by audio advertising sales company AudioHQ, in collaboration with Cinema Gypsy Productions and TateMen Entertainment, the show is called Bronzeville. With its Hollywood power, the venture might a new benchmark for production value and talent investment in the audio drama category. Continue Reading
Mobile analytics specialist App Annie has published its 2016 Retrospective. The report tracked another year of growth for the app industry, growth in worldwide downloads and time spent in app. Many other reports last year pointed to mobile as a key source of listeners for streaming music services, but this retrospective revealed that it can also be a big revenue driver. Continue Reading
Tidal appears to be giving listeners an unusual new tool for adjusting their experience on the mobile app. “You can now edit the length and tempo of a track and save it to a playlist with the new Track Edit feature,” the update notes say. Continue Reading
Ford has announced that it will start integrating Amazon’s voice-activated Alexa system in its cars this month. Alexa is the virtual assistant popularized in Amazon’s Echo and Dot devices, and the Ford/Amazon alliance is a pointer to the future of voice-controlled car infotainment. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: a youTuber’s revenue; Donald FM; loss of serendipity. Continue Reading
Happy New Year!
RAIN News is pleased to present predictions from 29 thought-leading guest futurists. 2017 will carry forward the audio industry’s reputation for quick, disruptive change. Continue Reading
Yesterday we posted the #1 story for 2016, based on readership of our articles. Today, the RAIN News roundup of how the online audio industry evolved in 2016. Seventy-four articles show the development of internet radio, music services, small webcasting, podcasting and the business ecosystem surrounding all of it in 2016. Happy browsing! Continue Reading
When it comes to music, news, and podcast listening, Amazon Alexa (in the Echo and Dot devices) is far less equipped than you might think from all the buzz. But the promise is that Alexa will get smarter over time, as new skills are learned. Even now, the experience is compelling. Continue Reading
A new study from survey company Morning Consult, best known for its political opinion work, concentrates on audio platform preferences of American adults. The study questioned 2,000 respondents about their use of Spotify, Pandora, AM/FM, purchased music (CDs, downloads) iHeartRadio, Amazon Prime, Tidal, Apple Music, and Google Play. Continue Reading