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A six-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming music and online audio. This week: CES! Plus: CBS launches a podcast network; Deezer acquires Muve Music; Naxos super-serves classical streaming; SiriusXM deliver 2014 results. Continue Reading
Now that we’ve set off on a fresh new year, we’re getting some interesting and insightful perspectives on everything that transpired in the music world during 2014. Data scientists have had the time to collect final numbers and finish analyses. On Jan. 2, we got a preliminary look at the work of Nielsen SoundScan team, which showed a general trend of increased streaming and decreased sales. Today, we have the 2014 Nielsen Music U.S. Report to expand on those first finds. Continue Reading
RAIN’s founding editor Kurt Hanson gazes into the new year, and intones 15 predictions for 2015. Continue Reading
Philips announced the launch of multi-room speakers designed specifically to stream music from Spotify. The Philips Spotify speakers use Spotify Connect to control the music from within the Spotify app on a mobile device. Just press the Spotify button on any of the speakers and the stream should immediately transfer over. Continue Reading
Beleaguered retailer Tesco, which owns 3,300 stores in the U.K., and a portfolio of media assets under the Blinkbox brand, has reportedly sold its video Blinkbox service to phone company TalkTalk. Blinkbox Music, which announced a million streams last September, is not part of the deal, but a buyer is reportedly lined up. Continue Reading
Sirius XM closed 2014 with 27.3 million subscribers thanks to 1.75 million net subscriber additions over the course of the year. Net additions of self-pay subscribers totaled 1.44 million. The results surpassed the company’s guidance for both metrics. Continue Reading
Deezer announced that it has bought Muve Music, a streaming service for phones only, from Cricket, a U.S. wireless carrier. Muve will be expanded to include Deezer’s song library and open up smart radio stations. Deezer will still be offering Muve to Cricket customers; the service will cost $6 for those who are signed up for a monthly cell phone plan of at least $35. Continue Reading
In an impactful announcement, CBS launched Play.it, a web-based podcast network. The venture brings CBS’ significant talent assets, program brands, and promotional power to the growing podcast network industry. The initiative is co-developed by CBS Radio and CBS Local Digital Media. Continue Reading
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Kickstarter shared a slightly belated year-in-review, compiling data about the projects that were successfully crowd-funded on the platform in 2014. Music was the top category, barely edging out Film & Video with just over 4,000 projects funded. Continue Reading
It’s a big week for Rivet Radio, an up-and-coming listening platform for on-demand audio. A new partnership with American Public Media (APM), the second-largest producer of public radio programming, is complemented by new connected-car distribution agreements. Continue Reading
Rdio’s many CES announcements add up to a major push into new listening devices both large and small. For starters, the streaming service entered into an exclusive partnership with Bosch to integrate into the mySPIN platform. It also announced new deals to integrate with more smart TVs and WiFi speakers. Continue Reading