ASIA

Technological innovation is rapidly improving products and driving growth across the consumer audio industry, according to Kavish Patel, Research Analyst at Futuresource, who delivered the opening presentation at the Audio Collaborative 2024 conference in London today.Patel presented a wide breadth of market data and analysis based on Futuresources’s annual Consumer Home Audio Market report including industry growth figures, consumer preferences and trend identification.He highlighted five key insights:Consumer audio can expect 4% growth in 2024.The consumer audio market is predicted to increase 4% from $81bn to $85bn a year from 2023 to 2024, driven by the headphones segment which represents 67% of the market and is growing at 7%.Factors driving growth are (1) sound quality, (2) battery life and (3) ease of use.

Technological innovation is rapidly changing the audio industry.Spatial audio, Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE), Ultra Wideband (UWB) and Biometrics are four key technologies that are driving change in products across the audio industry.Spatial audio is becoming more prominent with spatial audio standards like Dolby Atmos becoming more prevalent within mass-market devices. Over 47% of soundbars are expected to support spatial audio by 2028.Bluetooth Low Energy is enabling products to connect to more devices at once, while increasing battery life performance, enabling consumers to wear devices for longer while switching easily between audio sources.Ultra Wideband is a very low power wireless technology that can deliver high quality audio transmission. Its use within the headphone segment is aiming to achieve audio streaming quality comparable to wired headphones.Biometrics is in its early stages with integration into audio products but has emerged as a trend in 2024. Brands are placing multiple biometric sensors into headphones, which in combination with artificial intelligence, provides consumers more health tracking capabilities. This has been most prominent in Apple’s release of its newest Airpods Pro.TWS (True Wireless Stereo) is fuelling headphone growth.The True Wireless Stereo (most commonly known as wireless earbuds) category represents 70% of the headphones market segment and is the key driver of headphones growth.The sector is also being propelled by growth in Over-Ear headphones which represent $12bn in value while In-Ear Wired products continue to decline with sales totalling $2bn.TWS growth is expected to slow between 2024 and 2028 as the market reaches saturation and product quality increases in the direction of more durability and repairability.Over-ear headphones are making a comeback.Growth in Over-Ear headphones has made a comeback since 2023. Sony is the biggest brand operating in this category, while new entrants like Sonos, which released its first headband product earlier this year, are also fuelling category growth.Consistent product innovation in over-ear headphones including features like spatial audio, ANC (active noise cancellation) and conversation enhancement technologies is driving consumer demand in this category. Consumers are willing to invest more in their Over-Ear Headphones for these features, along with better durability and battery life.Home audio is readjusting after a pandemic boom.The home audio segment is expected to decline by 2% in 2024, with bluetooth speakers representing the only expanding product category at 4% year on year growth.Within home audio, wireless speakers are the dominant category representing $16bn in value, while soundbars and hi-fi systems trail at $6bn and $1bn respectively.Audio Collaborative is an annual audio industry conference that brings together industry experts to analyse trends and market insights from across audio. […]

Benztown, a leading international audio imaging, production library, voiceover, programming, podcasting, and jingle production company is offering stations of all formats and market sizes its holiday-packed, market-exclusive “Christmas in a Box” audio production library.Stations can get the “Christmas in a Box” library for free with a Benztown library subscription. New this year are 25 highly engaging and fun “Behind the Holiday Hits” features, created by producer Val Garris.Also available from Benztown as a freebie is the Christmas in a Box AudioPack, filled with holiday cheer, including festive SFX and musicbeds sure to bring Christmas cheer to listeners who need a little Christmas now.It is available from now through January 1, 2025.To get the free library with a Benztown library subscription or to purchase the library, contact [email protected] […]

Filipino radio journalist Maria Vilma Rodriguez was shot dead by unknown assailants near her home in home in Zamboanga City on the southern island of Mindanao on October 22.Rodriguez, 56, used to present 105.9 Emedia FM’s news program Barangay Action Center.  She is the fifth journalist to be killed in the country since Ferdinand Marcos Jr became its president in June 2022.It takes to 200 the wider tally of journalists killed in the country since democracy was restored in 1986, according to data from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).Police arrested a suspect on Wednesday, said Zamboanga City police official Kimberly Molitas, but declined to identify the individual. Police were looking at a family feud as a potential motive, she added.NUJP Zamboanga City said: “We condemn this atrocious attack against a journalist and a woman at that. We are urging the Zamboanga City Police Office to probe deeper into this, unmask the killers and their masterminds, and put them behind bars. We don’t need a tale of another unsolved case that ended up as archives or statistics.”The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “The IFJ strongly condemns the killing of journalist Maria Vilma Rodriguez. The Marcos Jr. Government must do more to ensure the safety of Filipino journalists and media workers. The Federation urges Philippine authorities to conduct a swift and thorough investigation into her murder, determine the motive behind the attack, and hold those responsible to account.”“These kinds of vile and atrocious acts have no place in our nation, which values freedom, democracy, and the rule of law above all,” the Presidential Communications Office said in a statement, describing the attack as barbaric and calling upon the authorities to conduct a swift and impartial probe into the incident.“The killing of radio reporter Maria Vilma Rodriguez shows that the murderers of journalists remain undeterred in the Philippines,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Until President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government firmly moves to end impunity, these heinous crimes against the press will continue.”

