Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Musicians should speak up about YouTube features; buy music and more from a tweet; Calvin Harris’ billion Spotify streams. Continue Reading
Most of the top online radio and streaming services place their focus squarely on individual people as their listeners. Feed.fm is turning the idea of digital music into a B2B product with its “music as a service” offerings. VentureBeat reported that Feed.fm recently secured a $1.2 million round of financing that will go toward hiring new talent for the six-person team. Continue Reading
After the announcement of its re-launch in July, SHOUTcast has unveiled three new products to complement its existing service. These options offer broadcasters simple approaches to generating revenue, building on the integration with TargetSpot and monetization options promised in the earlier news. Continue Reading
Spotify is getting visual with its latest advertising approach. The streaming service said it will test a new approach on its free version that offers listeners 30 minutes of uninterrupted listening in exchange for watching a video ad. If listeners choose to skip the video, they’ll continue to hear their regular ad-supported tunes. Continue Reading
The Interactive Advertising Bureau will release the first standard template for digital audio advertisements today, called the “Digital Audio Ad Service Template” (DAAST). The breakthrough standard was developed by an industry coalition organized by the IAB (the IAB Digital Audio Ad Serving Template Working Group).
The purpose of DAAST is to promote a technical ecosystem in which advertisers, publishers, agencies, and consumer playback devices are aligned to coherently deliver and track streamed audio advertising.
RAIN spoke to Scott Cunningham of the IAB, and Benjamin Masse, co-chair of the Working Group and SVP of Triton Digital. Continue Reading
Internet radio pioneer AccuRadio announced a $2.5-million investment from NantWorks LLC, headed by entrepreneur Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. AccuRadio was founded by CEO Kurt Hanson, also RAIN News Founding Editor. Kurt Hanson began building AccuRadio in 2000. It was an experiment first, and became a hardy first-mover in what has evolved into a crowded field littered with music services that did not survive. Today’s press release notes that AccuRadio operates profitably. Continue Reading
When an Internet station in Saint Louis picketed a newspaper for eliminating the station from a reader’s choice award of best radio stations, we decided to poll RAIN readers on the crucial question: Is Internet radio “real radio”? The results are definitive, with 70% of responses say: Yes, it is. Click through to see selected comments. Continue Reading
OurMusicalRoots.com, the Saint Louis Internet station that was denied a reader’s choice award by a Saint Louis newspaper, picketed the newspaper office as promised on Wednesday. Station founder John Stephens reported back to RAIN that all went well, with a… Continue Reading
THIS WEEK: Is Internet radio “real radio”? Rdio’s re-launch and free listening. YouTube’s new tip jars for musicians. How much money does Neil Young need? How much moeny did 8tracks get? Internet Radio Awards at RAIN Summit Indy. Continue Reading
Country sensation Garth Brooks took his first baby step into the digital realm in July, but today he announced the beta launch of an entirely new online music service. It’s called GhostTunes.com. The focus with this platform is control for the musicians, but listeners will also have several options for how to enjoy their purchases. Continue Reading
Midia Research released a report called The Streaming Effect, which gathers some penetration and consumer behavior metrics into a cogent state-of-the-industry message, with a future forecast. Midia founder Mark Mulligan sent us a copy of the subscription report. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Blinkbox hits a billion streams; WiMP expands internationally with Tidal; Spotify CEO on musicians making money. Continue Reading