Radiodays Europe Hits Milan With Full Force
by Kurt Hanson
RAIN News founding editor Kurt Hanson is in Milan for Radiodays Europe 2015. This bulletin covers the event’s opening day, with photos. Continue Reading
NPR/CPB licensing agreement with SoundExchange: +17% for 2016-2020
RAIN News has learned that NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have agreed to a 17% music licensing rate increase for the 2016-2020 royalty period. The new rate anchors an agreement between the nonprofit public media outlets and SoundExchange, the royalty collection and distribution entity representing artists and record labels to webcasters. Continue Reading
Rhapsody audio cards bring full-song streaming to Twitter
Rhapsody launched a new feature today called Rhapsody audio cards that allows more than 30 million songs to be embedded and heard in full on Twitter. The new development is designed to allow listening to its catalog without ever leaving the social media app. Continue Reading
BBC chief plans re-invention around on-demand and hybrid radio
Helen Boaden, director of radio at the BBC, spoke today at the RadioDays Europe Festival about the media icon’s efforts to reinvent its broadcast presence to reflect new technologies and changing consumer preferences. The BBC is working to “reinvent radio for the Internet age” with an online audio service. Continue Reading
Patreon acquires fellow crowdfunding site Subbable
Patreon, a crowdfunding site based on the idea of classical patronage, has acquired Subbable, a fellow crowdfunding service. Subbable was founded by Hank and John Green, YouTube personalities known as the Vlogbrothers. While most financial terms of the deal were not revealed, Patreon will be matching migrating pledges up to $100,000. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: An all-digital transmitter; Variety on YouTube; Adweek on streaming
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Introducing the first all-digital radio transmitter; Variety reports on YouTube after a decade; Adweek on streaming finances. Continue Reading
Mike Agovino, ex-Triton, joins PodcastOne
Mike Agovino, formerly COO of Triton Digital, has pivoted quickly into a new role as Executive Vice Chairman of PodcastOne. As we reported yesterday, Agovino left Triton in the wake of its acquisition by Vector Capital. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Weekly Links: How to make great radio, and more
by James Cridland
Guest columnist James Cridland Weekly Links, a new column on RAIN News. A new book, changes to BBC streaming, DAB in Australia, and much more. Continue Reading
RADIODAYS EUROPE 2015
by Kurt Hanson
RAIN News founding editor Kurt Hanson is in Milan for Radiodays Europe 2015. This is the first of his bulletins, with photos. Continue Reading
DAAST specification for audio ad serving now in adoption phase
Six months after its introduction by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the Digital Audio Ad Serving Template (DAAST) is in its adoption phase. “Industry adoption of DAAST enables digital audio ads to be easily run and tracked in a consistent manner across publishers, similar to other digital marketing mediums,” said Scott Cunningham, Senior Vice President, IAB, and General Manager of the IAB Technology Lab. Continue Reading
SoundExchange inks webcasting royalty deal with public broadcasting
SoundExchange has reached an agreement with NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that sets royalty rates for webcasting for the next five years. In doing this, both parties shortcut the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) rate-setting process which started last year, and will conclude in December when the CRB announces new webcaster music licensing rates for 2016-2020. Continue Reading
Triton Digital CEO Neal Schore on the acquisition by Vector Capital: “An inflection point”
As we reported this morning, Vector Capital has acquired Triton Digital. We spoke with Triton President and CEO Neal Schore, to get context around the new business structure. He shared to background and reason for the ownership change, and addressed staff changes. Continue Reading