Month: July 2014

1

Labels push the moment with musicFIRST campaign for radio royalties

Posted on by Brad Hill

Of all the issues woven into potential music-licensing reform during this “Summer of Copyright” (part 1 and part 2), none is larger, more publicized, or more intractable than whether broadcast radio should lose its exemption from paying performance royalties. The latest volley in an ongoing inflammatory argument is by the advocacy group musicFIRST, which has launched an ad campaign intended to attract the attention of selected legislators in their home districts Continue Reading →

SoundCloud reportedly readying label deals in quest to compete with YouTube

Posted on by Brad Hill

Bloomberg is citing unnamed sources in a report that SoundCloud is near to closing deals with record labels for their content to appear on the popular crowdsourced listening platform. If the report plays out as fact, Soundcloud will gain needed elbow room to compete with other music services, unhindered by legal distractions that have troubled SoundCloud recently. Continue Reading →

iTunes Radio (finally) becomes a top-15 app, with Apple-only distribution

Posted on by Brad Hill

Apple’s iTunes Radio broke into the top-15 list of app usage in May, according to traffic measurement company comScore. While this breakthrough might not seem like an epic milestone, the buzz around it has a “Finally!” aspect to it. But this report does not compare iTunes Radio exactly with other music-app use across the mobile landscape, for two reasons. Continue Reading →

4

How do graduating high school students listen to online music?

Posted on by Brad Hill

Niche, a research firm founded by Carnegie Mellon University in 2002 with a focus on early-life decision-making, has released an interesting study of media choices among graduating high school students. When surveyed about listening to music, graduating high-schoolers divulged their music-service habits. Continue Reading →

3

Bop.fm raises $2M, positioned as a universal remote control for streaming music

Posted on by Brad Hill

Bop.fm, a streaming startup founded seven months ago in the Y Combinator seed-funding group, has obtained a $2-million funding round from Charles River Ventures. Bop enables music sharing on a platform that hooks into popular streaming services. In the RAIN review, we found a crucial feature glitch, but an overall terrific experience that emulates an interactive music service, drawing on external libraries. As such, Bop.fm serves as a remote control for Spotify, Beats Music, and Rdio, and makes it easier to share music. Continue Reading →

1

Campaign escalates to activate FM in phones

Posted on by Brad Hill

“Wireless carriers are dragging their feet and won’t activate the FM chips that are in every smartphone.” That’s the blunt message in a website campaign mounted by NPR, American Public Media (APM), Educational Media Foundation (EMF), the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), and, of course, NextRadio. The campaign hopes to stir activism. Continue Reading →

Google’s Android Auto: “Look What I Can Do!”

Posted on by Roger Lanctot

Roger Lanctot is Associate Director of Strategy Analytics, and a thought leader in the connected-car space. He is an influential voice in the field of automotive infotainment systems, and safety, in cars of the present and future. In this article, Roger Lanctot questions whether Google’s Android Auto initiative is ready for primetime. Do Google and Apple suffer from attention deficit disorder? Continue Reading →