Spotify has unveiled a new version of its mobile app that adds select on-demand features to its freemium tier. Free listeners will get on-demand access to 15 of Spotify’s personalized discovery playlists — such as Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and the Daily Mixes — and its popular curated collections — including RapCaviar and Ultimate Indie. Continue Reading
One of the most successful audio titles, Freakonomics Radio, is moving to Stitcher this summer, according to an announcement sent out this morning by Midroll Media, which controls Stitcher. Both Midroll and Stitcher are owned by E.W. Scripps. There’s an interesting strategy for show archives. Continue Reading
The RIAA found that in 2017, U.S. revenue from Latin music increased 37% to $243 million. The genre holds a 2.8% share by value of the American music market. Streaming revenue grew 54% to $204 million, a record-high that secured an 84% share of the genre’s total results. Continue Reading
Streaming revenue has topped yet another report. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has released its Global Music Report 2018, which showed a third consecutive year of increased music sales on the back of streaming growth. Continue Reading
PRS for Music, a UK collection agency, announced that it paid out record royalties to its members last year. The group’s 2017 payouts totaled £605.1 million, up 14.7% from the 2016 amounts. PRS said that 6.6 trillion performances were reported last year, a 53% on-year increase that led to a record-high collection total of £717 million. Continue Reading
Deezer is updating the signature Flow feature in its streaming music service. Flow is a lean-back option designed to deliver songs tailored to the individual’s taste with minimal engagement from the listener. Now, Deezer has added an option that gives listeners more control over what they hear. Continue Reading
Facebook has continued its spree of licensing deals, inking a bunch of agreements with groups for independent artists. On Friday, it announced deals with Merlin, [PIAS], Beggar’s Group, and InGrooves. Those four groups will make their catalogs available to the social media network’s users. Continue Reading
Google intends to double the podcast audience in a couple of years, and correct what it sees as an imbalance in Android’s share of delivery compared to iPhones. Some of Google’s podcast discovery and listening strategy is already implemented, and it shines a meaningful light on Google’s potential power to come from way behind Apple’s 13-year advantage in delivering podcasts to its iTunes and Podcasts app audiences. Continue Reading
Tencent Music appears to be moving forward with plans for an IPO in the United States later this year. The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported that Tencent Music will start interviewing underwriting banks over the next month. Sources predicted that the company could be valued at $25 billion on a U.S. stock exchange, which would make it the fourth-largest tech IPO in the country. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: In the UK, Bauer’s new national radio station. In the U.S., statistics and trends from Podcast Consumer 2018. Continue Reading
IFPI reported that streaming music helped drive growth for India’s music industry in 2017. Total music revenue in the country rose from 5.7 billion rupees in 2016 to nearly 7.26 billion rupees last year. Streaming music revenue grew by 37.26%. Continue Reading
Podcasts are taking the world by storm. The Weather Channel has announced that it is debuting its first podcast next week. The program, Weather Geeks, is hosted by former American Meteorological Society president Dr. Marshall Shepherd. Continue Reading