Quick Hits: Beats/Spotify royalty throwdown; future of car radio; UMG settlement
Today’s brief news items are all about Apple: Beats Music royalty payouts; the future of car radios; UMG ready to settle musician lawsuit. Continue Reading
News
Apple launches programmatic mobile ad-buying for iTunes Radio; AdsWizz partners
Starting today, Apple is making digital ad buying easier and more targeted for marketers in iTunes Radio, the company’s non-interactive online radio service. One of the first outside partners to offer iTunes Radio to buyers is AdsWizz. iTunes Radio inventory is now available on AdWave, the company’s global audio ad marketplace. Continue Reading
Deezer rolls out Elite/Sonos plan to all its markets
Deezer’s first foray into the U.S. was a much-discussed Elite plan that centered on an exclusive partnership with Sonos. As previously forecast, the Elite offering is now available in all of Deezer’s markets, but still only on Sonos speaker hardware.… Continue Reading
Microsoft links Xbox Music with OneDrive for cloud access
Microsoft introduced an integration between Xbox Music and OneDrive that will allow listeners to access their own music from the cloud. This updated cloud functionality gives Xbox Music the go-anywhere on-demand listening for entire libraries that it had previously lacked. Continue Reading
Test Drive: Guvera’s DJ broadcast app Fradio
Aspiring DJs may have a new app to check out. Fradio was developed by Australian streaming service Guvera, and it also has support from celebrity DJs Steve Aoki, A-Trak, and Crookerill. With such an interesting premise and pedigree, and as a part-time DJ myself, I figured this was worth a look. Continue Reading
Rdio announces multiple new features at SXSW
Rdio announced several new features to its online listening platform at SXSW. Many of them are centered around interpersonal activity. First, the iOS version has revamped its sharing interface. Second, after someone has shared a song, the recipient can reply to the sender and have a conversation. The final new conversation feature better loops in social media for interacting with artists. Continue Reading
Pandora hires Elizabeth Moody as VP of global content licensing
Pandora has hired Elizabeth Moody as vice president of global content licensing. She will be responsible for all content partnership strategy and negotiations. Music licensing is an imperative for Pandora and its investors, never more than this year. Continue Reading
Rhapsody audio cards bring full-song streaming to Twitter
Rhapsody launched a new feature today called Rhapsody audio cards that allows more than 30 million songs to be embedded and heard in full on Twitter. The new development is designed to allow listening to its catalog without ever leaving the social media app. Continue Reading
Patreon acquires fellow crowdfunding site Subbable
Patreon, a crowdfunding site based on the idea of classical patronage, has acquired Subbable, a fellow crowdfunding service. Subbable was founded by Hank and John Green, YouTube personalities known as the Vlogbrothers. While most financial terms of the deal were not revealed, Patreon will be matching migrating pledges up to $100,000. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: An all-digital transmitter; Variety on YouTube; Adweek on streaming
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Introducing the first all-digital radio transmitter; Variety reports on YouTube after a decade; Adweek on streaming finances. Continue Reading
Mike Agovino, ex-Triton, joins PodcastOne
Mike Agovino, formerly COO of Triton Digital, has pivoted quickly into a new role as Executive Vice Chairman of PodcastOne. As we reported yesterday, Agovino left Triton in the wake of its acquisition by Vector Capital. Continue Reading
SoundExchange inks webcasting royalty deal with public broadcasting
SoundExchange has reached an agreement with NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that sets royalty rates for webcasting for the next five years. In doing this, both parties shortcut the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) rate-setting process which started last year, and will conclude in December when the CRB announces new webcaster music licensing rates for 2016-2020. Continue Reading