The Philippines ranked eighth on CPJ’s most recent Impunity Index, a global ranking of countries where journalists’ murderers are most likely to go free. […]

The Rush Hour with JB & Billy is being expanded to South Australia and WA – while Marty Sheargold will now drive NSW and Queensland listeners home – as Triple M unveils its new Drive show line up for 2025.Sheargold will continue to be heard nationally across the Triple M network, from 3-4pm, Monday to Friday.Then, in Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast and all Triple M regional markets in New South Wales and Queensland, The Marty Sheargold Show will continue across the Drive shift from 4-6pm.Triple M’s Rush Hour with JB & Billy will now be heard from 4-6 p.m Monday to Friday across Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth and Triple M’s regional stations in the southern states.The new Triple M line up for 2025 marks the end of the Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth Rush Hour shows.It comes just days after Queensland’s Rush Hour show – hosted by Annabelle ‘A.B’ Brett and Elliott Lovejoy – achieved its first #1 result in the latest Townsville survey, up 2.9 to 21.4.Last month came the news that Adelaide’s top rating Rush Hour drive show – hosted by Andrew Jarman, Bernie Vince and Greg Blewett – would be winding up, along with the Perth show, which had Andrew Embley and Katie Lamb at the helm.

SCA says “These shows have featured an exceptional group of broadcasters and Triple M acknowledges the hard work and commitment that the teams have dedicated over several years.”  Sheargold says he looks forward to returning to the Drive shift for NSW and Queensland listeners in 2025 and giving them the extended version of the show.“I also wanted to thank the teams from the Sydney, Brisbane/Gold Coast and Queensland Rush Hour shows who have all had amazing stints and been hugely entertaining. I’m committed to carrying on their legacies.” James Brayshaw and Billy Brownless said “We’re excited that our live show will now be extended for our listeners in South and Western Australia, which are legendary footy states with an incredible history of successes.”“We also want to acknowledge the Adelaide and Perth Rush Hour teams, many of whom are great mates, and congratulate them on their shows. We don’t underestimate the opportunity we have been given and we are focused on creating a show that honours them and their listeners.” SCA Chief Content Officer Dave Cameron also acknowledged the teams these shows will be replacing.“We sincerely thank our existing state Rush Hour shows for their hard work and commitment over the last few years and look forward to a different approach nationally in 2025 with more exciting announcements to come soon.” The 2025 Triple M Drive line-up commences across the Triple M network in January 2025. […]

You’re thinking about Halloween, Christmas and the end of year at the moment.You’re not even thinking about next year’s RadioDays Europe conference yet.But you should, just for a moment. It will save you money.If you’ve already decided to go to Athens for the RDE25 conference on 9-11 March 2025, just book your tickets and accommodation now,  then forget about it again until next year.As in past years, thanks to our special relationship with RadioDays, radioinfo readers can save about €50 on the ticket price by using our readers discount code (see instructions at the bottom of this article).You can buy two and three day tickets. If you are travelling from Asia, just make it worthwhile, bite the bullet and buy the three day ticket, you won’t regret it, there’s so much to see and do and so many people to talk to.The standard Early Bird 3 day price is €614, but for our readers the price is €564. That rate is available until 1st December, after that prices increase gradually as the date gets closer. Our readers discount can be applied to any price point until 1st March 2025, when all discounts end.The conference will be held at Megaron Athens International Conference Centre

Leoforos Vasilissis Sofias and, Kokkali 1, Athina 115 21, Greece  (click map to book)Hotels and AirBnBs close to the venue usually book out fast or prices increase hugely if you leave it too late.Here’s how to register:
Go to the Register Now tab on the Radiodays site
Choose your ticket type (get the 3 days one)
Select number of tickets you are buying and press OK
Fill in personal details, tick T&Cs, select Next
Choose Summit session attendance
You will reach the summary/payment page, locate the Promotional Code box
Put this code    RDI25ATH   into that box, the price will drop
Proceed to payment
Then book your hotel
Then go back to thinking about Christmas 🙂
As in part years, we will be there to cover the world’s best radio, podcasting and audio conference.See you there in March 2025!RDE24 Exhibitors[embedded content]All previous RDE Coverage videos.The 2024 reporting team […]

Orban Europe GmbH announced the appointment of JAA Systems as Master Distributor for Southeast Asia effective November 1, 2024.Orban provides professional audio processing and state-of-the-art audio solutions for large performance venues and content creators as well as radio, TV and Internet broadcasters. Applications include radio and streaming audio processing, loudness measurement and control, multichannel sound audio rendering, and digital audio processing and monitoring for industry leaders including ABC, BBC, CBS, Disney, ESPN, FOX, iHeart, NBC, NHK and SKY. […]