Audio Ink

WEEI is Entercom's sports station in Boston. Last week the station launched its first custom podcast called Enough About Me, and it's off to an amazing start, proving radio listeners will follow the hosts they love no matter where and when they broadcast. As long as the content is killer, of course. And this podcast is certainly excellent.

Sonos announced on Wednesday that Apple Music is now available on Sonos systems worldwide. Users now have access to Apple Music features like For You, New, Radio, and My Music, and will also be able to stream the entire Apple Music catalog through Sonos smart speakers.

Tuesday, Spotify announced the launch of the Music Matchmaker app, to help users in media agencies find love and friendship this Valentine’s Day.

NextRadio saw "tremendous" growth in downloads, listening, viewing, and interactions in 2015. Some stats for the app, which enhances FM listening on cell phones: Overall listening more than quadrupled, rising 334 percent in 2015 compared to 2014. Average session length went up 25 percent, to 57 minutes, while average time spent listening via NextRadio went from 21 minutes to 26 minutes (compared to 13 minutes for traditional radio).

Mark Ramsey calls Hivio the first and only audio future festival and it will be held in Los Angeles on June 2 and 3, 2016. It's the 4th year for the event and Ramsey says it brings together people from radio, online radio, podcasting, talent, agencies, social media, platforms, and more.

Futuri Media has reached an agreement with Cumulus to provide the company with four of its platforms: Listener Driven Radio, Takeover, TopicPulse social media monitoring, and TopLine sales research. The technology will be implemented in 27 of Cumulus’ largest markets with additional markets and stations to follow.

Yet another player with a recognizable name enters the streaming space. SoundCloud has launched a new feature called "Stations," which allows users to tap into a long stream of music related to their likes.

SiriusXM's connected-vehicle services division has signed a new five-year deal to provide driver-related data to Acura and Honda vehicles.

Triton Digital has signed a deal with European radio and podcast aggregator Radioline. Radioline joins Triton's a2x programmatic audio advertising exchange. This partnership enables the programmatic purchase of online digital audio inventory on Radioline’s website to start, with TV and mobile inventory becoming available this summer.

College students nationwide can create and submit a sixty second radio commercial promoting Emmis' NextRadio. NextRadio and the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System have teamed up in search of the best radio spot showcasing FM Chip in smartphones. The winner will have his or her spot included in an upcoming run of NextRadio commercials.