Beats Music is launching next Tuesday, aiming squarely at Spotify’s subscription business. Spotify set the stage in December by freeing previous listening restrictions that applied to non-paying users. (That side of the business is ad-supported.) Today, Spotify makes more news by revealing a restriction most people didn’t know about, then lifting it. Continue Reading
BIA/Kelsey has published a study of mobile advertising growth, sponsored by mobile ad network Verve Mobile. While serving as promotion for Verve, the report also identifies data points and defines new advertising technologies. The key technology focus of this report is “Attribution,” which purports to quantify the effectiveness of mobile ads, post-impression. Continue Reading
Pandora announced its inclusion in the newly-introduced 2015 Chrysler 200. It is the first Chrysler to feature built-in Pandora access in the dash. Chrysler is the 25th major car company to partner with Pandora for in-car Internet radio listening. The 200 model made a splash at this week’s Detroit Auto Show. Continue Reading
For the second consecutive month Internet listening reached an all-time high in November, according to data released by Triton Digital in its Webcast Metrics Top 20 Ranker. Click through to see the high points plus long-term historical analysis. New this month: a cohort of three publishers with startling three-month listening growth. Continue Reading
Today Pandora announced the addition of personalized recommendations in its iOS and Android mobile apps. The new feature is most useful in accounts seeded with song stations, not artist stations. The update brings new choices to the app, gets listening started faster, and is clearly an activity and user-retainment tactic. Continue Reading
The deal is reportedly worth high single-digit millions to AOL, which will plow some of that cash back to Radionomy as a 12% investment stake. Mergers and acquisitions are always defined by their “synergy,” but sometimes the chemistry can be hard to discern. This one is awash with synergy. Continue Reading
Net neutrality advocates were bitterly disappointed, if not totally surprised, by today’s ruling against the Federal Communications Commission by a Washington D.C. appeals court. The court’s decision might be paraphrased like this: “You classified the Internet wrong. What are you going to do now?” We’re wondering the same thing. Continue Reading
Korean tech giant Samsung is talking to Paris-based music service Deezer about a partnership or investment stake. Samsung is best known to U.S. consumers as a device maker (smartphones, TVS), but is also a network LTE provider and infrastructure partner to phone companies. Continue Reading
If 2013 was the year when labels released their star albums on Internet radio, 2014 is starting by reversing that trend. Clear Channel announced that Bruce Springsteen’s new album, “High Hopes,” will launch today with a one-hour radio documentary/preview. Continue Reading
British rock band Oasis has yielded to time and trend, adding its 10 albums (representing over 70-million album sales) to Spotify, Rhapsody, Deezer, and Rdio. As usual with announcements like this, but rarely mentioned, YouTube already carries Oasis extensively, with full albums, live performances, official videos, and the band’s own YouTube channel. Continue Reading
Shazam and SoundHound identify songs on the radio for hundreds of millions of users. Both apps make it easy to turn the song into a starting point in Rdio, Spotify, and other online services. Shouldn’t there be a way radio can participate in the song-identification gateway? We have an idea. Continue Reading