We reported on Monday that Grooveshark was facing potentially immense financial damages judgment in its drawn-out copyright infringement trial with record labels. That particular threat appears to be neutralized in a settlement which includes the final closure of Grooveshark.com, the service, and a handover of all company assets. Continue Reading
Rumor (and more rumor) has turned to apparent fact, as CNBC is reporting that Spotify has raised a new funding round of at least $350-million, led by Goldman Sachs. The funding round closed on a “first close” basis, so new investors may yet join. Continue Reading
After a round of user and venue testing, CrowdTunes announced its launch today. The crowd-controlled streaming service, which is designed for public venues like bars and restaurants, is powered by U.K.-based technology provider 7digital. Continue Reading
This week’s earnings report from iHeartMedia encompassed financial results and strategic updates ranging across the many dimensions of a media conglomerate. Within that scope, Richard Bressler (President, COO, and CFO) landed on topics of particular pertinence to online audio. Continue Reading
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The weekly update of the streaming audio industry, from RAIN News. THIS WEEK: Copyright chief wants radio to pay; Copyright Royalty Board starts a music licensing trial; Sirius XM earnings; Pandora earnings; something new for podcasting. Continue Reading
A two-year music copyright review ended yesterday, when Copyright Office chief Maria Pallante criticized terrestrial radio’s performance royalty exemption as “indefensible,” and called for change. Continue Reading
When Memphis-based LMB Network announced that it was adding new programs to its Internet radio lineup, we reached out to President and Chief Operating Office Thomas Anderson for background on the station, and a view of its business outlook. Continue Reading
Music and social have tried to marry, but never gotten past the dating stage. Twitter tried and failed. Instagram has started a new attempt. The attempt is to organize its 300-million users around music as a passion point for shareable photos and videos. Continue Reading
As part of its State of the News Media 2015 report, the Pew Research Center has released nearly a dozen Fact Sheets. Two of them are pertinent to the online audio industry: Audio, and Podcasting. Continue Reading
Radio and stream aggregator TuneIn, and leading music-ID app Shazam, both announced new integrations with Google Now, an Android feature that resembles Apple’s Siri. Continue Reading
The Copyright Royalty Board has begun the hearing phase of its proceeding to set the royalties to be paid by webcasters for the years 2016-2020. Broadcast law attorney David Oxenford witnessed the day-ong event. Continue Reading
Digital music distributor TuneCore announced first-quarter results — as usual, not in terms of revenue to the company, but through the lens of payouts to musician clients. Artists earned over $36-million in Q1. Continue Reading