James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: New BBC Sounds app launches in the UK. Some questionable research into ad length. Much more from across the audio landscape. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Three years later, Tidal is still waiting for its big wave. WhoSampled Remixes Mobile App With Music Recognition Feature. Continue Reading
WAMU, the NPR station for Washington D.C., has announced a new initiative to train, support, and promote local podcasters. The Pod Shop is a three-month program that will host as many as five podcasters for twice-weekly sessions. Continue Reading
We received a note from Tom McAlevey, streaming audio innovator and contributor to RAIN’s annual new-year predictions, alerting us to an announcement scheduled for later today that Radical.FM will be shut down this weekend. The platform’s technical assets are for sale. Continue Reading
Guest columnist Steve Pratt is co-owner and Partner of Pacific Content. In this piece, he compares smart speakers in 2018 to the iPod in 2004. In 2004, the new iPod was “waiting for the podcast to be invented.” If smart speakers are poised in a similar moment, what sort of content might be in the future? Continue Reading
Instagram is starting to take advantage of the music licensing deals secured by parent company Facebook. The social media platform’s latest feature is support for adding music tracks to Instagram Stories. Continue Reading
The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to approve the Music Modernization Act. Unanimous backing from the group means that the overhaul to music licensing and royalties will move ahead for consideration by the full Senate. Continue Reading
Apple may be planning a new type of multimedia content subscription. The Information (paywall) reports that Apple is considering a single package that would combine Apple Music with the company’s original TV and video projects and its overhauled news app. Each of the services would still be available individually, but a single access point would position Apple as a single-stop purveyor of entertainment. Continue Reading
So far, voice assistants are commonly used to access audio entertainment, but as the technology advances, the next step could involve commerce and shopping. Voicebot and Voysis have collaborated on a report pointing to the future of voice shopping. The analysis predicts that, due to the high rates of ownership (79.8%), many people will first be introduced to voice assistant shopping on smartphones. Continue Reading
Castbox has joined the ranks of podcast platforms offering subscription access. The company announced the launch of a premium subscription model that will allow podcasters to distribute paid content on its app. It claims to be the first podcast player to adopt a third-party distribution paywall model for premium content. Continue Reading
Merlin, the independent label group and global digital rights agency, has released its 10th anniversary Impact Report. The analysis shows that Merlin will make record-high payouts of $500 million in the next 12 months, a record that’s all the more impressive considering it just reached a cumulative $1 billion in distributions last year. Continue Reading
Corus Entertainment, a major radio/TV group in Canada, has followed up its recent executive podcast hiring spree, allying with The Podcast Exchange (TPX) for representation to buyers. The deal, announced today, interestingly includes both Canada and U.S. representation. Continue Reading