James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Forecasts for the future of AM radio. Considering Norway’s approach to a DAB+ transition. Much more. Continue Reading
Guest columnist David Porter, Founder and CEO of 8tracks, looks back at eight years of developing the platform. It’s a mix of challenges and triumphs. “Internet radio could well become the most ubiquitous form of media mankind has known.” Continue Reading
Soon after Twitter launched, in March, 2006, it was dubbed a microblogging network. Podcasting is often compared to blogging. Is there such a thing as micropodcasting? One contender for that description is Anchor, a mobile-only app that invites users to connect with short audio voice recordings. Early adopters are passionate about it. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: The truth behind online live, linear radio; Katz’ Stacey Lynn Schulman on the future of radio; several BBC items; much more. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Wall Street Journal on NPR’s age issues. Updates to the Next Radio conference. Looking ahead to Australia’s OzPod. Much more. Continue Reading
Connected cars are either either a threat to radio or an opportunity, depending on who you talk to. But there’s not much talk at all about self-driving cars, which are on a quick development pace. Guest columnist Mark Ramsey holds forth. Continue Reading
Yesterday’s announcement that Rhapsody would rebrand as Napster across its global music service empire caused flashbacks in the minds of digital audio veterans. Matt Graves helped launch Rhapsody in 2001, and has worked in the online media fields for even longer. In this guest column he reviews the astonishing and unlikely history of Napster. Continue Reading
RAIN SUMMITS The preeminent knowledge and networking events for online audio. RAIN Summits are must-attend events where leading executives, innovators, and thought-leaders gather to chart the evolution of internet radio, streaming music, podcasting, and smart-speaker audio These unique conferences illuminate the future… Continue Reading
Last week we covered the launch of RadioPublic, a for-profit, public benefit corporation spawned by PRX, the open marketplace which brings together audio producers and public station program directors. To dig deeper, we spoke to Jake Shapiro, former CEO of PRX and founder/CEO of RadioPublic, and Kerri Hoffman, the new PRX CEO. Continue Reading
Radio has been selling music for a long time. Just not directly. No broadcaster claims it as a primary goal, compared to generating ratings and advertising revenue, but radio’s ability to create a sales story is certainly at the heart of its resistance to the latest music industry call for a performance royalty. No matter where you land on that issue, radio is more valuable to the music business if it can demonstrably generate purchases, and if there are still purchases to generate. Continue Reading
The smartphone is one of the most influential consumer electronics categories of the last 20 years. It certainly influences how Americans listen to radio and internet-delivered audio. At RAIN Summit West, Edison Research President Larry Rosin brought new metrics about smartphone listening from Edison’s ongoing Share of Ear and Infinite Dial consumer surveys. A shift is underway, too dramatic to disregard. Continue Reading
Midia Research released a new data report called State of the Streaming Nation, a comprehensive analysis of the audience and economics of streaming music globally. The report positions itself at a pivotal point in the evolution of streaming, marking 2015 as “the year in which streaming music came of age.” At the same time, the conclusion fleshes out a cautionary reality. Continue Reading