Although the deal closed last year, the news is breaking only now: SoundCloud scored $60M of new funding from Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) and the Chernin Group. Investors call SoundCloud the YouTube of audio. Isn’t YouTube already that? Continue Reading
In a frank and concise interview with Hollywood Reporter, Spotify founder Daniel Ek volleys a series of questions about his competitors. He denigrates Beats Music, and makes a mistake about Pandora, but, more interestingly, defines Spotify in a meaningful way. Continue Reading
The 56th annual Grammy Awards have reportedly chosen Rdio to power its official app. No musical streaming is happening in the app now, two days before the ceremony. Get the streams flowing! (You can hear nominee streams within the Rdio app, furnished by TheGrammys profile.) Continue Reading
Amazon might start an online TV service, competing with cable companies. Amazon Prime has over 20-million subscribers, a huge number by the standards of music plans. Will Amazon ever get into music streaming? Continue Reading
The alert pinged into the notification bar of my Android phone. It was from the iHeartRadio app. Justin Bieber had been arrested on a DUI charge in Miami. The notification’s call to action — click to hear live radio coverage on a Miami radio station. Nice! But then… Continue Reading
An innovative new retail model was introduced into the world of department stores — almost simultaneously, in the year 1962, by Walmart, Target, Kmart, and Kohl’s — and over the ensuing years consumers have proven they like the new model better. Something similar is happening with Internet radio. Continue Reading
Are BMI and ASCAP, which represent most music publishing, becoming less important as publishers seek to deal directly with Pandora? What is the future of the complicated royalty-setting process in the U.S. market? We talked with Casey Rae at the Future of Music Coalition. Continue Reading
In a collaborative open letter, Paul Haaga (acting President and CEO of NPR) and Jon McTaggart (CEO of American Public Media Group) call for all smartphones to contain activated FM chips, citing radio’s role in emergencies. We agree with the emergency angle, but also regard FM as a desirable mobile feature in all respects. Continue Reading
As automakers and digital providers race for the modern dashboard, and the car industry as a whole hurtles toward a future in which cars are connected to digital realms similarly to smartphones, security and privacy become issues. Continue Reading
Earlier today we posted some Twitter outpouring about today’s problems with the Beats Music service which launched yesterday. During the hours of musical drought, we observed that Beats did not make a public acknowledgement of connection issues. It came at day’s end today. Continue Reading
Pandora’s right to include certain music recordings in its catalog has been complicated recently by an unfavorable court case, requiring fast action and a type of negotiating Pandora has not favored in the past. Happy result for all parties. Continue Reading
We spoke with Jack Isquith, SVP of Strategic Development and Content Strategy at Slacker, just before Beats Music launched. Isquith buoyantly welcomed Beats to the market, and described how Slacker has been in the human-curation model for years. Continue Reading