As Windows 8.1 counts down to lift-off, Microsoft is placing multiple bets during one of the most tumultuous and transitional times in its history. One of those bets is a renovated Xbox Music app, which will be available to all… Continue Reading
In long-ago days, before the Big Bang of Apple’s entrance into the music-hardware business, portable mp3 players were often equipped with FM receivers. In fact, the RAIN editorial office has one of those vintage devices in its museum, right …… Continue Reading
David Byrne (Talking Heads) is getting a lot of media attention for his OpEd in The Guardian, in which he contributes the latest high-profile artist opinion about Spotify, and streaming music generally. Much of the commentary on the column attempts… Continue Reading
Merlin CEO criticizes label deals: In a conversation with Janko Roettgers of GigaOm, Charles Caldas, head of prominent indie-label consortium Merlin, points to a basic aspect of business modeling behind Spotify, iTunes Radio, and other major players. The advance payments… Continue Reading
Pandora’s fledgling concert presentation division, called Pandora Presents, has shot into greater public awareness with the announcement that Celine Dion will perform a Pandora-hosted, Pandora-branded album pre-release concert. The event is scheduled for October 29 in New York. The fact… Continue Reading
Some Boomers will tell you that in the 1960s and early 1970s, everyone identified either with The Beatles or The Rolling Stones — but not both. The two preeminent recording bands of the era anchored opposite poles of a sprawling… Continue Reading
It has been a roiling 7 days in the Internet-enabled home speaker category. Nearly simultaneous with the launches of Samsung Shape (RAIN coverage here) and the Bose SoundTouch (RAIN coverage here), legacy WiFi-speaker company Sonos releases a low-cost addition to its… Continue Reading
The 2014 Mazda3 (which we must say, although we are not in the automotive reporting business, is the most drop-dead beautiful economy car around) has entered showrooms as the first Mazda model equipped with Clear Channel’s Total Traffic HD Network… Continue Reading
It’s a rising tide. While Pandora, iTunes Radio, and other IP-delivered music services build momentum, Sirius XM continues to disrupt AM/FM’s automotive presence, with enviable subscriber numbers. As Tom Taylor notes in his NOW newsletter this morning, “Sirius XM recently… Continue Reading
RAIN’s Weekend Perspective summarizes the week’s important events for a weekend catch-up, and revives your weary neurons for coming week. DEVICES Two new streaming devices assaulted the traditional home radio. Samsung Shape: First, Samsung introduced its WiFi-connected speaker system called… Continue Reading
Video: NME Magazine took a video camera to young musicians in the U.K. to ask them, bluntly, whether Spotify is evil. (Watch it here.) The answers were (perhaps politely) all variations on the theme of “No.” Musicians (at least, the… Continue Reading
To celebrate its fifth birthday this week, Spotify posted an infographic of intriguing usage statistics. A million years of streaming in five years of operation — 200,000 years per year, 17,000 years per month — is fun to ponder. One… Continue Reading