Sonos, market leader in the WiFi-speaker space, announced on its blog an important product update, eliminating the requirement to plug a Sonos component directly into the home’s wireless router. The upshot for new buyers will be a slightly less expensive complete system. For existing users, the benefit will be better speaker placement. Continue Reading
An awaited radio-listening app that pulls together most or all Canadian terrestrial station streams will be launched sometime this spring. Radioplayer Canada is a joint venture of SparkNet, a digital solutions provider for Canadian radio, and audience measurement firm BBM Analytics. Continue Reading
Ad solution provider AdsWizz has signed a partnership agreement with leanStream, a streaming solution provider, to help monetize content streams playing on the leanStream platform. The agreement is the latest in a series of alliances for AdsWizz, which now provides its audio-ad technology to 27 content delivery networks (CDNs). Continue Reading
Music publication Pitchfork has produced a dazzling feature called Station to Station: The Past, Present, and Future of Streaming Music. It is a worthwhile read for anyone in the field, or interested in the evolution of music listening — if you can figure out how to read it. Continue Reading
The world’s biggest record label groups have filed a lawsuit against Pandora in an attempt to recoup royalties for music recorded before 1972, which is not protected by U.S. copyright law. The legal question hinges on a loophole in the U.S. Copyright Act. the suit is filed in New York State. Continue Reading
In a quadrennial update of rules which regulate how many stations a radio or TV company can own in a local market, the FCC rejected arguments that Internet radio creates meaningful local competition, and sustained the existing ruling of eight same-owned stations per market. Continue Reading
Apple CarPlay is one of the most interesting connected-car initiatives. Pioneer plans to offer an aftermarket solution to existing cars, via updates to its AV Receiver models. The update is firmware, which means software downloaded into the unit and permanently installed. It’s really an operating system upgrade to installed Pioneer audio units, that includes Apple’s CarPlay software. Continue Reading
We spotted a tweet from media licensing attorney and RAIN Summit participant David Oxenford, indicating that an operating-system push from AT&T turned on the FM chip in his trusty Q10 phone. He sent us his review, which includes raves for ultra-fast tuning and good reception. Continue Reading
“We know what you’ve come for: Music, and lots of it.” For no-nonsense, straight-ahead alt-rock with touches of top-pop, Chicago-based Wide Radius is a good choice. Today we’ve been nodding to The Imagineers, Braid, Everclear, Lorde (there’s the pop), Garbage, Audioslave, All That Remains, and more. Continue Reading
Research firm BIA/Kelsey released a sponsored report called The Internet Radio Revolution Has Arrived, describing the growth of Internet radio and projecting its future. Using its own research supplemented by other sources (Edison Research, eMarketer), the report is a white paper that documents consumer uptake of Internet radio and identifies the growth drivers Continue Reading
During RAIN Summit West in Las Vegas, I found myself on a balcony overlooking Caesar’s, sharing drinks with Cheryl Lucanegro, VP of Sales at SoundHound (formerly with Pandora), and talking about her app. One unique SoundHound feature is singing or humming into the app to identify a song. Continue Reading
Pono Music completed a wildly successful Kickstarter funding campaign, raising nearly eight times the $800,000 goal. How important is high-quality music reproduction to you, when listening through a portable device? Important enough to carry a new gadget in addition to your phone? Vote your opinion! Continue Reading