The Indian music business is a $170-million industry. Bollywood music (also known as “filmi” music) represents more than 90 percent of it, but Indipop, regional music, devotional songs, and infiltrations of Western pop are important categories. Vodafone joins three independent services building audiences. Continue Reading
2013 has been the year for demonstrating how difficult it can be to turn on the radio in new cars with digital dashboards. Ford is making it easier for British drivers to turn on the radio by partnering with U.K. radio app RadioPlayer, which includes hundreds of stations including all the BBC outlets. Continue Reading
Friday is Winamp/Shoutcast Shutdown Day. Not exactly a national holiday, but a day of real significance for observers following the AOL-owned saga, and even more for stakeholders. On the back end of the ShoutCast directory are hooks that power a large number of mobile listening apps and entertainment devices. Those participants in the ShoutCast ecosystem have the most to lose. Continue Reading
Well-read tech reviewer David Pogue bestowed and end-of-year “Pogie” award on NextRadio, an FM chip-plus-app solution for selected Android phones. For Pogue, the point isn’t any rhapsodic affinity with radio. The appeal for him seems to be streaming audio that doesn’t eat into the phone’s data plan. We review the history of portable radio in the mobile digital era. Continue Reading
Ouch, and surprise! After winning favorable judgement in a similar court proceeding with publisher collection agency ASCAP, Pandora is on the losing side of a case brought by another major agency, BMI. The ruling makes life complicated for Pandora, and possibly for BMI-represented publishers. Continue Reading
The Echo Nest has worked with Microsoft before, providing technology underlying the Xbox Web Playlist feature. But Xbox Music Radio is a more basic function, bolted into the platform’s primary navigation, and intended to compete with Pandora, iTunes Music, and all other lean-back pureplay experiences. Continue Reading
Blues Debut adds a fresh twist to blues programming, and lives up to its name, by playing only the most recent release of any artist in the playlist. Furthermore, an emphasis system favors the newest new. The blues is as old as suffering, but this station sticks to the latest. Continue Reading
ZUUS is streaming video playlists. The desktop experience is pleasing, allowing the user to drill into a (limited) suite of genre channels. Perhaps of greater interest are curated video stations such as Village Voice Curated and Cake Shop NYC Curated. Could ZUUS be a Vimeo-like alternative to YouTube’s upcoming music service? Continue Reading
On March 8, then-CEO Joe Kennedy resigned his position, and the hunt was on for a new captain. That search took six months. On September 12, Brian McAndrews was named Pandora CEO. The McAndrews appointment signaled the company’s intention to focus on monetizing the market-leading audience that Kennedy had built. Continue Reading
RadioIO provides consumer listening and custom background music to corporations. The company traces its found roots back to 2000. this announcement upgrades RadioIO’s technical underpinnings with Triton Digital services. Continue Reading
“I don’t have to be doing this,” Norman Pattiz said about his new business. We assumed as much about the retired founder of Westwood One, the giant radio content syndicator he started in 1976. But he is doing it, and we wanted to know why, how, and where he wants to take it. Continue Reading
In a noisy, all-access world, Beyonce’s new video album is a startling triple-exercise in product building, reverse marketing, and distribution strategy. But to some, it looks like new clothes on an old horse. Still, a viral hit always seems surprising, and feels fresh — perhaps because virality represents the voice of a crowd, not gatekeepers. Continue Reading