June 30, 2015

Apple is Onboard with Ad-Supported Listening After All

Apple Music launched this morning with an ad-supported listening service. Yes, there is the subscription service as well. Apple execs never said there wouldn’t be ads. They just didn’t mention it, so the media assumed the company was walking away from the 21-month ad-supported iTunes Radio experiment. We now know this is not the case.
June 22, 2015
Taylor Swift vs. Apple Music

Apple Accepts the Worst Deal in Music Streaming – thanks to Taylor Swift

It was a busy weekend. Yesterday, a Taylor Swift Tumblr post explained why she will withhold her 1989 album from the new Apple Music service. A few hours later Apple changed course, decided to incur higher operating costs in perpetuity and is back in Swift’s good graces. Everybody wins? Not likely.
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.
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 21, 2015

More Advertisers Identified on Internet Radio

The Internet Radio Ad Load Report for Q1 2015 presented some interesting numbers on a declining ad load. However, the more intriguing finding was the steady growth in advertisers identified across industries. We admitted surprise to the large number of advertisers we identified in the Holiday 2014 Internet Radio Ad Load Report. In the first quarter of 2015, we were surprised again.
May 13, 2015
Internet Radio Ad Load Graph

Internet Radio in Q1 – Ad Load Falls, New Advertisers Rise

Today XAPPmedia released the Internet radio Ad Load Report for Q1 2015. This is the second edition in a continuing series. The Q1 analysis includes the addition of a fifth Internet radio publisher and more extensive consideration of advertiser concentration among the publishers.
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.