A legal tug-of-war between Pandora and performing rights organization BMI has been in progress since a ruling last December, and it took a new twist last week when BMI reportedly advised Pandora that it does not expect any major music publishers to withdraw their catalogs at the end of 2014. This communication was strong on reassurance but weak in specifics. Continue Reading
Streaming just got a little more legitimacy from industry leaders in Australia and New Zealand. Singles charts in both countries announced that they will factor streaming numbers into their calculations. Both the Australian Recording Industry Association and the New Zealand Top 40 said streaming data will help determine the No. 1 songs. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia announced that Adam Denenberg has been appointed as chief technology officer for the iHeartRadio Network. In this role, Denenberg will oversee the technology strategy and vision for the online radio platform, including technical direction, new product R&D, and technology infrastructure across the network of websites. Continue Reading
Midroll Media announced the launch of a new podcast network called Wolfpop. The company is an end-to-end podcast production outfit which formed earlier this year through the merger of the Earwolf humor podcast network and The Mid Roll advertising service. The new network is curated by actor and comedian Paul Scheer. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the Web: Digital vs vinyl music infographic; explaining the podcasting Renaissance; studying the evolution of pop music; Amazon Fire TV stick arrives. Continue Reading
Google announced that its Play Music service has rolled out in several more European countries. The music store and the related All Access subscription streaming platform are now available in 14 more EU nations. Google has been making a march across the globe with its Play Music services over the course of 2014. Continue Reading
Pop princess Taylor Swift remains one of the most visible holdouts on Spotify and she has taken a bold action in the ongoing fight between artists and streaming platforms. She withheld her much-anticipated album 1989 from Spotify upon its initial release on Oct. 27. Today, she has chosen to remove her entire back catalog from the platform as well. Continue Reading
Forget connected cars, Apple is now taking Beats Music to a connected airplane. The tech company announced a partnership with Southwest Airlines to make a library of hundreds of playlists available for free on WiFi-enabled aircraft. Also in Beats Music news, Trent Reznor discussed the streaming service in an interview with Billboard. Continue Reading
Mark Mulligan of MIDiA Research wrote a blog post with his insights about the current price issues for streaming music. He highlighted the apparent either/or choice facing listeners – pick a totally free platform or pay $9.99 a month for a subscription – as a problem for the music industry to solve. Continue Reading
What song best evokes the spooks and scares of the Halloween season? SoundExchange has posted a graphic of the top ten scary songs of digital radio. The list is based on data collected for October 2013 from non-interactive digital radio sources, including satellite radio, Internet radio, and cable TV music services. Continue Reading
Media technology company WideOrbit announced the hiring of Brian Burdick as EVP of Digital and Programmatic. Burdick will step in as head of WO Central, the company’s buying and selling platform, as well as recent acquisitions Fivia, Abacast, and Admeta. WideOrbit is investing aggressively in acquisitions and talent. Click through for details. Continue Reading
App Annie has launched a new Index for Music that tracks statistics for musical mobile software. The index combines data from both the iOS App Store and the Android Google Play marketplace for a look at the programs that are most downloaded and generate the most revenue across four subcategories: music listening, music creation, artists and information, and other. Continue Reading