In an interview with “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer, Neil Young revealed that Pono Music will have an automotive angle. He said the company is working with Harman to give Pono access within the 2016 Lincoln Continental. Tesla is also expected to bring Pono into its digital dashboard once the music store is ready. Continue Reading
We learned that Aupeo is readying an update and re-branding of its Personal Radio product, soon to be re-named Personal Radio by Aupeo. Stay tuned for details during CES week in January. In the meantime, we spoke with CEO Holger Weiss, who Skyped with RAIN News from his Berlin office. Continue Reading
Most true music aficionados will always have a soft spot for the tradition of the mixtape. As more of our listening migrates onto computers and smartphones, our old tapes and CDs can start to seem like relics from a bygone time. Sure, you could turn to an online playlisting service, and many of them are quite good, but thus far none of those platforms has recaptured quite the same experience of making a mixtape for somebody. Today we took a look at Tapely, a site that aims to tap into that classic mixtape activity. Continue Reading
Pandora has released an infographic with data about U.S. listening habits during the holiday season. Utah clocked in as the state with the highest percentage of holiday music at 19%. Maine came in just behind at 17%. Holiday stations are vastly more prevalent for women, who are 88% more likely than men to create those channels. Continue Reading
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A six-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming music and online audio. This week: New research into music videos; PodcastOne’s breakthrough partnership; Fighting back against a podcast patent; Deezer gets a CEO…and music lyrics; Vessel — a new video service; Ed Sheeran loves Spotify and calls Taylor Swift a past-era artist. Continue Reading
It’s been an eventful week for Deezer with the addition of a new CEO and a new CMO. The streaming service is also incorporating a new feature this week called Lyrics. As you might guess, this means that listeners can hit a button in the music player and see all of the words to a track while it plays. Continue Reading
In a first-of-its-kind partnership, PodcastOne and the Associated Press (AP) are partnering to create one-minute news podcasts. Special insertion technology will automatically deliver the most current 60-second program to each listener. Eighteen shows will be produced each day, seven days a week. RAIN News spoke to PodcastOne founder Norman Pattiz. Continue Reading
Bandcamp made its name as a straightforward direct-to-fan platform, but it has expanded its offerings to give artists more power over the business side of their operations. The latest change opens the door to record labels as well. Bandcamp for Labels is a paid service that provides unified accounting and statistics for all acts under a particular brand. Continue Reading
Will Page, Director of Economics at Spotify, published a revealing analysis of how Meghan Trainor’s hit song “All About That Bass” became a charted hit, pushed more by streaming than by radio — and even before the track was available to purchase in the U.K. The cross-continental story raises questions about music distribution strategies in an era when online engagement can create hit without traditional levers. Continue Reading
Line, the Japanese messaging app, isn’t wasting any time moving forward with its plans for a new music service. Shortly after announcing its plans to launch Line Music, the company has agreed to acquire MixRadio from Microsoft. According to the announcement from Line, MixRadio will continue working with Microsoft on a third-party music platform for Lumia smartphones. Continue Reading
Most of today’s online music services include some feature that encourages listeners to discover new artists and songs. According to a new study from MusicWatch, though, the biggest driver of discovery is actually online video. Numbers from the consumer research company showed that 34% of respondents said video services were the most influential source of new music discovery. Continue Reading
Pandora has launched a new native app that brings the online radio service to Microsoft’s Xbox One. The app comes with voice and gesture controls through the Kinect system. According to GigaOm, listeners can use the Kinect to search, skip songs, and give ratings. Continue Reading