Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Will Spotify restrict free listening?; Napster and the ‘culture of free’; mobile boosts global ad revenue. Continue Reading
eMarketer released estimates about ad revenue from YouTube — especially interesting as the video platform releases Music Key ad-free listening. eMarketer projects that U.S. video ad revenue alone would increase 39.2% to $1.13 billion. The company expected that the figure would continue to expand in double digit percentages to a possible $1.75 billion in 2016. Continue Reading
Spotify is launching a television ad campaign in the UK that ties in with talent competition X Factor. There will be two spots airing each week until the end of November. The first will tell a story about people listening to music, and the second will be related to the weekly theme of the singing show. Continue Reading
AudioHQ announced a partnership with online radio service Jango for audio ad sales starting in 2015. According to the press release, Jango reaches 3 million listeners in the U.S. each month with its service for social and customizable music stations. This is the second deal to be announced within the past week for AudioHQ. Continue Reading
TuneCore has added a new feature to its Artist Services program focused on incorporating YouTube into its monetization avenues. YouTube Money collects revenue for use of its customers’ music on the video channel for a one-time fee of $25. The FAQ for the service noted that display ads, overlay in-video ads, TrueView in-stream ads and non-skippable in-stream ads are all available for monetizing videos. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia has hired Gayle Troberman to join the company as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Troberman most recently served a brief executive stint at IPG Mediabrands, but previously worked for 16 years at Microsoft. She held multiple advertising and marketing positions at the tech company, and eventually rose to the rank of chief creative officer. Prior to this hiring announcement, Troberman worked with iHeartMedia as a consultant on the project to rebrand itself from the Clear Channel name. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: NYT on why CDs rule Japan; Dash Two on internet radio for advertising; GM narrowing focus for connected car apps. Continue Reading
Spotify is getting visual with its latest advertising approach. The streaming service said it will test a new approach on its free version that offers listeners 30 minutes of uninterrupted listening in exchange for watching a video ad. If listeners choose to skip the video, they’ll continue to hear their regular ad-supported tunes. Continue Reading
For anyone falling under the ‘content creator’ umbrella at YouTube, the sole path to making money has been to allow ads on your channel and hope for a massive viewership. That could change with a new feature that allows channels to operate a digital tip jar. The new crowd funding feature has reportedly rolled out in a handful of markets — Australia, Japan, Mexico, and the U.S. Continue Reading
For the first time in its history, the streaming service will begin running advertisements for U.S. listeners. “The introduction of advertising is an important step for creators,” Founder and CEO Alex Ljung said. “Every time you see or hear an ad, an artist gets paid.” The company also debuted plans for a creator partner program called On SoundCloud that aims to aid members in turning their music streams into revenue streams. The crucial note in SoundCloud’s discussions of this change is its focus on the artists. Continue Reading
Earlier in the summer, Jelli announced plans to suspend its social radio service in favor of its programmatic ad platform. The promising Q1 growth for that service continued on Tuesday, with the company’s announcement that its RadioSpot platform will be deployed at seven more radio stations across the U.S. Continue Reading
In June we reported on Entercom-owned Seattle station KNDD’s experiment in dramatically lowering its broadcast ad load. the station started a “Two minute promise,” in which no spot break would exceed that time, and each hour would be capped at six minutes. Today, the first signs of success for the KDNN test — higher ratings, and comments from Entercom CEO David Field. Continue Reading