Universal Music Group announced the creation of an accelerator engagement network designed to help the major label build ties with the next wave of music startups. Up to ten programs will participate in the first year of the project. UMG will provide industry expertise during the application process as well as mentorship to companies focused on digital music that are accepted into the accelerators. Continue Reading
Robb McDaniels is the new CEO for Beatport. McDaniels was the founder of music distribution services business INgrooves, but left in 2014. Beatport has been a convoluted saga for the past few years. Continue Reading
Deezer has entered a partnership with esports organization Fnatic. The team’s pro players will be able to use Deezer’s platform to share their listening habits and personal playlists with fans in real time. Continue Reading
Ad tech company WideOrbit announced that it has integrated the standard metrics developed by the IAB into its WO On Demand platform for podcast management. That means all users of WO On Demand can use the tools for consistently measuring podcast content, audience, and advertising performance. Continue Reading
Australians are listening to lots of radio, according to the GfK Share of Audio study. Daily audio consumption totaled 3 hours and 20 minutes. Live radio accounted for 65.3% of time spent listening to audio in the country, edging up from 64.9% last year. Continue Reading
Barstool Sports is the latest podcaster to make the jump to television. ESPN has inked a deal to create a late-night TV show called Barstool Van Talk from the trio behind the Pardon My Take podcast. Continue Reading
Podtrac posted its September 2017 podcast rankings. The month showed some shuffles from the previous month across the whole list. At the top, Stuff You Should Know edged out RadioLab for the No. 2 spot, although This American Life remains at the top of the heap. Continue Reading
In one of the most interesting and consequential deals we’ve reported this year, UK radio juggernaut Global has acquired U.S. digital audio advertising company AudioHQ. Linked with that, Global will launch DAX, its programmatic audio ad platform, in the U.S., operated by AudioHQ — whose name will change to DAX. We spoke with the principles. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: James shares the highlights from Radio Alive, a recent industry event in Australia. Plus other highlights from radio and audio around the world. Continue Reading
Pandora has given RAIN News a first look at its 2018 Definitive Guide to Audio, a report on the state of the industry with some statistics on terrestrial radio, streaming music, and podcasts. It’s a beautifully produced collection of data points and research that (unsurprisingly) creates a narrative showing streaming audio in a positive light. But it also does present some of the pain points facing broadcast in particular as audio consumption changes. Continue Reading
Nielsen released the highlights from its Music 360 report for 2017 at the start of October, but this week it added some further context focused on Hispanic listeners. The Hispanic audience showed larger amounts of spending on music. Continue Reading
Spotify may have reached revenue of 1.9 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in the first half of 2017. The results were first reported by The Information, citing “people briefed on the numbers.” If accurate, that first-half revenue is already 70% of the company’s total revenue from 2016. Continue Reading