After several weeks on an invite-only basis, Spotify has made its official entrance into Canada. The Swedish streaming platform staked a claim to “one of the most extensive Canadian music catalogues available,” with access to more than 20 million songs in the market. It noted a “comprehensive Quebecois library” within those millions of tunes, according to VentureBeat. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worth reads from around the web. TODAY: Samsung partners with Google streaming music; digital radio in France, a streaming hit in the U.K. Continue Reading
audioBoom (formerly audioBoo) has re-launched on a new domain and with new branding. At the same time, the company rolled out a renovated iOS iPhone/iPod app that overhauls the previous version’s navigation and features. Continue Reading
Monday distraction: Paul Lamere, Director of Development Platform at The Echo Nest, which is owned by Spotify, has created an entertaining hack that anyone can try — Where Is the Drama? The idea is to use waveform analysis to identify a song’s climactic section. The experiment is fun, if nothing else. Read how Lamere accomplished this hack, and where you can test it. Continue Reading
Sirius XM was on the receiving end of some bad copyright news last week, and this week the recipient is Grooveshark. Universal Music Group is pushing for a summary judgment, claiming that it is the owner of pre-1972 recordings played on the streaming service. Since Grooveshark’s users are the ones uploading content and since labels can issue takedown notices, the platform has argued that it is covered by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbors and thus is not liable for infringement. Universal is arguing that this provision should not apply to the music dating before 1972. Continue Reading
In 2001, British station manager Richard Cowell crossed the digital divide to launch Music One, a top-40 Internet station. He gradually shifted the programming to dance music and saw the audience grow in support of that format. These days, Music One plays a foot-bouncing mix of EDM and dance pop. Continue Reading
Apple’s forced distribution of U2’s new album, Songs of Innocence, is widely regarded as a public relations catastrophe that damaged both brands. We asked RAIN readers what they thought about free music landing in their devices. Welcomed gift, or abhorred gaffe? The results are fairly definitive. Continue Reading
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An eight-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming music and online audio. This week: RIAA, Shazam, Apple, U2, copyright ruling, Beats Music, WBUR, Google Glass. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Thom York to sell new solo album on BitTorrent; Neil Young’s next album goes hi-fi; social media success for iHeartRadio Fest. Continue Reading
The RIAA released sales and revenue numbers for the first half of 2014. At the top line, a decrease of 4.9% in overall revenue. Streaming posted 28% growth during the half-year — those services supplied 27% of total industry revenue during the front half of the year, drawing close to the 28% share represented by physical music sales. Click through for more. Continue Reading
UK media regulator Ofcom found a 9.1% decline in digital audio broadcasting sets sold in the year ending in June. The annual digital radio report revealed that at 1.7 million sets, the past year had the lowest number sold since at least 2009. The report also showed flat performance for digital radio’s share of all radio listening, holding steady at 36.8%. Its findings for the popularity of digital radio indicated that the UK listeners are scattered in their preferences. Continue Reading
“This is a very surprising decision,” writes broadcast attorney David Oxenford in this comprehensive analysis of a federal court ruling in California. Looking forward, much depends on whether the surprising decision is upheld in appeal, and whather it is replicated in other courtrooms and states. “If this decision were upheld, the potential ramifications for business in California could be great.” Oxenford, who wrote about “The Summer of Copyright” this year, declares the start of what could be an equally contentious new season — “The Autumn of Copyright has begun!” Continue Reading