Editor’s Notebook: Radio, disaster relief, and performance royalties

Inside Radio noted (paywall link here) that a group of Nebraska radio stations has donated $5,000 to the Red Cross for disaster relief after storms ripped through parts of the state. This sort of radio activism on behalf of local communities ties into traditional radio values of locality and community service. More particularly it resonates with recent arguments, in press releases and government hearings, against applying music-licensing performance royalties to broadcast radio. Continue Reading

RAIN Hotspots: Week of June 23-27

RAIN Hotspots — the five most-read articles of the week. this week: A Pandora exec talks to investors about ad revenue and his car … Kurt Hanson’s latest blog post is a tour-de-force of analysis … more copyirght hearings in the U.S. capitol … one radio station cuts its ad load in half … RAIN Poll results. Continue Reading

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Nielsen explores new audience segments

Nielsen Audio released a new study, the Audience Demand Landscape, during its Consumer 360 conference this week. The purpose is to dig beneath standard demographics to reveal adoption and usage characteristics of audio consumers. The result is a slate of newly-defined audience segments that relate less to inborn characteristics, and more to media-use characteristics. Continue Reading

SoundCloud re-launches on iPhone with reduced features and ultra-simple listening

SoundCloud continues to drive toward its stated goal of being “the YouTube of audio,” this week releasing an updated iPhone app experience that makes listening easier and prettier. At the same time there are indications that Soundcloud creators and uploaders are driven farther down a path of alienation that started with earlier changes to the service. Continue Reading

The business of podcasts: conversation with Adam Sachs, new Midroll Media CEO

Two weeks ago podcast production and distribution company Earwolf merged with The Midroll, a podcast advertising agency spawned from Earwolf’s monetization efforts, to form Midroll Media. RAIN spoke with new Midroll Media CEO Adam Sachs about the merger’s values, how podcast ads are sold, and the future of on-demand talk programming. Continue Reading

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House hearing #2 re-treads music licensing issues; hammers radio on performance royalties

by Brad Hill

The Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives held its second hearing on music licensing regulations, hosting a panel of music-industry executives who delivered prepared statements and answered questions. As with the first hearing on June 10, four contentious issues framed today’s proceeding:

  • Broadcast radio’s exemption from performance royalties
  • Pre-1972 recordings unprotected by copyright, and receiving no royalties
  • Uneven payments across different types of musicians
  • Consent Decrees which govern how ASCAP and BMI collect and distribute songwriter royalties

All four pillars of copyright discontent got some play today. Broadcast radio took a severe beating, but unlike the first hearing, the radio industry was represented. Continue Reading

Mark Mulligan: YouTube, Record Labels, and the New Generation of Retailer Behemoths

Guest column by Mark Mulligan

Mark Mulligan is co-founder of MIDiA Consulting, and has been a digital music analyst for over a decade. In this guest column, he observes how a “new generation of retailer behemoths carves out new territory.” Noting that media companies risk becoming collateral damage in this trend, Mulligan lays some responsibility on record labels, both majors and indies. Original research from MIDiA Consulting offers an indicator of YouTube’s streaming impact. Continue Reading

RAIN Internet Radio Awards spotlight best overall digital strategy

Nominees are pouring into this year’s RAIN Internet Radio Awards at about twice the rate of the 2013 awards. These awards are the industry’s preeminent recognition of achievements and best practices in Internet radio. Of the five nomination categories, Best Overall Digital Strategy is one of the broadest, straddling broadcast streaming and pureplays. Continue Reading