We have liked Journal Broadcast Group’s digital initiatives since the launch of its breakthrough Radio League app in March. Radio League is a pureplay Internet radio outlet; one of its stations is called Now Trending Hits. Journal has launched a Now Trending website wich complements the pureplay station, and delivers a BuzzFeed-like assortment of newsy items. Continue Reading
David Lowery, musicians’ advocate and the foremost critic of streaming music, posted a column in which he prescribes solutions to “fix” the streaming music business model — or, more accurately, his issues with it. Lowery’s arrows are pointed at Spotify, and his suggestions are surprising. Along the way, he misses some reality points. Continue Reading
Pre-roll commercials, which play before the first song when a custom station is launched in a music service, make a lot of sense. This might seem counter-intuitive to radio listeners, every one of whom has endured the experience of tuning into a favorite station at the start of a long spot set. But a single short ad before the music starts can grab attention without pushing away the user. We find a good one in this edition of adStream. Continue Reading
NextRadio announced an adoption milestone: one-million downloads of the NextRadio app. With the announcement of one-million downloads comes an update of the app (scheduled for this Friday, October 17), that will put new, more interactive features into the NextRadio experience. We tracked and charted the history of NextRadio’s key adoption metrics. Continue Reading
Why? Yknot! Sometimes a stream grabs us from the first song and holds on. That’s partly luck, but regular listening separates enduring stations from temporary infatuations. Yknot Radio is a keeper for upbeat, feel-good music that lies somewhere between soft rock and the hard stuff. Continue Reading
Short news items and worthy reads from around the web: A reader’s history of EDM; stemming the tide of Russian piracy with legit streaming; Soundscan music sales in Q3. Continue Reading
Recent news that Apple is pushing back to labels about licensing fees, with the possible intent of lowering the monthly subscription cost of Beats Music, sets the stage for this week’s RAIN Poll. We asked readers: Is Apple right? Would a lower subscription cost stimulate the subscription side of the streaming business? Or doesn’t it matter? The result was conclusive in an unexpected way Continue Reading
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An eight-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming music and online audio. The weekly update of news you need to know in streaming music and online audio, from RAIN News. This week: royalty arguments in high gear; The Turtles chase Pandora, iHeartMedia and Omnicom; UK streaming doubles; dot-RADIO controversy; Apple and the labels; surprise for an Alabama radio station. Continue Reading
SoundCloud announced an upgrade to its browser experience that brings a more visual music player onto the screen. The large-format player displays an expanded version of the thumbnail image associated with each track. We found some beautiful results, and some ineffective ones. Soundcloud creators, who stock the site with uploaded music, are complaining. Continue Reading
College radio stations, represented by College Broadcasters, Inc. (CBI), will see their webcast royalty rates for the use of music recordings unchanged in the looming 2016-2020 royalty period. Most stations will use a simplified “proxy” reporting method to SoundExchange, an easier administrative process than the fastidious reporting that commercial stations must supply. Continue Reading
Webcast companies have filed written arguments with the Copyright Royalty Board, as the streaming industry moves inexorably toward a new licensing period for the use of music recordings starting in 2016. The filing deadline was last night at midnight.
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and SoundExchange have both filed their documents. The two petitions use some of the same language, but to opposite purposes. We examine both arguments. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia (formerly Clear Channel) has announced a partnership with Omnicom Media Group, the media services division of Omnicom Group, a leading global advertising company.
The deal gives each company special access to assets, information, and technology of the other. We spoke with Jeff Howard, President, National Sales at iHeartMedia. “We’re looking for companies that want to transform the industry,” he told RAIN News. Continue Reading