Apple and a trio of car companies used the Geneva International Motor Show to announce the roll-out of CarPlay, formerly called iOS in the Car. CarPlay will hit the road later this year in selected Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo models. Not all music apps will work — Pandora is excluded. Continue Reading
Research dominated the news during the past week. A Borrell Associates study, and a sneak peek at Infinite Dial 2014. Also: net neutrality taking a beating, connected cars, 8tracks, Beats Music, the HD Radio lawsuit. Continue Reading
A lawsuit against the U.S.’s largest radio groups over a patent conflict in HD Radio technology, has been delayed pending the result of settlement talks. The suit is widely regarded as a patent-trolling case. Fourteen of the U.S.’s largest radio groups are named. So are 13 car companies. Continue Reading
The Oscars Radio is the perfect weekend station leading up to the Academy Awards on Sunday night. The stream includes presentations and acceptance speeches leading into those songs, like Cuba Gooding’s famous acceptance speech for Jerry Maguire. Continue Reading
Dave Allen, iconic musician and participant in the “Spotify debate,” announced in the Beats Music blog that he has accepted the position of Director, Artist & Music Industry Advocate. “I am back in the music business after 13 years,” Allen enthuses. Continue Reading
AUPEO!, the Berlin-based in-vehicle infotainment service, has obtained placement in new Ford vehicles featuring the SYNC digital dashboard controlled with AppLink, the company announced at Mobile World Congress this week in Barcelona. Berlin-based AUPEO! was founded in 2008. Continue Reading
Copyright reform is the agenda of a new bill introduced to Congress by Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia. Called the Songwriter Equity Act, the bill seeks to amend portions of the U.S. Copyright Act, addressing what the bill’s sponsors call inequity in current regulations. Continue Reading
The study says that Digital and HD Radio formats will never scale to replace FM, and auto manufacturers will continue to include FM receivers in cars for many years. But listening to FM will gradually be replaced by streaming radio and music services as more and more cars become connected. Continue Reading
Ford will switch from Microsoft to BlackBerry’s QNX platform to power Ford’s SYNC digital dashboard. BlackBerry’s QNX is a major player in car dashboards. An analyst says that the loss of Ford as a client would be a “funeral ceremony” for Microsoft’s automotive operating system division. Continue Reading
BandPage is adding another feather in its many-feathered cap in a distribution agreement with Clear Channel radio stations and CC-owned iHeartRadio. Both iHeart and the websites of Clear Channel’s 840 radio stations will carry BandPage’s musician tour dates and ticket-purchase links. Continue Reading
This week’s deal between Netflix and Comcast is an historic, first-of-its-kind arrangement between an Internet content company and an Internet access company. The second deal of its type will not be historic, but might be coming soon, according to Verizon’s CEO. Continue Reading
Edison Research and Triton Digital have scheduled the release of Infinite Dial 2014, for Wednesday, March 5. In a preliminary peek, Edison reports a few Internet listening statistics. Click through for a link to the registration page for getting the full report when released next week. Continue Reading