Bret Kinsella, Author at XAPPmedia

January 27, 2016

Streaming Audio Has an Advantage in an Ad-Blocker World

The number one digital advertising topic of 2016 is shaping up to be ad-blocking. It should be noted that most music streaming services rely primarily on audio ads which avoid the viewability problem of ad-blocking altogether. So if the audio is streamed, impressions are delivered. As a result, audio ads are less likely to be victims of ad-blocking technology.

January 19, 2016

Apple Music Shuttering Ad-supported Service, An Opportunity Emerges

Apple announced Friday that it would be shuttering the ad-supported listening service within Apple Music. Is this a matter of Apple learning what business works best for music or a foreshadowing of what Apple Music subscribers will face if that service doesn’t meet expectations?

January 11, 2016

Streaming Music Subscribers (millions) Chart

Apple Music at Six Months: 10 Million Subscribers and a Free Tier

The Financial Times reported over the weekend that Apple Music has reached 10 million subscribers. This trails what The Verge estimates is over 25 million Spotify subscribers, but represents impressive growth just six months after launch. It is interesting to consider the different user acquisition strategies used by the leading music streaming services.

January 7, 2016

Long Stopsets Drive Listeners to Internet Radio

Radio broadcasters have long considered the experience of live and local to be their greatest asset in attracting and maintaining audience. That experience is too often undermined by long stopsets of advertisements that motivate listeners to choose another station or another audio channel altogether.

December 29, 2015

Labels don't understand real value of music

The Top 10 Internet Radio Articles of 2015

2015 was a big year for Internet radio and streaming services. Today’s focus is the 10 best articles on the industry over the past 12 months. See the full list below with entries from Music Industry Blog, Billboard, RAIN, Mark Ramsey Media, and more.

December 17, 2015

Royalty Rates Rise 21%, Quest for Higher Ad Rates Begins

Yesterday, the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) raised royalty rates for Internet radio streams from 0.14 cents to 0.17 cents per song played. The 21% royalty increase takes effect in 2016. Future rates will rise annually between 2017-2020 based on the Consumer Price Index. Who is impacted by the rate change?

December 15, 2015

4 Quarters of Internet Radio Advertisers by Industry

Media, Entertainment and Gaming Group Had Top Number of Internet Radio Advertisers in Q3

The Internet Radio Ad Load Report for Q3 2015 showed a small growth in advertisers, but a reduction in the frequency of the top advertisers. The spots are getting spread around among more advertisers. In Q3, Retail and the combined Media, Entertainment & Gaming (MEG) group were again the top two industries represented in Internet radio ads.

December 8, 2015

Broadcast Radio Should Leverage Digital Options

Inside Radio Concludes Digital is “Premium Asset” for Broadcasters

Over the past couple of months, Inside Radio has published a number of articles related to digital channels and bringing broadcast radio to the Internet. Radio broadcasters have both experience and assets to leverage when competing for digital audio advertising spend.

November 16, 2015

How Long Before your First Ad on Internet Radio?

On Thursday, we published the Internet Radio Ad Load Report for Q3 2015. A metric we have collected since our first ad load report is Time To First Ad (TTFA). TTFA identifies how much content is delivered to a listener before they receive the first ad.