A Beats Music royalty statement was leaked to The Trichordist, David Lowery’s musician advocacy site. The document divulges previously unknown subscriber and royalty information. Click for an informal and unofficial reconstruction of the Beats Music audience level and royalty percentages in March. Continue Reading
The Songwriter Equity Act, proposed legislation originally introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, is picking up new steam in the Senate, as three co-sponsors announced they would introduce their re-write of the bill. The senators gained publicity for their legislative action by holding a press event in Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe. Continue Reading
MistyRadio (www.mistyradio.com) is slow and sentimental jazz (mostly) for relaxed listening. We thought it might be excessively soupy at first, but it depends on when you hit the stream. The MistyRadio is really about memory-infused songs, mostly traditional jazz, or jazzy in feel. Continue Reading
Welcome to Internet Radio REWIND, an audio recap of the week. This weekly program is a quick and concise catch-up of the week’s top stories. Click the Play button to get ready for the coming week.This week: Two huge rumors … two important music service launches … Pandora’s latest fall from grace … another swipe at radio royalties. Continue Reading
In what would be a blockbuster $3.2-billion deal that re-shapes the ownership structure of streaming music, Apple is reportedly set to acquire Beats Electronics, which includes Beats Music. If it plays out as rumored, the acquisition would vault Apple into the music-subscription industry, adding a third pillar to its music business. Continue Reading
The latest of many legislative proposals which would require broadcast radio to pay performance royalties to labels and artists was introduced yesterday in the House of Representatives. The bill spins a cagey framework by putting radio stations on the same place in the delivery chain as cable companies. Continue Reading
Darren Davis, President of Networks for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s RAIN Summit Indy, to be held Tuesday, September 9 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Davis has a 21-year career with Clear Channel, and will provide insight on Clear Channel’s innovative digital initiatives. Continue Reading
Reports are circulating today that telecom giant AT&T will discontinue the Muve Music service currently available to a portion of AT&T’s user base. AT&T is invested in its partnership with Beats Music, and owns Leap Wireless, Muve Music’s parent company. There is logic in this rumor, if it plays out. Continue Reading
8tracks, the highly differentiated music service that encourages users to create “online mixtapes,” today released a top-to-bottom redesign of its iOS app, and disclosed its latest audience and business metrics. “”We’re hoping this will be a big event in our history,” CEO David Porter told RAIN. Click for the app review. Continue Reading
XAPPmedia today announced a new addition to its executive team: Lisa Namerow, who moves over from Slacker Radio. Namerow was SVP of Strategic Partnerships at Slacker for about a year, and assumes a similarly focused role at XAPPmedia. Before her stint at Slacker, Namerow maintained an 11-year career at AOL, where she managed AOL Radio. Continue Reading
SoundCloud announced via email to its subscribers today that the “Classic” version of its site would be discontinued in one week. “We appreciate that this represents a change that some of you have been hoping we wouldn’t make,” the email stated, “but it’s something we must do.” Long-time SoundCloud users are disgruntled. Continue Reading
Last week British music service Bloom.FM abruptly shut down to new sign-ups when its sole investor withdrew funding. Bloom CEO Oleg Fomenko has been forthright and active on Twitter, raising hopes for new investment. We spoke to Oleg Fomenko about how the revival effort is going, and about his vision of a future in which music services can operate less precariously. Continue Reading