Berlin-based SoundCloud has launched two initiatives in U.K. and Ireland which bring those markets up to speed with the SoundCloud experience in the U.S. First, the SoundCloud Go subscription plan is now available to those audiences. Second, the free-listening service is now supported with advertising, some of which will be supplied by the Global-owned DAX automated platform. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio announced that it has surpassed 85 million registered users. At a rate of 5 million users in three months, the company boasted that, “This growth means that iHeartRadio is still gaining users at a faster rate than Facebook and any other streaming music service!” Continue Reading
RAIN News has learned that Radionomy has pulled its stations from TuneIn’s U.S. listening audience, over the cost of music licensing under the new Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) royalty rates. Radionomy told RAIN News that the company asked TuneIn to geo-block the U.S. from Radionomy streams. It is the latest disruption in the webcast industry coming from CRB rates implemented on January 1. Continue Reading
The LG Stylus 2, the first smartphone with built-in DAB+ technology, has launched in the UK and Australia. It retails for £219.99 in the UK and A$499 in Australia. The digital radio smartphone debuted at Radiodays Europe. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Missives from the launch of the first digital radio smartphone in the UK and Australia. Great video from Broadcast Bionics. Also pieces about Serial, NPR One, NTS, and much more. Continue Reading
Triton Digital has secured another partner for its a2x programmatic audio advertising platform. Radioline, a European radio and podcast aggregator, will use Triton’s platform to enable programmatic digital audio inventory on its website. Continue Reading
Drake dropped his latest album, Views, as a windowed Apple exclusive on Friday. So far, the move seems to be a lucrative one. Views will be exclusive to the Apple music ecosystem for one week before it goes to any other services. In that time, it won’t even be available for physical retail. Continue Reading
RAIN is pleased to announce that The Streaming Audio Advertising Summit, June 2 in New York, is now open for registration. The event, which will focus on exploring the advantages of the marketing opportunities of online audio, will take place from 9:00AM to 1:00PM at the beautiful Metropolitan Pavilion. Click for details. Continue Reading
Another telecom has added options for its customers to have data-free streaming music access. Australia-based Optus introduced Optus Music for the unmetered streaming for its prepaid customers beginning May 2. Continue Reading
LyricFind announced that it has entered a partnership with Japan-based SyncPower, one of the largest lyrics providers for Asia. The deal will see SyncPower’s PetitLyrics Player launch outside Japan. Continue Reading
Apple Music announced an update to its mobile service on Android. The app will now support video content and family memberships. These changes bring the Android version closer in line with what the app has on iOS. Continue Reading
“Before I turn to the corporate update and the latest quarterly results, I want to offer some perspective on this company that I founded with two friends over 16 years ago.”
That is how Tim Westergren, Founder and second-time CEO of Pandora, began yesterday’s earnings call for Q1 2016. In a remarkable stretch of speech-making from him and COO Sara Clemens, Pandora set the stage for its Q1 financial reporting by aligning with musicians and detailing how its products and business strategies differentiate from competitors.
Click through for details and perspective. Continue Reading