Facebook lands more licensing deals
Facebook is soldiering on with its music industry deals. Head of Music Tamara Hrivnak penned a blog post announcing multiple arrangements with songwriting and publishing outfits. Continue Reading
YouTube Red to arrive in “dozens of markets” this year
YouTube Red is slated to make an international expansion this year. Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl told Les Echos that the company has been getting the licensing and distribution deals in place to take the subscription service to more countries. YouTube Red is currently available in Australia, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, and the U.S. Continue Reading
Gracenote has an app for getting broadcast radio on Apple CarPlay
Gracenote, the music metadata company, showed off a new tool for integrating AM/FM radio into Apple CarPlay during CES 2018 in Las Vegas. The vehicle infotainment dashboard doesn’t normally support terrestrial radio, but Gracenote’s app contains several features for playing local radio within that interface. Continue Reading
Samsung phones in two markets will have FM chips unlocked
New Samsung phones in U.S. and Canada will be sold with their FM chips unlocked. The tech manufacturer is working with NextRadio to activate the existing FM chips in smartphones for those markets. Continue Reading
Pandora CEO wants to add “podcast genome project”
Pandora is making plans to broaden its podcast offerings. CEO Roger Lynch spoke with Variety during CES and said his goal is to create “the equivalent of the podcast genome project.” Lynch said the company is working on a system that would allow listeners to browse and discover new shows on Pandora. The move isn’t unprecedented, but there are some questions. Continue Reading
Sirius XM offers 2018 guidance and CFO says there won’t be any acquisitions
Ahead of its Q4 earnings call, Sirius XM announced that it has exceeded its 2017 subscriber guidance. The satellite radio company ended the year with about 27.5 million self-pay subscribers, adding an estimated 1.56 million self-pay subscribers in 2017. Continue Reading
Stitcher and Stitcher Premium get new shows debuting in Q1
Stitcher announced the debut of two new shows on its podcast network. The first is Unladylike and the second show is Who Is Franklin Jones? The Stitcher Premium subscription service is also getting three new programs. Continue Reading
Science Friday joining WNYC Studios portfolio
WNYC Studios has entered a partnership with Science Friday, which will join its portfolio effective January 12. Science Friday includes a podcast, radio show, videos, and digital presence. Its programming focuses on fun and educational stories about science and technology. Continue Reading
RAJAR Survey: Radio still leads, but on-demand has pull for youngest listeners
RAJAR has shared the results from its MIDAS Survey for winter 2017. Live radio has a 90% reach. Live radio also has the largest share of listening hours for each age bracket. The survey also offers data on on-demand listening and podcasts. Another interesting data set is the device share, which breaks down types of listening by platform. Continue Reading
Google smart displays add video to voice-controlled speakers
Google has been using this week’s CES show in Las Vegas to continue making inroads into the voice control space. The company announced the launch of four new smart displays, which are touchscreen devices enabled with Google Assistant. The product segment is currently being positioned for use in the kitchen. Continue Reading
Jimmy Iovine denies rumored exit, says he’s “committed” to Apple
Jimmy Iovine has denied the rumor that he would leave Apple in August. Speculation emerged last week that the decorated music exec would split with Apple later this year after his shares in the tech company fully vested. Iovine has now told Variety that he’s with the company for the long haul. Continue Reading
16% of Americans own a smart speaker: post-holiday results of groundbreaking NPR/Edison research
NPR has updated its Smart Audio Report with a post-holiday survey conducted by Edison Research. The headline result is that 16% of American adults (about 39-million people) now own a smart speaker. Smart speaker adoption is growing at the pace of smartphones several years ago. AM/FM radio listening is being replaced at a greater rate than any other activity. Continue Reading