The company is silent, but Spotify reportedly has arranged a $200-million line of credit. In addition, Spotify has $538-million total venture funding. When so much external money is in a company which carries an unprofitable balance sheet, it sometimes foretells a "liquidity event" such as an IPO.
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Audi and AT&T announced the first car model to include high-speed (4G LTE) Internet connectivity built into the car. The feature offers convenience at a price. After a six-month free-trial period, the owner must pay $99 for six more months, or $499 for 30 months, for a data plan. Would you buy an in-car data plan? Vote your preference!
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WNYC, flagship station of New York Public Radio, announced that NYPR received a $10-million grant from the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, a past major supporter. Most of the money is targeted to development of online products and mobile apps, with the remainder going to WNYC's Manhattan performance space.
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Audi announced today that its 2015 A3 will be the first car equipped with high-speed 4G LTE Internet connectivity, provided by AT&T. The new A3 will roll out later this month. With this new car, Audi is driving fast down the road of in-car connection to online services such as online radio.
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Internet listening gained one percent in January over December, according to data released by Triton Digital today in its Webcast Metrics Top 20 Ranker. The one-percent gain from the previous month nudged total stream listening into new-high territory.
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Brian Lakamp, President of Digital at Clear Channel Media & Entertainment, will speak at RAIN Summit West on April 6 in Las Vegas. Lakamp oversees all of Clear Channel's digital strategy, including the iHeartRadio music-listening app.
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The latest RAIN Poll was inspired by the iTunes Radio commercials which ran on a Boston FM station (and presumably other stations). The DJ-read spot (which you can listen to here) was startling to hear, and led us to survey users on this question: Would you run iTunes Radio advertising on your radio station?
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Amazon is reportedly negotiating with music labels about an Amazon-branded music service. According to Recode's sources, the talks are not flying along because Amazon is asking for more favorable licensing terms than those negotiated by music-only services.
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Founded in September, 2008, Mixcloud ("Making Radio Better") is a music-sharing service that solicits user-DJ uploads and pays the royalties to rights-holders to keep it legal. More than a podcast platform, listening in Mixcloud is rewarding and satisfying. The company hopes to differentiate from SoundCloud and on-demand services.
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GM automaker Chevrolet announced over the weekend that Beats Music will be included in selected 2015 model cars, via the Chevrolet AppShop. AppShop is an in-car download service that works similarly to Apple's App Store and Google Play for Android apps.
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Weekend Perspective is a quick and consie catch-up of the last week's most important developments in Internet radio and online audio. iTunes Radio advertises on FM ... Triton Digital receives local-ratings accreditation ... The INfinite Dial 2014 research survey ... Apple's CarPlay ... Spotify acquires The Echo Nest.
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The five most-read articles of last week: iTunes Radio advertising on ... FM radio; Triton Digital local ratings system for streaming media gains accreditation; The INfinite Dial 2014 reviews; Apple announces CarPlay; Spotify acquires The Echo Nest.
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