David Lowery, musicians’ advocate and the foremost critic of streaming music, posted a column in which he prescribes solutions to “fix” the streaming music business model — or, more accurately, his issues with it. Lowery’s arrows are pointed at Spotify, and his suggestions are surprising. Along the way, he misses some reality points. Continue Reading
SoundCloud’s kettle boiled over this summer when major labels (“the majors”) started to enforce their intellectual property rights upsetting the service’s large community of Producers and DJs. After seven years of maintaining the same service, SoundCloud took drastic steps to change its design, and more importantly, its functionality. Many of the functionality changes likely occurred from the growing concern over potentially copyright-infringing works that inhabit the platform. Although SoundCloud has remedied the situation temporarily to satisfy the smaller artists, it could run into further problems down the road. Continue Reading
Once a pioneer, subscription music-download site eMusic is striking out afresh with news of a change its music catalog to focus on indie labels and artists. The service will discontinue major-label recordings. In doing so, eMusic circles back to its roots as a champion of indie music, and of users who dig deeper than the hit charts. Continue Reading
“This is a very surprising decision,” writes broadcast attorney David Oxenford in this comprehensive analysis of a federal court ruling in California. Looking forward, much depends on whether the surprising decision is upheld in appeal, and whather it is replicated in other courtrooms and states. “If this decision were upheld, the potential ramifications for business in California could be great.” Oxenford, who wrote about “The Summer of Copyright” this year, declares the start of what could be an equally contentious new season — “The Autumn of Copyright has begun!” Continue Reading
Recent info from Edison Research’s Share of Ear study puts listening to Internet radio/Music in the US, among persons 12+ at 11.6% of overall listening to all legitimate sources of audio. Right around the same time we were discussing this study at RAIN Summit Indy, similar information was being presented at the Nextrad.io conference hosted by RAIN friends James Cridland and Matt Deegan. RAIN will be examining the online audio marketplace in the UK and across Europe in November at RAIN Summit Europe which will take place in London on November 4th. Continue Reading
RAIN founding editor Kurt Hanson rhapsodizes about the iPhone 6’s ability to consolidate multiple mobile tools into a single device. His admonition to radio executives on both sides of the digital fence: Take note, and prepare for an even more consumer-friendly mobile future. Continue Reading
This guest column identifies a “middling majority” of music creators whose businesses are not thriving in the streaming music services. Mark Mulligan proposes a formula for better monetizing a band’s relationship with listeners and fans — and offers a worksheet of the model for artists to work with. Continue Reading
This guest column was contributed by Mike Spinelli, a third-year law student at Quinnipiac University School of law, where he is studying music transactions and music licensing. He previously worked at SoundExchange. Where does the future lie for music services — human curation of playlists, or data-driven music selection? Continue Reading
This guest contribution by Michael Robertson, founder of Internet Radio Search Engine and DAR.fm, was originally posted on Google Plus. On that site, the article is followed by an interesting comment discussion featuring James Cridland, a frequent RAIN contributor. Here, Roberston takes NextRadio to task. Right or wrong? Leave a comment! Continue Reading
Mark Mulligan is one of the industry’s most astute observers and analysts. This guest column examines customer sharing, revenue cannibalization, and the next five years in music — “one of the music industry’s most dramatic periods of change. The last ten years might have been disruptive but the change that is coming will be even more transformative.” Continue Reading
It has been nearly a year since the rumor broke that Google would create a subscription music plan for YouTube. During this long (and continuing) lead-up, speculation and bafflement has been rampant. Here are three reasons the new service will succeed, and three reasons it won’t. Continue Reading
Michael Cooper of The New York Times wrote a round-up of all the available options he could find for streaming classical and opera music. These genres certainly don’t dominate the discussions of digital media. In fact, opera and classical are seen as a niche audience, and that has created an uphill battle for those artists to negotiate good deals on mainstream streaming services. Continue Reading