If U.S. legislative bodies and lobbying groups are neck-deep in music-licensing and copyright issues during this “Summer of Copyright,” their northern neighbors are wading into turbulent waters, too. A protest of Canadian music royalty rates, set by the government in May, is underway. Continue Reading
The European Commission has cleared Apple’s purchase of Beats. The trade regulator determined that while both companies do have overlap in goods and services sold, they don’t have a strong enough joint presence in Europe to cause competition concerns. However, the news isn’t all good for Beats and its likely new owner. Continue Reading
In this Part 3 of his Summer of Copyright series, broadcast law attorney David Oxenford writes about a new music licensing comment period established by the U.S. Copyright Office. It is first an opportunity for all stakeholders and interested parties to weigh in. Second, the detailed request for comments illuminates how the Copyright Office seems to be prioritizing possible changes to music licensing. Continue Reading
Apple is purchasing Swell in a deal worth $30 million, according to unnamed sources. The app offers personalized streams of podcasts and talk radio programs. It has raised $7.2 million as a startup project but this valuation implies that the tool has a lot more to offer Apple as it overhauls its music services. Continue Reading
When we read that Feature.FM would be supplying sponsored music to 8tracks, we took the opportunity to catch up with David Porter, 8tracks founder and CEO, to discuss that deal and native advertising generally. Our conversatijon also went into data science and user personalization. Continue Reading
Rhapsody has entered into a partnership with Flipps, an app for playing media from a mobile device on a television. Through this arrangement, Flipps will support the discovery and streaming of Rhapsody and Napster’s original video content, including music videos, live performances, and exclusive interviews. The deal is the latest in a busy year for Rhapsody. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web. TODAY: Verizon to throttle some users back; T-Mobile unleashes data, but might violate Net Neutrality principles; artist support for streaming. Continue Reading
Google announced that it will give U.S. Chromecast users a 90-day free trial subscription to the All Access Music service. The subscription streaming platform usually costs $9.99. Google is offering the free deal through September. Chromecast has been out for a year now, and it’s Google’s method of getting streaming media from mobile devices to a television screen. Several services, including Pandora, Beats Music, and Rdio, have added support for Chromecast. Continue Reading
Pandora’s workmanlike earnings call conveyed the impression of offhand dominance in the field, but after-hours investors sent the stock careening down a steep slope, off 12% in early evening trading.
The company met financial expectations, but lowered guidance for the current quarter (Jul – Sep). Perhaps more influential to trigger-happy investors were the audience metrics, which showed no audience growth. There was expansion of listening hours, however, emphasized by CEO Brian McAndrews as the more important key in the revenue equation. Continue Reading
Over the past 14 years, RAIN has reported to you from around the world — including publishing a week’s worth of early RAIN issues from an Internet-enabled café in Copenhagen, reporting on a popular new trend among young people in Prague called “texting” (way back in 2002), and producing an early cellphone-only version of RAIN in Tokyo, and more.
Now, founding editor Kurt Hanson sends a bulletin and photos from Tokyo, where he is observing the tech and online music scenes. Continue Reading
Townsquare Media launched as a public company today, pricing its offering at $11. (NYSE ticker: TSQ) Townsquare is the 3rd-largest radio-station holding company in the U.S., with 312 local stations. An eager digital adopter, Townsquare maintains 325 local websites, and has grown its webcast listenership 43% in the past year. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: The state of streaming; online radio in Australia; live but not in person; Google/Spotify deal debate. Continue Reading