The UK is seeing growth of digital radios in cars. The Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy is expected to announce today that in Q2 2015, 70% of new cars now come with digital radio as standard. The data point shows growth in new cars with digital radio from 54% in 2014 and 38% in 2013. Continue Reading
The British Phonographic Industry released half-year data about music sales in the UK. The report showed that there have been 11.5 billion tracks played in the first six months of 2015, compared with 14.8 billion plays in all of 2014. Dedicated audio streaming services see about 480 million streams a week. Stream Equivalent Album consumption for the first half was 11.49 million, up 79.5% from the year-ago period. Continue Reading
Ofcom, the UK media regulator, announced that it will conduct trials of small-scale DAB technology with about 60 stations around the country this summer. The regulator granted 10 trial licenses to radio multiplexes around the UK for the nine-month tests. Continue Reading
The UK’s Radio Joint Audience Research released its data from the first quarter of 2015. The latest information revealed a slight decline in overall radio listening, but posted improvements in the rates of digital radio uptake in the region. The total number of Q1 2015 listeners declined about 50,000 people from the same quarter of 2014. In contrast, digital radio has been consistently increasing its share of listeners, growing from 20.1% in Q1 2009 to 39.6% in Q1 2015. Continue Reading
Robert Ashcroft, CEO of PRS for Music, spoke about the concerns for UK publishers and songwriters at the performing rights organization’s annual general meeting. His critiques were focused on online platforms that thrive on user-generated content, such as YouTube and SoundCloud. Ashcroft said those services have been unfairly benefiting from safe harbor laws. Continue Reading
Average listeners tuned in to BBC radio for 10 hours a week during the last quarter of 2014, according to official data from the UK broadcaster. That figure marked a drop of 14 percent from a decade earlier, when that average figure was 11.6 hours a week for the period. A representative from the broadcaster noted that although the interest among listeners is still high, many are tuning in through online or digital platforms that are not accounted for in the BBC’s traditional listening data. Continue Reading
UK media regulator Ofcom announced that it is testing a new technology that could make digital broadcasting more financially feasible for small radio stations. The new system is currently dubbed “small scale DAB,” based on freely available software rather than the expensive hardware of current DAB systems. Continue Reading
Listeners in the UK are getting a new set of DAB station options next year thanks to a new national digital radio multiplex getting assigned an operator. Sound Digital, which is a consortium of Arqiva, Bauer, and UTV Media GB, will run the set of 14 new stations. The consortium will be responsible for upgrading the equipment at these stations and reaching 75% of households with the set of stations. It will be required to begin broadcasting the new DAB stations by the middle of 2016. Continue Reading
The Official Albums Chart in the UK announced that the beginning in March, it will incorporate data from streaming services into its calculations. The equation it will use for determining rankings is designed to reflect the success of a whole album rather than seeing boosts due to a couple popular singles. The unique formula will downweigh the top two singles from an album to the average of the rest of the top 12 most-streamed tracks. Continue Reading
Classical music fans in the UK are getting a new option for keeping up with their favorite symphonies and sonatas thanks to Classic FM and Decca. The companies have partnered to launch a classical music streaming service called Composed. The subscription-based model offers streaming based on mood, composer, or curated playlist, according to Music Week. Continue Reading
The BBC is throwing its weight behind efforts to get FM radio chips enabled on smartphones. Research commissioned by the UK broadcaster found that the majority of smartphone owners want radio available in the devices. The study also highlighted the common concerns about that technology: mobile data costs, impact on battery life, and reception issues. Continue Reading
The British Phonographic Industry group reported that UK listeners have streamed 10.2 billion tracks to date this year, almost double the 5.4 billion tracks streamed last year in the same period. People are listening to tunes more than 300 million times each week. Continue Reading