Quick Hits: The Great Escape; ASCAP still fighting Pandora; digital audio ads in the UK; a look at Pakistan’s Patari

Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:

Two streaming talks at The Great Escape: The Great Escape conference in the UK featured several talks focused on the music industry and the streaming music trend in particular. Will Hope, Spotify’s director of label relations, talked about how labels can change their marketing plans to better reflect the growing interest in streaming services. Spintune CEO Brittney Bean spoke about how playlists can help listeners navigate streaming services’ vast catalogs. She also addressed some of the technical and legal questions that those online services might not consider, such as who owns a playlist’s data if a service is acquired.

ASCAP not done fighting Pandora: Following the recent court win from BMI, ASCAP has once again fired shots at Pandora. “This decision is welcome news for music creators, but make no mistake, Pandora will stop at nothing in their ongoing effort to shortchange songwriters,” President and Chairman Paul Williams said in response to BMI’s securing a higher royalty rate. “ASCAP and the music community must continue to fight for the urgent reforms needed to enable all songwriters, composers and music publishers to obtain fair compensation for the use of our music.”

Digital audio ads growing slowly in the UK: Media Week ran an article comparing the interest in digital audio advertising in the U.S. and the UK. While the sector has been experiencing a boom stateside, the nature of the UK’s audio market, largely dominated by the BBC, has meant slower progress on that side of the pond. Grant Millar, CEO of ZenithOptimedia UK and chair of Media360, said that savvy UK advertisers should be alert to any opportunities in this vein.

A profile of Pakistani streaming service Patari: Streaming audio often seems dominated by a handful of popular services, but that hasn’t stopped new companies from springing up around the world. One promising entry into the industry is Patari, a streaming service based in Pakistan. Tech in Asia profiled the platform, which is currently at the invite-only stage, and its interest in supporting Pakistani musicians.

Anna Washenko