Samsung appears to have had a change of heart on whether to charge for its Milk Music service in South Korea. Today, the tech giant announced that it would introduce a premium tier to Milk following some legal trouble with a group of Korean record labels. According to Korea Bizwire, the paid plan will arrive in Samsung’s home country in the first quarter of 2015. Continue Reading
TuneCore paid $32.7 million to artists in the third quarter of 2014. That amount marked a 13.2% increase over the payouts made by the digital music distribution company in the same quarter of 2013. This is a solid performance, nearly matching the more than $33 million it distributed in 2014’s second quarter. Since launching in 2006, it it has paid $471.5 million for its clients. Continue Reading
The BBC is throwing its weight behind efforts to get FM radio chips enabled on smartphones. Research commissioned by the UK broadcaster found that the majority of smartphone owners want radio available in the devices. The study also highlighted the common concerns about that technology: mobile data costs, impact on battery life, and reception issues. Continue Reading
Pre-roll commercials, which play before the first song when a custom station is launched in a music service, make a lot of sense. This might seem counter-intuitive to radio listeners, every one of whom has endured the experience of tuning into a favorite station at the start of a long spot set. But a single short ad before the music starts can grab attention without pushing away the user. We find a good one in this edition of adStream. Continue Reading
YouTube has made $1 billion in payouts from its ContentID system since it was implemented in 2007. This technology helps many of the video network’s content creators to control how their material is made available. The program has been especially helpful for musicians and music labels, since many YouTube users upload video with copyrighted audio material. The rights holders can either have infringing videos taken down or have ads placed in them to generate revenue. Continue Reading
The music industry entered a new automotive battleground. The Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies filed a lawsuit against several car companies, including General Motors and Ford Motor Company, seeking damages for vehicles equipped with what it believes are digital audio recording devices. Ford has filed a motion to dismiss the case. The argument hinges on a key definition. Continue Reading
NextRadio announced an adoption milestone: one-million downloads of the NextRadio app. With the announcement of one-million downloads comes an update of the app (scheduled for this Friday, October 17), that will put new, more interactive features into the NextRadio experience. We tracked and charted the history of NextRadio’s key adoption metrics. Continue Reading
Shazam has moved into the broadcast realm thanks to a partnership with Southern Cross Austereo. The parties have created a nightly show called Shazam Top 20 that will count down the most-tagged songs in Australia. According to the press release, fans who have the Shazam app on their phones will be directly influencing the charts. Calling the arrangement “a world-first,” Shazam’s APAC Sales Director Steve Sos said that the fan-guided radio show was a natural extension of the sound-identification app’s service. Continue Reading
Vodafone has continued its trend of partnering with streaming services. This time, Vodafone Australia has tied up with Spotify for a deal that will give the telecom’s customers access to the premium listening plan. Details of the arrangement or for a potential discount on the Premium plan were not disclosed. According to the streaming platform, about 1.5 million Aussies regularly stream music on their smartphones. Continue Reading
Deezer’s unusual arrival into the U.S. market has had us scratching our heads for several weeks. First an Elite plan only for Sonos owners, then a Premium+ one for the only marginally less costly Bose speakers? In an interview with CNET, North American CEO Tyler Goldman explained that audiophiles were just the first of many demographics that Deezer planned to target. He said the streaming service would be launching products for other U.S. segments over the next year. Continue Reading
Samsung has drawn the ire of the Korea Music Copyright Association with its Milk Music. The group of record labels signed a contract with Samsung stating that the tech major would begin charging for the streaming service starting Oct. 10. Samsung is still offering Milk for free to the owners of certain smartphones, but it is paying the streaming charges to Soribada, a subcontractor and local music distributor. The association ended its contract with Soribada today as a result, claiming that continuing to operate Milk Music without its approval would be a copyright infringement. Continue Reading
Why? Yknot! Sometimes a stream grabs us from the first song and holds on. That’s partly luck, but regular listening separates enduring stations from temporary infatuations. Yknot Radio is a keeper for upbeat, feel-good music that lies somewhere between soft rock and the hard stuff. Continue Reading