Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web. Today’s duo is centered around exclusive album releases following the debut of Frank Ocean’s highly-anticipated new project released as an Apple Music exclusive. Continue Reading
Pandora has entered a partnership with Questlove, a renowned figure in hip-hop and a drummer for The Roots. He will curate and produce a new show called Questlove Supreme for the audio company. In addition to the new programming, Questlove is taking on the role of Strategic Advisor for Pandora and will act as the company’s first Artist Ambassador. Continue Reading
Spotify is reportedly engaged in a juggling act over its licensing deals with the major labels. According to The Wall Street Journal, the streaming service is running off short-term extensions of its agreements with all three of the major labels. As Spotify continues to move toward a potential IPO, getting all its ducks in a row for these complex legal questions is a must. Continue Reading
Webcast listening in June inched downward month-over-month, shaving about two percent of stream listening from May’s total across Triton Digital’s measured Webcast Metrics clients. The story was more vigorous in the year-over-year comparison. Click through for historical charts. Continue Reading
SoundCloud announced some updated figures for its online audio platform. The company’s library now exceeds 135 million unique tracks. There are also more than 1 million albums now on SoundCloud, thanks to the newly launched feature that lets members present their work in the traditional format instead of as a playlist of individual tracks. Continue Reading
MusicWatch investigated the role of playlists in listener habits and behaviors. The company compiled 500 online interviews with users of Spotify or Apple Music. According to the results, 90% of music streamers have listened to or created a playlist. Continue Reading
Texas A&M and DMR/Interactive have announced a new project called The Download on Podcasting. The campaign will examine the podcasting space during the 2016-2017 academic year, and will be released as a series over the coming year. Continue Reading
WideOrbit has announced that radio group Townsquare Media has commited to a suite of WideOrbit digital platform products across Townsquare’s array of 310 radio stations. Townsquare is the third-largest radio group in the U.S., operating in 66 markets. The deal completes a multiyear Townsquare effort to consolidate its digital operations. Continue Reading
Mixcloud announced that it has reached a milestone of 1 million curators. The online radio service collects uploads of radio shows, DJ mixes, and podcasts from that million-strong audience. Continue Reading
Amazon has been showing interest in launching a standalone streaming music service for months, but according to the latest reports, the tech giant won’t be happy with just one. Amazon appears to be considering two services: one that would match the industry standard of unlimited on-demand access for $10 a month; the other would be half the price and would only work on the company’s Echo home speaker hardware. Continue Reading
How do consumers listen to podcasts? When do they start, stop, abandon, complete their shows? In particular, do they hear the ads? How is advertising effectiveness verified? When those questions can be answered, advertiser buy-in to podcasting will increase. “API Listening” is one key to the future, and an industry buzzword in the present. Continue Reading
After much anticipation, Frank Ocean has released his new album. The project is titled Blonde, although previous reports pegged the name as Boys Don’t Cry. The arrival of a new Apple Music exclusive is getting to be dime-a-dozen news, but Ocean’s new project does have a few key takeaways. Continue Reading