MORE BANK FOR THE LABELS:  As a follow up to yesterday’s article on label revenue from on-demand stream licensing, I thought it would be helpful to include the ad-supported side of the house. The attached article and graph show the labels’ worldwide streaming rev for both sides over the last several years. The dark blue ad-supported lines are basically all Pandora’s US-based compulsory licensing payments to Sound Exchange. As the article notes, the continued growth of on-demand streaming makes a good case for Pandora to move into this space.  http://rainnews.com/infographic-depicts-subscription-versus-ad-supported-revenue/

THE BEACONS ARE COMING:  In the next article eMarketer delves into the emerging trend of in-store beacons. For those not in the know, beacons are devices retailers can place in store to track and/or communicate with customers’ mobile devices via Bluetooth or NFC (near field communication). In its simplest usage retailers can figure out who’s in their stores – think about the kind of attribution research you could do with this information. On a more advanced level consider a CPG brand delivering an ad to your phone as you stand in front of a shelf of products (because the beacon knows you’re standing there). A little creepy perhaps. But talk about a way to get your product noticed over the other guys . We’re still way early in the beaconing game, but it’s good to become versed in this new technology. https://www.emarketer.com/Article/More-Marketers-Use-Proximity-Tech-Beacons-Closer-Action/1014428?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWXpBeVpUa3dPRGczTkRJNCIsInQiOiJaXC93bVU1N2FUOXo3SWV2MlhLWEZ6TGxYeDM4cUNIMDNcLzdVNEpsY2FxdUNqaWNxWVc1bWJEamIzbDRrYXgzdEtTd29lZEtXK0xjbzBvT1F2UzlcL2R5czladGlcL3hldmNhXC9SXC9jKzNiRHNxbz0ifQ%3D%3D

NEW TITLE NEEDED?:  So the next headline looks positive, right?  Radio reaping growth from more overall spending on Audio.  But when you look inside the numbers (and chart below), you actually see a negative trend.  Radio’s overall revenue has been flattish since 2010, and down over the last two years.  Even more pronounced is the gap in growth between radio and overall media spending.  The net result for broadcasters is a smaller and smaller slice of the ad pie every year.  Keep in mind, these stats don’t include pureplays like Pandora.  If those numbers were factored in overall Audio spending would be growing faster than the industry average – which should have been the correct headline to this article all along.  http://www.insideradio.com/radio-reaps-growth-from-expanding-audio-pie/article_bd72549e-701b-11e6-9002-f754a5c18dc0.html

Have a great loooong holiday weekend guys!