Spotify is working on testing a couple new features that would amp up the social angle of the streaming music service. First is called Friends Weekly, a collection of tracks that your social connections are favoring. The second feature is a new section on the home screen called Friends’ Discover Weekly. Continue Reading
The rumor mill turns once more. After a back-and-forth earlier this year that eventually came to naught, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei said in the company’s Q1 earnings call that the company is still potentially interested in acquiring iHeartMedia. “iHeart is an attractive free-cash flow generator,” he said. “At the right price, I think it would be additive to our music holdings.” Continue Reading
The first season of Serial jumpstarted podcasts as a mainstream for of entertainment. The subject of that true crime exploration, Adnan Syed, was convicted for murder almost two decades ago. Jeff Bossert of Virginia Public Radio spoke with Julie Snyder about the latest developments in his case and the third season of the show. Continue Reading
Vox Media is exploring new options for creative advertising in podcasts. Three of the media company’s shows will have ad breaks where Kara Swisher, co-founder of Recode and host of the Recode/Decode podcast, interviews a character from the HBO comedy Silicon Valley. The interview with actor Chris Diamantopoulos (in character as tech investor Russ Hanneman) covers the current cryptocurrency plotline of the show. Continue Reading
SoundHound secured $100 million in a strategic funding round. This influx of money will support driving adoption and distribution of the company’s Houndify voice AI platform. SoundHound also aims to expand globally, with new offices planned in China, France, and Germany. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio has formed a partnership with Barbara Corcoran, one of the regular “sharks” in the reality startup show Shark Tank, to launch the Business Unusual podcast hosted by Corcoran, sponsored by Dell Small Business. It is a monologue format in which the real estate mogul delivers a business lesson (or two) in what is promoted as a “snackable” five-minute show. Continue Reading
Podcast content and advertising company Midroll Media harvested $11-million in first-quarter revenue, according to the Q1 earnings call for parent company Scripps. How that haul filtered down to the bottom line was undisclosed in the call. Continue Reading
Today, several Google executives shared the latest updates for the tech company in the keynote for Google I/O. The developer-focused event shared some of the upcoming changes for the Google Assistant voice AI platform that will help the company bring the service to more countries and offer more functions. Continue Reading
Digital audio advertising company Targetspot announced that it is expanding its monetization tools into Latin America. Broadcasters in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Peru are now eligible to use the company’s platform. Continue Reading
Spotify has inked a partnership with book publisher Bloomsbury. Under the terms of the deal, Spotify will exclusively offer titles from the publisher’s 33 1/3 series, which includes short books centered on a single album. The first one to become available on Spotify will be the book about Miles Davis’ album Bitches Brew. Continue Reading
Carrie Lieberman has joined iHeartMedia as vice president of podcast revenue strategy. In this role, she’ll be responsible for expanding the podcast portfolio, increasing revenue, and strategic partnerships. She joins the company after two years as the director of content distribution, licensing & business development at First Look Media. Continue Reading
Spotify’s direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange marked a new chapter for the streaming music service, and the action has continued to make waves in the industry. The latest developments are that two of the major labels that were early investors in Spotify during its startup days have sold portions of their shares. Continue Reading