Sirius XM has made a $75 million investment into SoundCloud. According to the press release, SoundCloud will put the money toward product development, as well as enhancing services for creators and listeners. Continue Reading
European trade organization EGTA, which serves radio/TV advertisers, is promoting World Radio Day (February 13) with materials that advocate for sonic branding. As part of this, the organization has declared 2020 as “The Year of Sonic” and has marshaled some interesting statistics and audio samples. Continue Reading
Megaphone is expanding into Europe. The U.S.-based company announced that its launch across the Atlantic begins today, with a new office opening in Germany. Continue Reading
Last week we poked around a public Westwood One podcast survey, and reported our impressions. Today, Westwood One releases the results, in both an executive summary format, and a detailed Powerpoint PDF. One of the most interesting aspects of the PDF is that it relates dozens of verbatim predictions about podcasting revenue growth. Continue Reading
SoundExchange has made a move to increase the rates paid to American music creators for international uses of their work. The rights management agency for performance royalties claims that U.S. music creators could be losing out on $170 million annually from this use case. Continue Reading
Andy Bowers, co-founder of Megaphone, has departed the company. The business was initially spun out from Slate’s Panoply division in January 2016 as a podcasting content management system with services in monetization and distribution. Continue Reading
A weekly column from the preeminent Radio Futurologist. THIS WEEK: Sometimes, your gut instinct knows what the data doesn’t. Also a look at the latest RAJAR results in the UK, and is the BBC boring? Continue Reading
The Google/Alphabet empire has been rumored to be planning consolidation under its sprawling umbrella of music properties. The latest insider info hints that the transition to phase out Google Play Music in favor of YouTube Music. Continue Reading
Many upstart businesses have emerged over the past several years with the goal of bringing a streaming experience to hardcore fans of niche genres, aiming to provide more detail and discovery for audiences who might feel underserved by mainstream operations. The upcoming service Jazzed is, unsurprisingly, trying to reach jazz fans. Continue Reading
Warner Music Group is going public once more. Yesterday, the major label announced its plans for an IPO and filed with the SEC to move ahead with the common stock offering. WMG has been a privately owned company for the past eight years. Continue Reading
by Steve Goldstein
Steve recaps Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s comments on the company’s podcast plans and pieces together how its top-level strategy is coming together. One big takeaway: things will happen fast. Continue Reading
eMarketer has been tracking the adoption of smart speakers, and while the device segment is growing in popularity, its use as tool for ecommerce has not risen as rapidly. The company’s latest projection is that by the end of 2020, 21.6 million people in the U.S. will have used a smart speaker to make a purchase. Continue Reading