BitTorrent drew attention for its collaboration with Thom Yorke, where it made the Radiohead frontman the first artist to sell a pay-gated torrent of his new solo album. The company announced today that the direct-to-fan Bundle approach can now be used by any artists. The pay-gated platform’s opening was linked with an anniversary album release from DJ and producer Diplo. Continue Reading
In an initiative marked by repeated long delays, it is perhaps unsurprising that Music Key, YouTube’s new music subscription service which was supposed to start today, has been pushed back to tomorrow. In other Music Key news, it is widely reported that a rumored subscriber connection between Music Key and Google’s audio-only subscription service, All Access, will indeed happen. Continue Reading
Rio Caraeff will step down as CEO of Vevo at the end of 2014. CFO Alan Price will serve as the interim leader for the video hosting service while the company looks for a full-time replacement. Vevo has had a rocky year, and the launch of YouTube Music Key is also a potential risk for Vevo’s business. Continue Reading
Imagine getting into a taxi and hearing your Spotify playlist, which you were just listening to, coming out of the car stereo. That is the vision, and starting this Friday the reality, of a partnership announced today by Uber and Spotify. The heart of the deal is about ownership vs. access, of both music and transportation. Continue Reading
Tomorrow, Pandora will discuss the eventful and controversial topic of music licensing in a public conference call with investors. Anyone can dial in. The call comes after webcasters filed their royalty-rate arguments to the Copyright Royalty Board, in which Pandora proposed royalty rates to labels and artists lower than present rates, and about half the amount suggested by SoundExchange in its brief. Continue Reading
A New York judge ruled against Sirius XM’s motion for a summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by the Turtles. The band is seeking $100 million in damages for the satellite radio’s playing its songs from before 1972, when federal copyright laws took effect. It is the latest in a series of state court decisions that challenge a loophole in federal music licensing regulations. Continue Reading
Audio ad platform TargetSpot announced a partnership with RMS, the leading audio ad network in Germany. RMS also operates an Internet radio publishing platform for German online radio stations. TargetSpot merged with leading Internet radio platform Radionomy in January. with both companies involved in audio publishing and ad marketing, the synergies of this deal appear to angle in from all directions. Continue Reading
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A six-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming music and online audio. This week: YouTube Music Key finally arrives (partially); iHeartMedia rate proposal; in-car listening preferences; Rhapsody earnings; SoundHound’s new app; Disney goes digital on Slacker; Taylor Swift redux. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Sales and subscriptions up for Google Music; SoundCloud cofounder on money and mixes; what the world is listening to. Continue Reading
The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers And Authors weighed in on Taylor Swift’s decision to remove all of her music from Spotify over concerns that the singer was not being fairly compensated for her music. BASCA voiced support for Swift’s decision, but used the situation to call attention to the disparity in royalties paid to performers compared with those given to songwriters. Continue Reading
Warner Music Group has entered into a distribution agreement with Tencent, a Chinese Internet conglomerate. Tencent will be responsible for distributing Warner’s catalog and new releases to local music services in China. One of the main platforms where Tencent will be providing Warner’s library is its proprietary streaming music platform, QQ Music. The free listening service is one of the longest-running in China. Continue Reading
Gracenote announced the launch of a new platform that will enter the increasingly crowded space of connected car dashboards. The product is called Entourage Radio, and this very interesting platform will connect music sources including AM/FM radio and streaming platforms in a single interface, then initiate new listening experiences based on song-ID. Continue Reading