Media technology and database company Gracenote announced this morning that it has hired music tech veteran Ethan Kaplan as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Music. “When I was 16 I started a fan website for the band R.E.M.,” says Kaplan. “The rest of my career extends from there.” Continue Reading
Vessel has exited its beta phase and its online video service is now available to all viewers. The service, started by former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, is offering exclusive access to videos to its members for a small monthly subscription of $2.99 a month. To further build up the viewing audience, Vessel is offering a year of free access for anybody who signs up in the first 72 hours following the launch. Continue Reading
Amazon has updated its Prime Music iOS app with a set of lean-back radio stations. The feature arrived a few months back on the web version, but with mobile listening continuing to rise, bring the fullest service possible to phones is likely to become more and more crucial to a music service’s success. The listening experience is very reminiscent of Pandora, but is it more than a copycat? Continue Reading
John Gorman has four decades of executive programming experience in radio. Jim Marchyshyn was in sales and marketing. The two have partnered to co-found oWOW Media, a Cleveland Internet radio station staffed by sales and on-air personnel who mostly come from broadcast radio. Continue Reading
RAIN News founding editor Kurt Hanson traveled to Milan for Radiodays Europe 2015. This bulletin includes his final observations. Continue Reading
Congress will review another piece of proposed legislation aimed at redistributing digital royalties across the range of people who create music. The Allocation for Music Producers Act, also known as AMP, devotes a share of digital royalties to a song’s producers, mixers, and engineers. Continue Reading
The recording industry has always been troubled by free music, understandably. Yet the progression of disruptive technology has made music an Internet commodity. Spotify is arguing that free listening is necessary to scale streaming revenue. Continue Reading
Satellite broadcaster SiriusXM is planning a two-week activation of non-subscribed car receivers starting May 19. Drivers of those cars will find that they can tune in a selection of Sirius stations until June 1, when the promotion ends. The promo kicks off with a live concert broadcast intended to attract a Latino audience. Continue Reading
Guest columnist Larry Rosin, President of Edison Research, expands the details of podcast listening by age group, from The Infinite Dial 2015. Continue Reading
Not letting any grass grow under its feet, TuneIn announced its compatibility with Android Auto, in time for Pioneer’s launch of its new Android-enabled NEX dashboard systems. The Pioneer aftermarket solutions put Android Auto into cars for the first time, with TuneIn along with it. Continue Reading
Google has officially launched its Android Auto connected car solution in the U.S., the UK, and Australia. It is available to drivers who have both a second generation Networked Entertainment eXperience, or NEX, in-dash multimedia receiver from Pioneer. The aftermarket digital dashboard must be partnered with a smartphone running the Android 5.0, or Lollipop, operating system. Continue Reading
In what will likely be one of its last moves as their owner, Aspiro has combined hi-res streaming services WiMP and Tidal into a single entity. Both platforms will operate under the same Tidal brand name. Tidal and WiMP services were initially owned by Aspiro, but in recent weeks the platforms were purchased by rap and business icon Jay-Z. Continue Reading