Last month, Sirius XM agreed to a $210 million settlement with labels regarding copyright royalties for playing songs recorded prior to 1972. Although that ruling did not appear to have any bearing on the other legal cases artists have brought against the satellite radio company, Flo & Eddie is trying to block the deal. Continue Reading
UPDATE: The social media juggernaut spoke to Billboard following yesterday’s leak at Music Ally, which alleged that Facebook is planning a video service to compete with YouTube and a pure music service to compete with Spotify. Facebook said in a statement that it has “no plans to go into music streaming.” Continue Reading
Australian Minister for Communications Malcom Turnbull released a report with recommendations for creating a digital radio planning committee in charge of rolling out DAB+ outside of the major metropolitan areas. Commercial Radio Australia and the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia voiced support for this step toward increasing DAB+ coverage. This new report sees digital radio as a supplement to broadcasting rather than a replacement, at least for the near future. Continue Reading
7digital announced its half-year business developments. The company’s overall revenue rose 3% to about £5.2 million for the period. In the earnings discussion, the 7digital’s leaders talked about their efforts to shift core business away from music download platforms in favor of streaming services and how that success was reflected in its positive financial performance. Continue Reading
TuneIn announced two deals this week that bring new radio stations to its listeners. First, it has partnered with the famed Newport Folk Festival to launch a radio station featuring the artists on this year’s lineup. The company has also launched a new station in partnership with Spaceland Presents. Continue Reading
With the entry of Apple Music into the streaming industry, many have wondered whether the backing of the tech giant would be enough to challenge Spotify’s dominant position. After the first week, it’s looking like no. Continue Reading
Saavn announced that it has raised $100 million in Series C funding. This new financing brings the Indian streaming company’s valuation to $300-$400 million. The round is expected to go toward scaling the service and expanding into video. Continue Reading
SESAC is purchasing the Harry Fox Agency from the National Music Publishers’ Association. The acquisition unites performance and mechanical rights under SESAC’s umbrella of services, a unique development in the industry. Continue Reading
Microsoft has renamed its Xbox Music service to Groove. The previous name had caused confusion among potential listeners, many of whom thought that the service required an Xbox game console. “Groove” is a more accessible name for listeners who don’t have the gaming hardware. But the rebrand also seems to be part of a broader effort to update Microsoft’s entertainment offerings to keep pace with existing services. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia announced the launch of a new Hispanic brand management team. The new group will offer strategic guidance to the company’s Hispanic brands and connect advertisers with iHeartMedia’s Hispanic audience. Hispanic listeners are a growing category for the U.S. radio and music markets, and many media companies are working to better serve them. For instance, last week, Univision announced plans for an IPO. Continue Reading
The British Phonographic Industry released half-year data about music sales in the UK. The report showed that there have been 11.5 billion tracks played in the first six months of 2015, compared with 14.8 billion plays in all of 2014. Dedicated audio streaming services see about 480 million streams a week. Stream Equivalent Album consumption for the first half was 11.49 million, up 79.5% from the year-ago period. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web. Today, SoundExchange CEO Michael Huppe responds to a column in The Hill. Should music licensing costs to Internet radio be escalated or decreased? Continue Reading