Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:
Indie label CEO’s freemium takedown: Ministry of Sound CEO Lohan Presencer spoke at the Mobile World Congress with some harsh words for both the streaming industry and the freemium business model used by many services. “The argument goes that by making a free ad-funded service available, you give the pirates an alternative,” he said. “I think what you do is you take casual consumers of music and you turn them from purchasers into noshers, into browsers, into snackers.”
NPR boss on NPR: “One of the mythologies we try to strangle is the idea that radio is dead.” Jarl Mohn, NPR’s CEO, went on the air with the Texas branch of the public radio network to talk about the outlook for the medium. He also talked specifically about NPR and the challenges it faces in reaching audiences and going digital.
Viacom starts series of executive layoffs: Viacom announced a wave of layoffs and restructuring to its teams at MTV and VH1. Several execs have lost their jobs as the media conglomerate consolidates its divisions in music and entertainment, and Billboard reported that more cuts are expected during this week.
MixRadio begins Android/iOS beta: After it’s long and sometimes troubled journey with Microsoft, MixRadio is now getting new life under the ownership of Japanese tech company Line. The mobile radio app has now entered a private beta for iOS and Android. It was previously available only to select Windows Phone models.