The latest of many legislative proposals which would require broadcast radio to pay performance royalties to labels and artists was introduced yesterday in the House of Representatives. The bill spins a cagey framework by putting radio stations on the same place in the delivery chain as cable companies. Continue Reading
Darren Davis, President of Networks for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s RAIN Summit Indy, to be held Tuesday, September 9 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Davis has a 21-year career with Clear Channel, and will provide insight on Clear Channel’s innovative digital initiatives. Continue Reading
Reports are circulating today that telecom giant AT&T will discontinue the Muve Music service currently available to a portion of AT&T’s user base. AT&T is invested in its partnership with Beats Music, and owns Leap Wireless, Muve Music’s parent company. There is logic in this rumor, if it plays out. Continue Reading
8tracks, the highly differentiated music service that encourages users to create “online mixtapes,” today released a top-to-bottom redesign of its iOS app, and disclosed its latest audience and business metrics. “”We’re hoping this will be a big event in our history,” CEO David Porter told RAIN. Click for the app review. Continue Reading
XAPPmedia today announced a new addition to its executive team: Lisa Namerow, who moves over from Slacker Radio. Namerow was SVP of Strategic Partnerships at Slacker for about a year, and assumes a similarly focused role at XAPPmedia. Before her stint at Slacker, Namerow maintained an 11-year career at AOL, where she managed AOL Radio. Continue Reading
SoundCloud announced via email to its subscribers today that the “Classic” version of its site would be discontinued in one week. “We appreciate that this represents a change that some of you have been hoping we wouldn’t make,” the email stated, “but it’s something we must do.” Long-time SoundCloud users are disgruntled. Continue Reading
In a significant redesign of its platform, audio network TuneIn today relaunched its mobile apps and browser experience, and disclosed audience and content statistics. TuneIn now has over 50-million active users. The new app experience presents a dramatic redesign and re-naming of existing functions, and some new features. Continue Reading
Internet listening gained two percent in March over February, according to data released by Triton Digital in its Webcast Metrics Top 20 Ranker. The two-percent gain from the previous month lifted total stream listening into new-high territory. March is the eighth consecutive month of Internet listening aggregate gain for Triton’s top-20 list. Click for historical charts. Continue Reading
Yesterday Amazon announced a new feature that allows Twitter users to add something to their Amazon shopping cart by replying to a tweet with the hashtag #amazoncart. “Add it now, buy it later” is Amazon’s slogan. In this guest column, Jennifer Lane suggests how radio stations can use this new program to their (and their advertisers’) advantage. Continue Reading
Last week British music service Bloom.FM abruptly shut down to new sign-ups when its sole investor withdrew funding. Bloom CEO Oleg Fomenko has been forthright and active on Twitter, raising hopes for new investment. We spoke to Oleg Fomenko about how the revival effort is going, and about his vision of a future in which music services can operate less precariously. Continue Reading
The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), a three-judge government panel charged with setting U.S. rules for music licensing and royalty rates, has posted a proposal for a change in webcast record-keeping and reporting to SoundExchange. Broadcast law attorney David Oxenford explains why every webcaster should be aware of the proposal, and participate in the call for comment. Continue Reading
Google expanded its streaming-music service into the Canadian market. The inelegantly-named Google Play Music All Access service is now available in 26 countries. Canada is a music-starved regional frontier, and Canadian music-lovers complain about poor choice of music services compared to their American neighbors. Continue Reading