All forms of broadcast.
As webcasters have submitted their royalty-rate arguments to the Copyright Royalty Board, the fight for favorable music licensing rates shifts into high gear. Broadcast law attorney Davide Oxenford takes stock of key points in the submitted briefs, clearly summarizing complex considerations. Continue Reading
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
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
Never have the words Alabama and Canada been uttered in the same sentence as much as they are this week. Broadcast law attorney David Oxenford explains why. 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
Following the recent copyright ruling in favor of The Turtles, Sirius XM said it will appeal the decision. “We think Judge Gutierrez is wrong,” Sirius CFO David Frear said at a conference this week. “We’ve been observing the law since we started service.” Frear said that the pre-1972 ruling has much broader implications than for just the satellite radio company. Continue Reading
Inside Radio tells us that Verstandig Broadcasting is pushing back against the recent magistrate recommendation that the case be thrown out. Verstandig is suing SoundExchange, seeking an exemption from paying royalties for recordings used in the online streams of Verstandig stations. the case hinges on an argued loophole in the Copyright Act, which potentially allows a royalty exemption for retransmitted music in a 150-mile radius, representing a typical terrestrial signal reach. It’s all a bit obscure, but significant. Continue Reading
Recent info from Edison Research’s Share of Ear study puts listening to Internet radio/Music in the US, among persons 12+ at 11.6% of overall listening to all legitimate sources of audio. Right around the same time we were discussing this study at RAIN Summit Indy, similar information was being presented at the Nextrad.io conference hosted by RAIN friends James Cridland and Matt Deegan. RAIN will be examining the online audio marketplace in the UK and across Europe in November at RAIN Summit Europe which will take place in London on November 4th. Continue Reading
National Public Radio station WBUR, Boston, announced that it is the first broadcast station to land an app in Google Glass, the wearable computing device. WBUR is affiliated with Boston University. WBUR was also one of six NPR stations that developed NPR One, a mobile public-radio experience that launched this summer. Continue Reading
A Virginia magistrate recommended dismissing the lawsuit filed by VerStandig Broadcasting against SoundExchange. Magistrate Judge Joel Hoppe suggested the dismissal due to a lack of controversy between the two parties, according to Radio World. VerStandig filed a suit against the royalty collector on claims that its use of geo-fencing should exempt it from needing to pay copyright royalties. The broadcaster claimed that it could use this technology to cap streaming content within 150 miles of its transmitter. Continue Reading
Clip Interactive, a mobile platform for radio stations, released a slew of announcements of new partners and increased revenue for existing partners. We took the opportunity to speak with CEO Michael Lawless about the product and its recent news. Continue Reading
“Clear Channel announced today that it has become iHeartMedia, reflecting the company’s success in becoming a one-of-a-kind multi-platform media company with unparalleled reach and impact,” according to the press release. Darren Davis, President of iHeartMedia, remarked in an email, “iHeartMedia reflects the momentum of iHeartRadio and how consumers and advertisers engage seamlessly across our diverse live media platforms — broadcast radio, digital, mobile, social, TV, outdoor and events.” Continue Reading