Before the weekend, we recapped the activity surrounding SoundCloud and the outlook for its future. The company had issued an odd response to reporting by TechCrunch, and popular hip-hop performer Chance the Rapper said he “was working on” an effort to help the audio platform. Today, we have some further developments on both of those stories. Continue Reading
Sony is reportedly in the final stages of a deal to purchase Believe Digital. According to Nikkei, Sony plans to pay an estimated 40 billion to 50 billion yen ($355 million to $444 million) for the distributor and label services company. Update: Believe Digital CEO denies Nikkei reporting. Continue Reading
The UK’s music market is following the global trends of increased streaming and decreased downloads. The mid-year data released by BPI and the Official Charts Company showed a 11.6% increase in album equivalent sales for the first half of the year, reaching nearly 63.87 million units. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Net neutrality’s importance to radio. How analytics could sway podcast creation. A reminder about the importance of good security. Much more. Continue Reading
Bridge Ratings has posted an update to its New Media Gauntlet study, which reflects listener trends across different media. The latest results showed that although radio’s weekly cume has been relatively stable over time, it has been declining in how many people dub it their favorite listening choice. Streaming, on the other hand, has been rising in “favoriteness,” which Bridge said is chipping away at the numbers for both radio and downloads. Continue Reading
Yesterday’s Quick Hits included a rather dire outlook on SoundCloud from TechCrunch, which shared reports from an all-hands meeting at the audio company that cast serious doubts on its financial outlook. Today brings two responses to that report, one from SoundCloud and one from a possible source of help. Continue Reading
Nielsen has published a mid-year report on Canada’s music market. Total audio consumption for the first six months of 2017 reached 22.9 million units, up 14.4% on-year. The growth was founded on 86.6% grown in on-demand audio streaming, which reached 17.5 billion for the period. Continue Reading
Google Play Music has rolled out its New Release Radio personalized playlist to all listeners across its free and subscription tiers. The curated playlists contain newly released music that Google’s machine learning platform determines each user would like. The feature debuted in June as an exclusive for the owners of Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus smartphones. Continue Reading
MIDiA Research has published an assessment of Amazon’s music efforts. “Based on conversations with rights holders and other industry executives we can confirm that Amazon is now the 3rd largest subscription service,” the MIDiA blog post read. “Amazon can now discard its dark horse guise and be revealed for what it is: one of the top streaming music players.” Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: How labels approach Spotify playlist promotion. Kickstarter project Mighty launches. More tough news from SoundCloud. Continue Reading
Nielsen’s Total Audience Report for the first quarter of 2017 placed its focus on generational distinctions, with profiles for baby boomers, millennials, and more. Continue Reading
UK telecom EE has a new deal with Apple Music. Any monthly or SIM-only customers can get six months of free access to the streaming platform. Under this promotion, use of Apple Music will not count toward the individual’s data plan. Continue Reading