The world’s three biggest music labels — Warner Music Group (WMG), Universal Music Group (UMG), and Sony Music Entertainment — each invested $3-million in Shazam, a leading song-recognition app. The company has raised at least $92-million in the last three years. Continue Reading
In a partnership that was announced over a year ago, automaker GM and telecom giant AT&T are starting to roll out product — cars with built-in online connectivity. With announced prices, these cars and data plans help shape consumer understanding of an important question: What is the monthly cost of connecting a car? Continue Reading
Spotify upgraded its Windows Phone app, putting in features that have been painfully missing for users of that platform (e.g. Radio, Browse, and Discover). But one important feature is missing: Spotify Free. Users shouldn’t be surprised: Spotify warned of this in February. Continue Reading
SiriusXM announced an expansion of its Pre-Owned Program, via a partnership with Nowcom’s DealerCenter management software. DealerCenter is utilized by 4,500 car dealers in the U.S. This development follows a March announcement which integrated Sirius’ program with AutoManager, another software solutions provider to car dealers. Continue Reading
When McDonald’s saw that there was a market for a high-end burrito chain, they didn’t try to extend the “McDonald’s” brand into that product category. Instead, the McDonald’s organization created (or acquired) a new brand name, Chipotle. Kurt Hanson compares that strategy to radio’s brand extension efforts in digital. Continue Reading
On Friday, the Copyright Office extended by one week the deadline for comments on its wide-ranging proceeding on the current music licensing regime and whether reforms are necessary or appropriate. Broadcast law attorney David Oxenford explains why this is important for all webcasters. Continue Reading
Ad-tech company AdsWizz has partnered with solutions provider Marketron to create Mediascape Streaming, which Marketron calls “The first end-to-end streaming advertising solution.” Mediascape Streaming is an extension of Marketron’s existing Mediascape product. Continue Reading
A Beats Music royalty statement was leaked to The Trichordist, David Lowery’s musician advocacy site. The document divulges previously unknown subscriber and royalty information. Click for an informal and unofficial reconstruction of the Beats Music audience level and royalty percentages in March. Continue Reading
The Songwriter Equity Act, proposed legislation originally introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, is picking up new steam in the Senate, as three co-sponsors announced they would introduce their re-write of the bill. The senators gained publicity for their legislative action by holding a press event in Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe. Continue Reading
Microsoft is apparently preparing a music storage system to be combined with its subscription streaming service, Xbox Music. Combining owned files with a cloud-based streaming service covers all the bases for users who likes streaming music, but still value their purchased music collections. Continue Reading
MistyRadio (www.mistyradio.com) is slow and sentimental jazz (mostly) for relaxed listening. We thought it might be excessively soupy at first, but it depends on when you hit the stream. The MistyRadio is really about memory-infused songs, mostly traditional jazz, or jazzy in feel. Continue Reading
A new study of January data by comScore and Millennial Media reveals that among 15 Internet content categories, streaming radio is (by far) the most mobile. A full 95% of time spent with streaming radio transpired in tablets (16%) and smartphones (79%). Continue Reading