Merlin, the independent label group and music rights agency, announced new leadership for its operations in Japan. Akira Nomoto has been named general manager of Merlin Japan. Kaoruko Hill has been promoted to an expanded role of head of member services and operations. Continue Reading
YouTube has rolled out some of its music services to several European markets. YouTube Premium and YouTube Music are now listed as available in six new nations, with a seventh likely on the way. Continue Reading
Smart speaker ownership continues to rise in the United States, according to the latest survey by the Consumer Technology Association. The organization examined ownership and intent to purchase for this device segment and dozens of other tech products. Continue Reading
SoundCloud has a new hire who will keep a focus on the company’s grassroots ethos. Josh Nicoll has been named head of independent label services. Most recently, he held a post at independent label and distributor [PIAS]. Continue Reading
Tencent Music Entertainment has released its financial results for the first quarter. Although it did beat out financial expectations, Wall Street still responded cautiously to the results. And there could be more uncertainty on the horizon for Tencent Music: Guomin Xie is stepping down from his role as co-president and director. Continue Reading
DJ-centric music platform Beatport is making one more attempt at streaming. The company introduced a subscription service called Beatport LINK in beta. This platform will make the retailer’s entire catalog available to stream directly into performance software. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio announced the results of a foray into branded podcasting. The company has released the first branded episode from its partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures in support of WB’s upcoming film project Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Continue Reading
Sonos has made good on one of the announcements in its latest quarterly shareholder letter. The company is beginning to roll out a software update that will bring support for the Google Assistant voice AI to its smart speakers. Continue Reading
Live365 has launched its own skill for use with the Amazon Alexa voice assistant. This integration will allow listeners to access lean-back listening to hundreds of music genres and thousands of stations. Continue Reading
AdsWizz shared details on its AudioGO self-serve audio ad platform. The service entered its public beta earlier in the quarter, and appears to still be in that stage of development. AudioGO is designed to help small businesses and agencies to buy advertising on mainstream audio services. Continue Reading
Spotify introduced a new tool called Soundtrap for Storytellers that will further solidify its new reputation in podcasting. The new cloud-based tools are the result of Spotify’s acquisition of Soundtrap in late 2017. Continue Reading
Rolling Stone is working on new charts for the music business, but it’s unclear exactly what directions their path to a launch will take. The company announced and almost immediately delayed the launch of its own set of charts, which are currently in a private beta. The charts will be powered by BuzzAngle Music, which received an investment from Rolling Stone parent company Penske Media Corporation last year. Continue Reading