China has been a market of interest and growth for audio over the past year, but that rise may not continue unchecked. The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered 26 audio-focused apps to close or enter talks with regulators on Friday. Continue Reading
Spotify announced today that it is ending its beta test of direct distribution for independent artists. The streaming service conducted a trial for nearly a year, which allowed indies to upload their music directly to Spotify rather than relying on a third-party service. Continue Reading
Samsung has launched the Bixby Marketplace in support of its voice assistant platform. The skill marketplace, available in the United States and in Korea, offers Bixby customers access to “capsules” designed to improve their usage of the voice AI. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s International Radio Trends is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Transitioning from DAB to DAB+ in the UK. Two items out of New Zealand. More from around the audio universe. Continue Reading
In a long-awaited post-bankruptcy maneuver, iHeartMedia is readying a NASDAQ listing on the U.S. stock exchange. Class A common stock will be available under the ticker IHRT. It expects to list on July 18. Continue Reading
YouTube Music is adding a new feature that will automatically download tracks that a listener is most likely to enjoy. The Smart Downloads feature is on the Android app, and it downloads up to 500 songs that the user has liked. Continue Reading
7digital, the B2B music provider, may be facing bankruptcy this summer. The company’s leadership did not pass a resolution this week during its general meeting, which means it needs to raise $5.5 million by July 31. Continue Reading
Podtrac has posted its May ranking of podcast publishers. Across all of the top ten publishers, the average U.S. unique monthly audience was 8.6 million. The figure was down just 2% from April and up 41% on-year from May 2018. Continue Reading
Apple Music now has 60 million users, including both paying subscribers and listeners on free trials. Apple exec Eddy Cue gave the update in an interview with French website Numerama. Continue Reading
A new podcast network called Lemonada Media made its debut today. The founders’ focus is on building community and sharing stories about real life and shared experiences from a diverse group of people. Continue Reading
Sirius XM has entered a deal with Headliner Video, which creates sharable social media videos out of audio content. This enterprise-level deal will cover both Sirius XM and Pandora. Continue Reading
Nielsen Music released its mid-year report, another assessment of streaming driving consumption. Both audio and video streams on-demand continued to grow, while physical sales and digital downloads posted another period of decline. Continue Reading