• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, December 16, 2013

The flurry of new digital radio deals and products continued this week with the announcement that TargetSpot, which operates a digital radio ad network, has merged with Radionomy, which operates a platform for digital radio broadcasters and producers, to form a global audio ad network serving the U.S. and Europe. Together, the combined network will enable advertisers to reach over 75 million digital radio listeners via more than 80 digital radio broadcasters in the U.S. and Europe.
 
The merger will combine TargetSpot’s ad network with the Radionomy audio publishing platform, which enables users to create their own online radio stations, thus offering advertisers greater scale for digital radio campaigns, as well as offering new technologies and products to broadcasters and advertisers.

Products and tools offered by the merging companies include sequential targeting, behavioral marketing, audio ad retargeting and asynchronous banner ads, as well as a variety of customizable ad products.
 
Founded in Belgium in 2008, Radionomy offers music enthusiasts free, unlimited storage for music programming as well as a digital broadcast platform via its Web-based interface, app and social media players. Radionomy splits ad revenue with station programmers that achieve a certain number of listeners. It also provides a library of free music and news content to help bolster programming.
 
As noted, digital radio news has been coming fast and furious in recent months. Last week, Cumulus began promoting its partnership with digital audio platform Rdio with a nationwide campaign on Cumulus stations, coinciding with the launch of new Cumulus station-branded product pages on Rdio. Cumulus took a stake in Rdio’s parent company, Pulser Media, in September, in exchange for exclusive content, media and on-air promotional commitments over a five-year period.
 
Also, Apple’s iTunes Radio, launched in September, is muscling up its ad sales capabilities with new hires, including Michael Pallad, formerly an executive vice president of sales at Cumulus, who was brought on last week to help lead sales at the new service. Separately, Spotify is responding to the Apple challenge with a free, ad-supported mobile music service of its own. Digital radio pioneer Pandora is also upgrading its service with new features like an alarm clock function in order to fend off the threat from Apple and Spotify .