Spotify has made its free tier available to listeners on several connected speaker brands. The company now has support for Amazon Alexa, and for speakers from Sonos and Bose. Continue Reading
Edison research has launched a new subscriber-only research series called Podcast Consumer Tracker, described as “the first successful endeavor to present a unified look at audience information at the publisher/network level.” Continue Reading
The UK’s Entertainment Retailers Association released a report with forecasts for the region’s music streaming market. The analysis, from consultants OC&C, credited efforts by streaming services to target specific audiences with driving significant growth. Continue Reading
Apple has expanded its music streaming offerings to include a service of background audio for businesses. The Music for Business service comes from a partnership with in-store music and entertainment company PlayNetwork. Continue Reading
Google Assistant has been updated with a new news feature for listeners. The voice assistant is adding a tailored playlist of news stories called Your News Update. It can be started by asking Google to play the news. Continue Reading
Billboard released its annual list of digital power players, a collection of the business leaders who are driving segments such as streaming and radio. Both industries had notable figures from businesses around the world, as well as from leading brands. Continue Reading
Today Spotify takes another step forward in merging its podcast listening with personalized playlisting, which is the app’s premium competency. The company has launched “Your Daily Podcasts,” a recommendation list based on each user’s podcast listening history. The new product… Continue Reading
Amazon is bringing the free option for its music streaming service to more platforms. On Monday, the company opened access to select ad-supported playlists and stations to listeners in the U.S., UK, and Germany. Continue Reading
Sony has secured a licensing deal with Boomplay Music, a Chinese-owned music platform operating in Africa. This means that Boomplay now has agreements with all three of the major labels to bring their catalogs to its streaming and download platform. Continue Reading
In last week’s Q3 earnings call for Cumulus Media, one of the largest radio groups in the U.S., CEO Mary Berner laid out the growth of her digital business. One interesting fact: The podcast network serves 70-million monthly downloads, probably making it one of the biggest podcast publishers. Continue Reading
Deezer has offered a lossless audio subscription tier for years, but it has always been limited in scope. The Deezer HiFi option was only available via desktop apps and connected speakers in the United States for the past few years. Continue Reading
Tencent Holdings has been floated as a potential, even likely buyer for a stake in Universal Music Group. But the latest rumors indicate that while the Chinese company is still interested, it may want to make the investment with partners. Continue Reading