Rhapsody posted a first-quarter net loss of $8.9 million, compared with a loss of $1.6 million in the year-ago period. Quarterly revenue totaled $46.3 million, up from $42 million in 2014. The SEC filing made by parent company RealNetworks, which detailed Rhapsody’s financials, did not give a reason for the higher loss during the quarter. Continue Reading
SoundExchange announced that David Byrne has joined its board of directors. Byrne fills the board spot previously held by Walter McDonough. He is the singer/songwriter who fronted the Talking Heads, and also embarked on a solo career and founded a label. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web. Continue Reading
Chicago Public Media’s WBEZ got attention last month when it received a matching-donation pledge of $2-million dollars from the Pritzker Foundation. The intent of the gift is to help the station to double its existing digital staff, update its infrastructure, and produce new shows. A new Chief Digital Officer has just joined the station. Continue Reading
SoundCloud had two major events in its relationship development with labels and publishers. The online audio platform successfully inked a deal with the National Music Publishers’ Association. This arrangement allows independent publishers and composers to monetize content on the service… Continue Reading
Pandora has prevailed in an appeal case brought by ASCAP, which sought to overturn a court judgment in March, 2014. ASCAP announced in August that it would pursue an appeal of that ruling. Continue Reading
Premium streaming service Tidal has signed on a new public relations and marketing firm. The company’s duties in that department will now be managed by MWW, which also represents online businesses Netflix and Eventbrite. Continue Reading
SoundCloud has taken its podcasting service out of beta and made it live for all users. The new podcast hosting additions include RSS feed distribution, embeddable podcast players, integration with social networks, and timed comments. Continue Reading
The legal saga centered around the Grooveshark name appears to be getting a bizarre epilogue. Last week, Grooveshark finally resigned itself to its fate and shuttered its doors. However, the long-beleagured site and its legally uncertain approach to streaming music appears to have returned to the web. Continue Reading
The music industry has been waiting for Apple to unveil its new vision for Beats Music, and the streaming service’s debut is expected to happen during the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference next month. However, Billboard has reported that Apple allegedly may not have any of the licensing deals with major labels that are necessary for the service to meet that launch date. Continue Reading
Media software company WideOrbit announced that audioBoom, the spoken-word, on-demand listening platform, has selected WO On Demand to monetize its podcasts. The technical solution injects pre-recorded advertisements into podcasts — a category which is dominated by host-read native advertising. Continue Reading
The FCC has granted Pandora broadcast approval permission to own a terrestrial radio station. This means that Pandora has cleared the major hurdle to complete its $600,000 purchase of the KXMZ station in Rapid City, South Dakota, which it started in 2013. Continue Reading