Pandora announced breakthrough content licensing deals this morning with ASCAP and BMI, the two largest Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) representing songwriters, publishers, and composers. With two separate multi-year agreements, Pandora puts to bed acrimonious lawsuits that have troubled its key relationships for two years. Continue Reading
While albums fade as commercial products, and radio is challenged by streaming audio, is there a new power product that drives listens and accelerates hit-making? U.K.-based consultant and founder of New Slang Media, Chris Price, has emerged as a specialist in identifying the power of playlists, and quantifying their influence. Listomania is his new research study. Continue Reading
Triton Digital will host broadcast law attorney David Oxenford in an interactive webinar on Monday, December 21, at 3pm. Titled The New Streaming Music Rates; Everything You Need to Know, the 30-minute session will include an interview with Oxenford on key points of this week’s CRB rate ruling. Continue Reading
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The weekly update of the streaming audio industry, from RAIN News. THIS WEEK: The U.S. Copyright Royalty Board delivers new webcaster royalty rates for payments to record labels. Also, Vivendi takes a majority stake in Radionomy’s online radio platform. Continue Reading
While Pandora, iHeartMedia, and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) are content with new CRB rates, the royalty ruling puts smaller streamers on shaky ground, we’ve heard from several sources. Click for comments by Rusty Hodge, Kurt Hanson, Brian McAndrews, and David Porter. Continue Reading
Global media holding company Vivendi announced today that it has acquired a majority share (64.4%) of Radionomy Group, taking a stake in pureplay online radio and streaming audio advertising. Continue Reading
In an open conference call that was bumped back three hours by a late-day release of webcaster rates by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), Pandora addressed the new rates and answered investor questions about the business going forward. Continue Reading
Mediaocean announced that it has integrated iHeartMedia’s digital ad inventory into its Spectra media management platform. All of iHeart’s digital output is included, from computer to phone, tablet to gaming systems, and is quantified by Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics Local. Continue Reading
If it’s difficult to identify winners and losers in the new CRB webcaster rates, the official comments emanating from three major participants tell a story: Major webcasters OK with it; music industry not. Continue Reading
The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) unsurprisingly took a middle road, treading a line between the $.0011 that Pandora requested, and the $.0025 that SoundExchange argued for on behalf of music rights-holders. P stock shot upward in after-hours. The company scheduled a conference call for later this evening. Continue Reading
At 5:15 Eastern U.S. time, the Copyright Royalty Board released the outline of its Webcaster IV ruling, setting royalty rates paid by Internet radio to music labels for the 2016-2020. Pandora’s rate: $.0017 per stream for non-subscribing listeners. SoundExchange wanted that number to be $.0025. Continue Reading
As the webcasting universe turns its expectant and apprehensive gaze toward the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which will issue new webcasting royalty rates for 2016-2020, Pandora Media has more skin in the game than any other webcasting distributor of music — in a sense. The company has another path to potentially go down. Continue Reading