The world’s biggest record label groups have filed a lawsuit against Pandora in an attempt to recoup royalties for music recorded before 1972, which is not protected by U.S. copyright law. The legal question hinges on a loophole in the U.S. Copyright Act. the suit is filed in New York State. Continue Reading
In a deal similar to the partnership they announced with Cumulus last fall, Rdio and Grupo Bandeirantes have announced a joint venture and powerful strategic partnership encompassing marketing, distribution, content and promotions that will significantly expand Rdio’s presence in Brazil. (by Jennifer Lane) Continue Reading
“We know what you’ve come for: Music, and lots of it.” For no-nonsense, straight-ahead alt-rock with touches of top-pop, Chicago-based Wide Radius is a good choice. Today we’ve been nodding to The Imagineers, Braid, Everclear, Lorde (there’s the pop), Garbage, Audioslave, All That Remains, and more. Continue Reading
According to an executive at the British office of OMD, the global ad agency, Apple is prepping the agency on iAds in iTunes Radio, presumably for a soon-to-be U.K. launch of the Internet radio service. Hannah Allen of OMD tweeted a visit from Paul Wright, who runs Apple’s ad platform in Europe. Continue Reading
Last week we received a tip from a U.S.-based reader who reported accessing the Deezer music service on his computer. Deezer is not officially available in the American market. Eagerly envious, we tried it ourselves, but got the usual “unavailable in your country” message. We asked Deezer to comment. Continue Reading
ESPN Audio has started a new section called ESPN Perspectives, leveraging the growing podcast category while extending its iconic sports brand with longer-form focus on in-depth audio journalism. The new line of shows launches on the one-year anniversary of the Boston marathon terrorist attack. Continue Reading
All indicators point to mobile for nearly all Internet activities, and especially for listening to music. Pandora is the fifth most-downloaded mobile app, according to comScore. Which is a shame for advertisers who buy the full-screen treatment on Pandora’s browser experience. The big, full-screen ads on Pandora are like album art for advertisers. Continue Reading
The 2014 edition of Jacobs Media’s annual techsurvey10 is out (slides here), revealing sharp increases in digital devices, social platforms, and mediums among core radio listeners. Use of digital services and devices grew across the board from the previous year. Interesting results specific to Pandora. Continue Reading
The latest music/telecom partnership is on the way, as Spotify and Sprint reportedly work on a bundling deal to be announced later this month, perhaps modeled on the tie-up of Beats Music with AT&T, which offers discounted music subscription to families using the cell-phone service. Continue Reading
Deezer and Samsung announced a partnership that would give buyers of Samsung’s Galaxy S5 phone a free six-month trial of Deezer’s subscription music service. The plan would work in selected countries only, where Paris-based Deezer operates the service. The Samsung deal takes a page from SiriusXM’s distribution strategy in cars. Continue Reading
RAIN Hotspots — the five most-read articles of the week. Pandora and Nielsen Audio dominated the week, with some Jason Calacanis thrown in. Our report of Calacanis’ keynote address at RAIN Summit West was the second-most read post. Continue Reading
Bloom.FM, an on-demand music app, report-tweeted it has been knocked out of the iTunes Radio ad rotation after spending 2,000 British pounds a month on commercials for its service. Bloom.FM spokespeople are enjoying their new image as a prospective iTunes Radio killer. Continue Reading