A weekly column from the preeminent Radio Futurologist. THIS WEEK: How Australian radio is covering the continued fires. KCRW’s new hire. A counterpoint to the hype coming out of another year of CES. Continue Reading
Nielsen Music has released its year-end report, the latest analysis to find streaming at the hop of the heap for the U.S. music industry. The report found total album equivalent consumption of 785 million units during 2019, up 15% from 2018. Continue Reading
Sirius XM and Pandora have been gradually finding ways to cross-promote and collaborate after the satellite radio company’s acquisition of the online audio service in 2018. The businesses are now investigating how to create a joint subscription that would cover both of its services. Continue Reading
cabana, the digital audio arm of AdLarge Media, announced the addition of two more podcasts to its portfolio. First is the true crime show Voices for Justice and the second addition is ONE Extraordinary Marriage. Continue Reading
BuzzAngle Music released its 2019 music consumption report. The data company found that the United States surpassed 1 trillion on-demand streams for the first time. On-demand audio generated a record high of nearly 705.86 billion streams during the period, growing 32% from the previous year. Continue Reading
Streaming continues to grow in popularity in Germany. According to BVMI and GfK Entertainment, German listeners generated 107 billion audio streams in 2019. Continue Reading
Samsung has been quiet about its smart speaker efforts for some time, but the company is now sharing a new planned release window for one of the long-awaited projects. The Galaxy Home Mini is now expected to be available for purchase in “early 2020.” Continue Reading
Merlin has selected a new CEO following the exit of its long-time leader. The independent music licensing hub appointed Jeremy Sirota as its new top executive. Sirota joins from Facebook. Continue Reading
Sirius XM released its latest subscriber numbers ahead of its February earnings release and conference call. The satellite radio company announced that it total paid subscriber base has hit a record high of 34.9 million. Continue Reading
Triton Digital has received an award from ExchangeWire’s The Wires Global for one of its audio services. The company was recognized as the Best New Product or Service – Sell Side for its audio supply-side platform (Yield-Op). Continue Reading
The winter 2019 edition of the Smart Audio Report from NPR and Edison Research has been released on the CES stage, with the latest insights on how listeners are using voice tech and smart speakers. In the new report, 24% of U.S. adults own a smart speaker for an audience of about 60 million people. Continue Reading
Using CES as a soapbox, Spotify has announced new ad-insertion technology for its podcasts. By most accounting, Spotify is the second-largest podcast distributor in the English-speaking world. Creating its own digital ad-tech unleashes a tectonic shiver in the podcast ecosystem of creators, publishers, technology companies, and advertisers. Continue Reading