Quick Hits: Spotify’s royalties; Steve Albini on copyright; Deezer on Apple
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Billboard on Spotify payouts; Steve Albini talks copyright; Deezer not worried about Apple rivalry. Continue Reading
Toyota joins Ford’s open-source dashboard system for “just works” in-car listening
Toyota announced that it was joining Ford’s SDL project, an open-source solution to connecting mobile apps to digital dashboards. The initiative counters the closed systems from Google and Apple. We spoke to Scott Burnell, Global Lead of Business Development and Partner Management at Ford, for context around this announcement. Continue Reading
YouTube adds new Music Insights analytics for artists
YouTube launched a new set of analytics called Music Insights specifically for musicians. The participating artists can use Music Insights to view engagement information, including their most popular songs and the locations where they have the largest number of fans. It also shares aggregated view counts, which include fan-uploaded videos using that artist’s songs as well as views of videos on the performer’s own channel. Continue Reading
Bret Kinsella: Four Charts Show Radio’s Future Is on Mobile
by Bret Kinsella
Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends presentation is always highly anticipated. Guest columnist Bret Kinsella dug into this year’s report and those of the past five years to develop revealing trends. Continue Reading
Universal Music Japan may be buying into Line Music
Line Music may have received an important vote of confidence from the Japanese arm of Universal Music. The major label has bought into the new music channel of the popular messaging app, according to Complete Music Update. Japan boasts a complicated music market, where CDs are still the dominant listening format. Continue Reading
Dash Radio launches with $2 million, 60 stations, and celebrity power
Dash Radio has launched from its beta testing and is now operating live on the web and on mobile. The online radio platform has received $2 million of seed funding and already has a suite of 60 channels. It is available with apps on both iOS and Android. Continue Reading
Merlin is the newest partner for SoundCloud’s monetization program
SoundCloud has signed an agreement with Merlin that will enable the independent agency’s more than 20,000 labels and distributors to earn money on the platform. The people represented by Merlin will be able to earn royalties from the On SoundCloud advertising program and they will reportedly have involvement in the streaming platform’s upcoming subscription service as well. Terms of the partnership have not been disclosed. Continue Reading
Programmatic solves liquidity problem in streaming audio ads: RAIN/WideOrbit webinar report
In a highly engaged webinar yesterday, RAIN News and WideOrbit presented a RAIN Report webinar to hundreds of industry professionals on programmatic advertising for digital audio, called Programmatic Fast-Tracks Revenue Growth for Digital Audio. Click through for coverage and the webnar video. Continue Reading
Pandora receives final FCC clearance to acquire radio station
Pandora is now legally free to acquire KXMZ, a South Dakota radio station. the FCC has ruled against a petition to deny Pandora’s application, saying that ASCAP failed to establish its case. Continue Reading
Report shows growth in radio and streaming, declines in physical and digital sales
Pricewaterhouse Coopers released a report about the global entertainment and media markets. The research covered both the radio and music market segments. The report found that radio had total revenue of $20.67 billion in 2014. On the other hand, the music industry was valued at $15.06 in 2014 and total recorded music revenue was $6.01 billion. Continue Reading
MusicWatch measures music service competition; Apple must differentiate its upcoming offering
Research company MusicWatch publicly released data points from its Annual Music Study, measuring relative popularity among leading streaming music outlets YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, VEVO, and iTunes Radio. The timing anticipates Apple’s expected announcement of its new on-demand music platform. Continue Reading
Rumor Fact(ory): L.A. Reid/Sony may be buying a stake in Rhapsody
L.A. Reid may be making a bid for shares of Rhapsody. The chairman and CEO of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, is allegedly working with a private equity investment group to purchase a large share of the streaming platform. Continue Reading