The Download on Podcasts is a weekly feature sponsored by PodcastOne.
Making on-demand audio has become easy. Making money from audio is harder. A new wave of monetization solutions for new and independent bloggers signals a maturation of the podcast industry. Continue Reading
Premium streaming service Tidal has signed on a new public relations and marketing firm. The company’s duties in that department will now be managed by MWW, which also represents online businesses Netflix and Eventbrite. Continue Reading
SoundCloud has taken its podcasting service out of beta and made it live for all users. The new podcast hosting additions include RSS feed distribution, embeddable podcast players, integration with social networks, and timed comments. Continue Reading
The legal saga centered around the Grooveshark name appears to be getting a bizarre epilogue. Last week, Grooveshark finally resigned itself to its fate and shuttered its doors. However, the long-beleagured site and its legally uncertain approach to streaming music appears to have returned to the web. Continue Reading
The music industry has been waiting for Apple to unveil its new vision for Beats Music, and the streaming service’s debut is expected to happen during the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference next month. However, Billboard has reported that Apple allegedly may not have any of the licensing deals with major labels that are necessary for the service to meet that launch date. Continue Reading
If you work for the state of Vermont, you’re not listening to Pandora today, according to a report from NPR. Or Spotify. Or Slacker. Or Live365. Or iHeartRadio. The state’s technology management division has placed a block on those music sites and services to reduce bandwidth strain on the government’s Internet system. Continue Reading
Media software company WideOrbit announced that audioBoom, the spoken-word, on-demand listening platform, has selected WO On Demand to monetize its podcasts. The technical solution injects pre-recorded advertisements into podcasts — a category which is dominated by host-read native advertising. Continue Reading
The FCC has granted Pandora broadcast approval permission to own a terrestrial radio station. This means that Pandora has cleared the major hurdle to complete its $600,000 purchase of the KXMZ station in Rapid City, South Dakota, which it started in 2013. Continue Reading
ASCAP’s board of directors has completed its officer election and announced its new set of leaders. Paul Williams was elected to a fourth term as the organization’s chairman and president. The board added a new publisher member in the form of Jody Gerson, who is also chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group. Continue Reading
AudioHQ announced an internal promotion within its management. Brian Conlan has been promoted to senior vice president of sales and operations, reflecting growth of the AudioHQ sales team. Continue Reading
During Entercom’s earnings call yesterday, CEO David Field responded to analyst questions about programmatic advertising. The topic did not arise during Entercom’s prepared statements; it was investors on the Entercom call who led the conversation toward programmatic. Continue Reading
adStream is an ad-watch journal of interesting commercial sightings in streaming audio.
Spotify Free, the sometimes controversial ad-supported music service, advertises Spotify Premium in an interesting way: when the listener watches a 30-second commercial, the next 30 minutes are ad-free. Continue Reading