The music industry has regular conversations about audio quality and listening technology. Although the average small, earbud-style headphones are uniformly relegated to the bottom of the heap in terms of sound quality, some enterprising companies have tried to find ways to make them more useable for a discerning listener. Continue Reading
Before quaffing the champagne tonight, we’ve got a slightly different take on the usual Quick Hits. Today, we have a roundup of online publications and writers’ predictions and premonitions about what the streaming and digital audio world has to look forward to in 2016. Continue Reading
The U.S. Copyright Office announced that it is undertaking a public study of the country’s safe harbor provisions. Section 512 was introduced in 1998 as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and its safe harbor laws provide some liability limitations on usage for Internet-based services. The rules focus on protecting services from liability due to copyright infringements occurring in user-generated content. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Podcasting predictions for 2016; new music careers from podcasts; when companies make the software and the systems; Kickstarter’s independent fulfillment report. Continue Reading
Gracenote announced plans to add an equalizer feature based on song metadata. The Gracenote Dynamic EQ automatically shifts equalizer settings based on data points such as the song’s genre, mood, era, and acoustic profile. Continue Reading
Never a dull moment in the streaming audio business! Here, a glance back at milestones. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: SoundExchange’s 2014 unclaimed royalties drop; a primer on streaming inequalities; Pirate Bay co-founder at it again. Continue Reading
Following up on some earlier speculations, Apple has filed for the U.S. trademarks for additional Beats stations. French website Consomac reported that Apple now has applications under review for Beats 2 through Beats 5. Continue Reading
The holiday shopping period is usually a gold rush for retailers, and Amazon is no different. The company issued a press release with some key points from its December performance, and it revealed not just powerhouse results from the shipping and retail departments, but a surprisingly strong outcome for Prime Music as well. Continue Reading
In addition to the gift-wrapping and boxes, we’re also spending our post-holiday stupor unpacking the impact of The Beatles’ arrival into the streaming music space. This Monday morning focuses on social data, Spotify, and the top song choice this weekend. Continue Reading
In August, we wrote a eulogy for Columbia House. The parent company of the service that made its name on mail-order CDs and cassettes filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year. But Columbia House may be returning from the dead with a new business model that seems equally quaint: vinyl. Continue Reading
Spotify has announced plans to add a new component to its behind-the-scenes features. The streaming service is making a songwriters and publishers administration system to help ensure that the right people get the right payments for the music they have on the platform. Continue Reading