James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Kicking off Radiodays Europe. Paige Nienaber suggests exaggerating. Perry Michael Simon says everything’s fine. Much more from around the world of radio. Continue Reading
Listeners browsing through Spotify’s RapCaviar playlist may find themselves becoming viewers. The streaming service is experimenting with a mixed audio and visual format in its popular rap playlist. Clips range from an intro and outro video for the curated playlist to full-length music videos. Continue Reading
Media tech company Future Media has announced the launch of Alexa skills for the company’s radio clients. Radio stations will have access to a skill set that offers a customized presentation of the station heard through Amazon smart-speaker devices Echo, Dot, and Tap. Continue Reading
Sarah van Mosel, one of the most sought-after and respected voices on the business side of podcasting, and Sarah Shockey, the popular co-host of hit program Marty & Sarah Love Wrestling, have confirmed to speak at the RAIN Digital Audio Advertising Summit. Continue Reading
Deezer is launching its first global ad campaign to promote its Flow feature. The spots highlight the lean-back listening option, which plays a personalized stream of music based on the listener’s taste. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Podcast round-up from SXSW; Zane Lowe not the biggest fan of playlists; listening of the Irish. Continue Reading
Voice-activated smart home speaker Google Home has started experimenting with what may or may not be an ad format. Owners of the device started hearing unprompted promotions for Disney’s upcoming live action version of Beauty and the Beast. Although Google then said the mentions weren’t intended as ads, will advertising be coming to these devices? Continue Reading
Thailand is slated to hear digital radio beginning in 2018. The country’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission said it plans to launch digital radio next year. Continue Reading
Vevo has unveiled a new feature for watching music videos with multiple people. The tool, dubbed Watch Party, sets up simultaneous viewing across multiple computers. Continue Reading
Webcast listening in January moved down less than one percent compared to the previous month, according to Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics monthly Top 20 Ranker, released today. Year-over-year listening to streams gained 12%. Continue Reading
RBC Capital Markets analyst Amit Daryanani offered some insights about Apple and its music outlook in a note to investors. By his estimates, Apple Music contributes 10% of the tech giant’s services revenue, while iTunes is responsible for 22%. Continue Reading
Financial Times is the source of the latest Spotify speculation, reporting that the streaming service is close to final licensing deals with the major labels. The core of those arrangements, is that Spotify would pay a lower royalty fee to the labels, but in exchange would temporarily gate major album releases for paying customers. Continue Reading