The IAB Australia Audio Council announced that Richard Palmer has been elected as the group’s co-chair. Palmer is Triton Digital’s director of APAC market development, and was previously head of digital at Macquarie Media. Continue Reading
New research from Adobe Analytics adds to a healthy picture for smart speakers. The firm’s data found that 32% of consumers owned a smart speaker as of August 2018, up from 28% in January. The product segment posted 14% growth between those months, a period that didn’t include any major shopping events. Continue Reading
SoundCloud is hopping on the bandwagon of weekly discovery playlists. The audio platform released a new feature called SoundCloud Weekly that offers recommended listening based on the other music each user has listened to, liked, reposted, and shared. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Analyzing Chris Evans’ move from BBC Radio 2 in favor of Virgin Radio. Other news from around the audio world. Continue Reading
Apple Music has received a few tweaks that should streamline the user experience. First, its display of albums has been updated. Second, the streaming service will also present new Top 100 charts. Continue Reading
Show Shouts highlights noteworthy new and upcoming podcasts from across the vast and fast-growing category. In this edition: a history of standup, a power-politics show featuring Richard Clarke and Bill Clinton, and a history less from Detroit’s War on Drugs. Continue Reading
Timed to coincide with the IAB Podcast Upfront yesterday in New York, Podtrac released comparative metrics across the span of its monthly public reports of streams and downloads, showing double-digit percentage growth of downloads and unique listeners. Continue Reading
The IAB Podcast Upfront, held yesterday in New York City, included presentations and new developments from many leading audio and podcasting companies. In addition to the talks, several operations used the event to help promote their latest ventures and data. Here’s a round-up of the press releases issued at the industry gathering. Continue Reading
Spain’s music industry sales edged up slightly in the first half of 2018. Spanish industry body Promusicae reported €107.6 million in H1 sales, a less than 1% increase from the year-ago period. Although the overall market barely shifted, digital consumption showed a strong increase to secure almost three-quarters of the revenue total. Continue Reading
As hinted in recent weeks, the European Commission has approved Apple’s acquisition of audio identification tool Shazam. The purchase was first announced back in December 2017, but several European leaders pushed for a full investigation to ensure that the deal would not create issues of competition. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: How AI-generated music is changing the way hits are made. Meet the company preparing to be the last CD distributor standing. Virginia is for podcast lovers. Continue Reading
Reese Witherspoon is helping lead the charge for women in podcasting. The Academy Award-winning actress’ production company Hello Sunshine has partnered with content studio Rooster Teeth to power its new podcast network The Beam. The network will specifically target a female audience and will host both original and curated podcasts. Continue Reading