Mark Ramsey: This Is How Long Your Podcast Should Be
by Mark Ramsey
Guest columnist Mark Ramsey weighs in on a hot debate in podcasting: How long is the best podcast length? Continue Reading
SoundExchange Q1 report: “Off to a Fast Start”
SoundExchange, which collects and distributes label royalties from streaming music, released its Q1 2017 report this morning, citing growth statistics compared to Q1 2016. It’s a growth story of participating musicians, even as Pandora — the largest single contributor to label royalties from webcasting — reduced its involvement in this particular payment system. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Apple Music’s video vision; Norway FM shutdowns continue; digital ad spend favors mobile
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: An Apple Music interview on its video future; ongoing FM shutdown in Norway; mobile leading digital ad spend. Continue Reading
Documentary about radio DJ’s released to Vimeo
RAIN News received a note from Roger King, Producer and Director of I Am What I Play, a documentary about radio DJs. The film was completed in July, 2014, has been playing in the documentary circuit, and is available to stream or download on Vimeo starting today. Continue Reading
SBS Radio plans Eurovision special event
Australia’s SBS Radio announced a campaign centered around the Eurovision music talent competition. SBS Eurovision Radio will be a round-the-clock station on digital radio, online, and mobile that features hits from the international competition. It will also have a live simulcast of the semifinal and grand final performances next week. Continue Reading
Russian social network launches streaming service backed by label deals
Russian social media platform VKontakte has successfully launched a built-in music service. The company has been working toward this goal for some time, and now it has secured licensing deals with all three of the majors and with indie label network Merlin. The service, which often draws comparisons to Facebook, had 410 million accounts as of January 2017. Continue Reading
Ezra Kucharz leaves CBS
Ezra Kucharz, previously the President of Local Digital Media at CBS, and more recently Special Advisor to CBS, announced today that he is leaving CBS Corporation entirely at the end of business today. He disclosed his departure in a LinkedIn post. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio: Lyrebird, lazy Buggles headlines, FIX Radio, podcast awards
by James Cridland
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Lyrebird and voice synthesizing. FIX Radio lauches in London. The UK’s first podcasting awards. Much more. Continue Reading
Sony’s overall FY results dip despite streaming growth
Sony Music Entertainment’s latest financial results showed an overall decline this fiscal year despite streaming growth. Annual revenue for the recorded music division totaled 388.95 billion yen ($3.5 billion), down 5.8% from the year-ago period. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia partners with Electric Daisy Carnival dance music festival
iHeartMedia is partnering with Insomniac for the launch of a dance music station tied to the Electric Daisy Carnival event, happening June 16-18 in Las Vegas. The EDC Radio station, debuting April 28, will be exclusive to iHeartRadio. It will feature 24/7 programming focused on the dance genre alongside original content. Continue Reading
Apple Music partners with Musical.ly
Apple has partnered with mobile social/video platform Musical.ly in a new marketing deal. Under this arrangement, Apple Music will be a supplier of the song snippets that Musical.ly users can pick to soundtrack their video clips. Continue Reading
Amazon Q1 results include 52% growth for retail subscription services
Amazon has reported its financial results for Q1 2017. The company’s net income for the quarter totaled $724 million. The tech giant doesn’t break out the specifics for its streaming music platforms, but those are part of the Retail Subscription Services division. Continue Reading