June 10, 2015
Spotify Subscriber Numbers

Spotify Reaches 75 Million Active Users, Subscriptions Grow

This morning, Spotify released some new numbers in terms of 75 million active users and 20 million subscribers. Just over one year ago, Spotify announced 40 million active users of which 10 million were subscribers.
June 9, 2015

Apple Music’s Biggest Threat May Be to Broadcast Radio

There has been a lot of talk since Apple acquired Beats last year about the impact the re-introduced streaming service could have on the industry. When it first came to market, there was widespread speculation that Beats might take market share from Spotify. That didn’t happen. Spotify’s growth only accelerated and Beats all but shut down after the Apple acquisition. Though Yesterday, Apple Music was announced and it sounds very Spotify-like.
June 4, 2015
Digital Ad Viewability

Internet Radio’s Viewability Problem

“Audio Doesn’t Have the Viewability Problem of Display.” The problem is that this is only true for awareness audio campaigns. For any campaign hoping to drive engagement or conversion metrics, audio today faces higher hurdles than display. That is, unless you use voice for engagement instead of relying on touch. Let’s unpack this.
June 2, 2015
Chart 3 - Percent of Advertising Spend, Radio vs Mobile

4 Charts Show Radio’s Future is on Mobile

Mary Meeker’s 2015 Internet Trends report provides 196 slides packed with data. Radio typically only shows up in one slide with a chart that represents time spent with media compared to advertising revenue. If you look back at five years of these presentations there is story to be told about radio’s past, present and future.
May 28, 2015
Facebook Overindexing and Internet Radio Underindexing

Audio Apps Need Better Content Interaction to Close the Advertising Gap

Consumers interact on mobile with a frequency and intensity that is simply absent in a desktop environment. You must produce a mobile user experience that considers both consumption and interaction to have a truly exceptional digital media product today.
May 8, 2015
Wired Magazine featuring XAPPmedia

WIRED on XAPP: “Forget the Click! New Interactive Ads Want to Talk With You”

WIRED Magazine recently covered XAPPmedia and interviewed CEO Pat Higbie about the interactive audio features that XAPP offers. Writer Julia Greenberg discusses the XAPP ads that NPR uses on the NPR One and NPR News mobile apps and the technology that other companies are working on to improve the digital advertising experience.
May 4, 2015
eMarketer Internet Radio Share of Ad Spend and TSL Chart

eMarketer Expects Higher Internet Radio Ad Spending

eMarketer recently put out a note with the subtitle, “As time spent with digital radio rises, ad loads, rates follow.” The conclusion was drawn from data in the recent Internet Radio & Streaming Report by XAPPmedia/RAIN News along with Edison and eMarketer research. While it was nice to see XAPPmedia data cited by eMarketer, there were two conclusions by their analysts that were particularly important for the industry...
April 14, 2015
Locked Screen While Listening to NPR One

Creating a Great Content Interaction Experience on Mobile

Recently, I made a presentation at the Internet radio industry’s premier event, RAIN Summit. My message was simple. A great mobile user experience requires two components: a great content consumption experience and a great content interaction experience.
March 16, 2015
Interactive Audio Response Rates Infographic

How Voice Interaction Increases Internet Radio Response Rates (Infographic)

Today, XAPP has released an infographic showing how interactive audio ads have impacted the economics of Internet radio. Data show that voice is the new touch and response rates increase significantly when the listener only needs to respond with his or her voice. View the infographic here.