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An eight-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming audio.
THIS WEEK: The weekly update of the streaming audio industry, from RAIN News. THIS WEEK: Tidal relaunch makes it seem new; DASH Radio; Spotify’s new Canadian deal; revenue forecast for Internet radio advertising; who wants connected cars? Continue Reading
EMI Music has won a summary judgement against Grooveshark’s parent company on charges that the streaming platform infringed on its copyrights. There is a court date set for May 8 to determine the final damages, but they could end up being as high as $420 million for the 2,807 copyrighted tracks EMI found on the streaming service. Continue Reading
SoundExchange has filed a lawsuit against Muzak on charges that it is underpaying artists. The suit alleges that Muzak, a subsidiary of Mood Media Corporation, has used outdated music-licensing regulations to pay for recordings at below-market rates. Continue Reading
NextRadio announced an adoption milestone: two-million downloads of the NextRadio app. Downloads jumped from 1.5-million in two months. We charted the entire growth curve of app downloads, listening hours, and participating radio stations. Continue Reading
GlobalWebIndex released research into the online behavior of teenagers. The participants covered 16- to 19-year old Internet users in 32 different countries worldwide. Entertainment is a top online activity for this age group, with 60% reporting that they had listened to music on a streaming service in the past month. Continue Reading
Kids these days and their real-time, instant communication. Messaging and social apps have been seeing an increase in popularity, and several are experimenting with a musical angle. The latest is Rithm, a social music messaging service that officially launched its commercial listening platform today. Continue Reading
The European Commission, Europe’s main regulatory agency for business competition, has requested information from music labels about their agreements with Apple, according to the Financial Times. The inquiries are related to the planned relaunch of Beats Music this summer. Continue Reading
Data, big and not so big, is a key advantage for streaming over other forms of audio, enabling platforms to deliver better programming and advertising to listeners. Turning Data into Dollar$ brings together five experts to discuss how data leads to better outcomes in programming and advertising. Continue Reading
Brad Hill, the editor of RAIN News, guested on The New Media Show to discuss podcasting. The conversation roamed through the state of podcasting, the potential future of the category, podcast metrics, RAIN Summit West, and much more. Click to listen. Continue Reading
BIA/Kelsey released its annual report of radio station revenue, showing the top ten revenue-generating stations. We spoke to Dr. Mark Fratrik about the growing role of digital revenue. To him, it is “a clarion call.” Continue Reading
The Download on Podcasts is a weekly feature sponsored by PodcastOne.
Despite the bandwagon-jumpers, podcasting is not a fad, or a business bubble. Several reasons why. Continue Reading
The goal with Dash Radio is to return to FM radio’s original music discovery roots, presenting playlists and personalities that felt they were being squeezed out by the dominant media companies taking control of the airwaves. These stations are on the digital air 24/7 and without commercial breaks, all for free. It also has a mobile component, with apps for both iOS and Android. It’s a bold plan and so far it’s bearing out well. Continue Reading