RAIN Summit: “Audio is at the forefront of digital change”
RAIN Summit Europe was held at The Royal Institution, where about 250 industry professionals gathered for a full day of special presentations by 30 experts in online audio. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Alibaba buys video network; Bandier reassures Sony songwriters; Amazon’s casual music strategy
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Alibaba buys China’s YouTube; Sony/ATV CEO reassures songwriters on Pandora deal; Amazon Prime and a casual listener strategy. Continue Reading
Apple Music beta launches for Android devices
Apple Music has arrived on the Google Play store in beta form. That means Apple’s big foray into streaming music is now available for Android device owners. Apple Music’s performance and audience retention has been the subject of much digital ink, and this debut is likely to prolong interest in the topic. Continue Reading
Rumor Fact(ory): Pandora may be eyeing an international expansion
Pandora has long been a top dog in the streaming world despite its presence in only three global markets. But new rumors point to that number potentially changing. Unnamed sources have told Bloomberg that the online radio service has started early negotiations with rights holders to take its music access international. Continue Reading
Magnifi, revamp of Deli Radio, adds to concert/streaming integration trend
Streaming music has been making slow inroads into integrating with the live music industry. The latest development is Magnifi, a revamped and rebranded version of Deli Radio. Continue Reading
David Lowery petitions N.Y. Attorney General for publishing royalty investigation
David Lowery, a former professional musician and now an advocate for artists’ rights, has written to the New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman to seek an investigation into unpaid mechanical royalties. This fall has seen some heated debate about licensing payments in the streaming music economy, particularly for publishers. Continue Reading
BMW and Deezer enter connected car deal in Europe
BMW announced a new in-car entertainment partnership with Deezer that will see the streaming service becoming available through the BMW ConnectedDrive system. This allows drivers to access Deezer’s music and audio library without using their smartphones. Continue Reading
ASCAP goes public with licensable share data
ASCAP has added information about the share of public performance rights it controls to its publicly available online ACE Database. According to the press release announcing the update, the database changes will support ASCAP’s request to the Justice Department for its members to have greater choice to withdraw certain digital rights. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Weekly Links: Future of radio and media: horse suits, Chinese radio, Sun abandons paywall
by James Cridland
James Cridland Weekly Links is a column by the U.K.’s radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: A look at Chinese radio and how The Sun dropped its paywall. Plus updates from the ASI Europe conference, horse suits, and much more. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Jason Aldean back on Spotify; Portland joins VuHaus; a Mixcloud profile
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Jason Aldean back on Spotify; another public radio addition to VuHaus; Mixcloud positioning itself for DJ value. Continue Reading
Online playlist service Tapely announces shutdown
Tapely announced on Friday that it will be shutting down in the coming weeks. Founder Alex Nikolaidis penned a blog post explaining that the playlisting/mixtape service never got the momentum needed to take off. Continue Reading
Rumor Fact(ory): Does Apple have grander visions for video?
The big gossip swirling around this Monday morning centers once again on Apple Music. This time, the speculation is about the bigger role video may play in this streaming service following the rollout of a new embedding feature for videos hosted on Apple Music’s Connect profiles. Continue Reading