Sony Music Entertainment has renewed its deal with Tencent Music for distribution in China. The conglomerate operates QQ Music, a very popular streaming service for the Asian market. Continue Reading
AudioBoom has inked another partnership, this time focused on the Australian market. It will now host, distribute, and monetize on-demand versions of the radio programs from Grant Broadcasters. Continue Reading
Streaming is projected as the source of nearly all mobile music by 2022, according to new research from Strategy Analytics. The latest report pegged streaming as 76% of the mobile music market in 2015, and estimated that the share would grow to 95% by 2022. Continue Reading
Deezer has expanded its deal with mobile carrier Orange, which will be the exclusive telecom partner for the streaming service through to summer 2018. This should be a positive financial move for Deezer; the Orange contract provided 24% of its revenue in the first half of 2015. Continue Reading
With its announcement of on-demand subscription services, iHeartMedia is stepping into a music-service pool swimming with sharks like Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Soundcloud, and others. Stiff and more or less established competition, but none of those existing services has the gigantic promotional leverage of iHeart’s radio network, which has been activated already. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: More videos from the Next Radio Conference. A lazy radio hot take from Salon. Radio’s first-ever jingle. Much, much more. Continue Reading
In another victory for the idea that online radio is “real” radio, St Louis-based TheRoots.fm has won the Reader’s Choice award for Best Radio Station in the Riverfront Times. Two years ago, the station helped reverse a decision that online radio stations were ineligible for the aware. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web. NPR Music restructures for new goals; Mixcloud anniversary and redesign; MTV working to revive its M. Continue Reading
The legal definition of a stream is currently under a microscope in a lawsuit filed by 19 Recordings. The plaintiff, which represents the winners of reality TV competition American Idol, alleged that its clients have been shortchanged on revenue because of how Sony defines a stream in contracts. Continue Reading
Helen Boaden is resigning from her post as BBC’s director of radio. She is expected to step down in March 2017 after 34 years with the broadcaster. Boaden is leaving at a critical juncture for the BBC. Continue Reading
Spotify has launched in Japan, a long-awaited push that has been many months in the making. The service has debuted with an invite-only system. Spotify’s Premium tier will cost 980 yen ($9.70) a month, although free ad-supported access is also available. Continue Reading
Whooshkaa announced that it has hired a new exec to spearhead its efforts in creating original content. Corey Layton will lead that effort as director of content and marketing. Continue Reading