Exaget Week in Review: On Demand Audio Special
Exaget looks at this week’s top stories from the worlds of mobile, music streaming, radio and digital marketing.
Season’s greetings from Exaget. It’s been a busy one this week in the world of on demand audio. When people tend to think of online audio, they tend to think of music streaming services such as Spotify or Deezer. But equally well-established and fighting fiercely for ‘share of ear’ are on demand audio services including SoundCloud, Audioboom and Mixcloud. Each has sought to carve itself out a niche – Mixcloud specialise in DJ mixes and radio shows, Audioboom specialise in short form speech content and SoundCloud…well, SoundCloud seem to be positioning themselves as ‘YouTube for Audio’. There’s been a lot of movement in this sector of the digital audio market – in the last week and over the last twelve months. Here is a round up of the biggest news stories from the on demand digital audio sector at the moment:
SoundCloud looking to raise $150 million – giving themselves a valuation of $1.2 billion
SoundCloud are looking to maintain their position as the biggest players in the on demand audio market. They are hoping to broker a whopping $150 million funding deal, thereby valuing themselves at an astounding $1.2 billion. SoundCloud already has a well-established audience size, but with the extra cash they intend to develop new features and offer better support for musicians and DJs.
AdLarge partners with AudioBoom as exclusive advertising rep for U.S audience
Elsewhere in the world of on-demand AudioBoom this week announced a partnership with American ad-repping firm AdLarge, who will gain exclusive representation of AudioBoom’s advertising opportunities in their fast-growing Trans- Atlantic market – already 30% of Audioboom’s audience is in the US.
Audioboom strikes content deal with Audible
And more Audioboom news….They’ve also signed a deal this week with Audible, the world’s biggest provider of spoken audio content. Listeners on Audioboom’s app will be able to hear samples of Audible’s bestselling books and new releases.
Mixcloud celebrates 5 years & 6 million uploads
Everyone here at Exaget would like to wish Mixcloud a very happy birthday. And the London-based on demand music service are also celebrating over 6 million shows uploaded by a community of DJs, radio presenters, and curators, who are all 650,000 strong.
That’s all for this week’s instalment of Exaget’s Week in Review. I’ll be back just before the New Year, still stuffed with all that turkey no doubt!
Merry Christmas from all the team
If you are interested in becoming a broadcasting partner, or would like to know what our integrating technology can do for you, contact our Partnership Account Manager Matthew Layton – matthew.layton@exaget.com or +447533517396
If you are interested in advertising opportunities, please contact the CEO of Exaget, Shankar Meembat – shankar.meembat@exaget.com or +447411130680
Black Friday goes digital, and mobile, in the UK
December 29, 2014
Hair pulling. Scratching. Clawing at the air. Coat grabbing. Elbowing. Foot stamping. Aggressive shoving. No, I am not talking about a Friday night pub brawl. Black Friday has been synonymous with two things – physical aggressiveness in the race to snatch a bargain, and the US. We Brits usually prefer to patiently chew on our turkeys, wear our paper crowns, and wait till it’s time to pop into John Lewis or Debenhams for the sales. All very decent, well-mannered, everyone gets what they want, and nobody gets hurt.
So it was with mild terror that we looked on as the Black Friday phenomenon crossed the Atlantic onto our shores. Surely we could never descend to that. Fear not, ye Brits, because research has shown that while Black Friday is yet another American import wiggling its way into our culture, over here we’ve digitalised it. Which means that you can still pop the kettle on while you browse for bargains on your phone.
Unlike in the US, where it is preceded by the holiday of Thanksgiving, in the UK Black Friday has no cultural relevance, and thus the physical element that goes hand-in-hand with it in the States is less pronounced over here; it’s just a chance to get a bargain Christmas present. While there were a few scuffles in one or two shops – Asda for instance – ecommerce sales for Black Friday grew by 91.6% this year; mobile engagement was up too on that day, with mobile site traffic reaching 60% of all digital traffic that day. The impressive statistics from Visa Europe showed that we Brits spent £1 million every three minutes, with online transactions up by more than a fifth from last year’s Black Friday.
In short, Black Friday is not only here to stay, but it’s also becoming one of the biggest digital shopping phenomena. After all, how could we possibly resist the chance to snap up a bargain? Pre-Christmas sales, post-Christmas sales – we love them, and no matter what state the economy might be in, sales are ingrained into our culture. And with more people turning to their portable mobile devices – be it the smartphone, the tablet, or even the futuristic smartwatch – shopping is becoming increasingly digital, and mobile; which will surely make husbands relieved to hear!
The digitalisation of Black Friday, and other sales events too, could cause a glitch for retailers. Rather than shelling out copious amounts of money on in-store displays and television ads, they’ll have to rethink their marketing strategies to include digital. And as we have already seen this Christmas with fears of online grocery orders arriving late, they’d have to pull their technology socks up to ensure that their systems can cope with a mass influx of online visitors without crashing. But it will be resources well spent. Black Friday is a trending cultural event that is set to stay and grow in popularity. What was once a physical raging stampede has become a finger-tapping digital phenomenon, and other shopping events are bound to follow suit next year.
With the post-Christmas sales still coming up, many consumers will most likely be too full with Christmas leftovers to move and not in the mood for the hustle and bustle of shopping centres and high streets. It will be much easier for them to put their feet up and pick up their phones – which, as creatures of habit, we tend to always have near us. Retail giants and well-loved brands should take heed of the Black Friday trend and tap into the advantages of mobile spend if they want to rake in bigger profits in this most lucrative season.
If you are interested in becoming a broadcasting partner, or would like to know what our integrating technology can do for you, contact our Partnership Account Manager Matthew Layton – matthew.layton@exaget.com or +447533517396
If you are interested in advertising opportunities, please contact the CEO of Exaget, Shankar Meembat –shankar.meembat@exaget.com or +447411130680