Spotify is reportedly in late-stage discussions to obtain 200-million dollars in new venture funding from Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV). Added to Spotify’s current funding total of $288-million, the new investment would raise the startup’s valuation by 41 percent. Spotify has… Continue Reading
Greg Cutler is a voice-over actor and producer who has been creating audio ads for Pandora since 2011. After a decade in radio (1981-1991), and taking a break for non-profit activities, Cutler returned to voice work in 2001. He operates… Continue Reading
Last week we noted that many online music services are lagging behind some terrestrial stations in pre-Thanksgiving holiday programming, even though adding it doesn’t displace any non-holiday music — a choice that broadcast stations must gamble on. AccuRadio dives deeply… Continue Reading
No music has grander sweep than movie soundtracks. Streaming Soundtracks, one of an Internet-only cluster of stations owned by 24seven.fm. (Others include 1980s.fm, Entranced.fm, Death.fm, and Adagio.fm.) Inspirating, uplifting, tragic, dramatic, tectonic — movie scores evoke big feelings and events.… Continue Reading
RAIN’s Weekend Perspective summarizes the week’s important events for a weekend catch-up, and revives your weary frontal cortex for the coming week. NEW & BETA DAB+ in the Netherlands: The Dutch government has mandated nationwide switch-over to digital radio by… Continue Reading
Here are the top five, most-read article this week, published at any time. The push-pull relationship of streaming and albums (11/6): Album sales have plummeted. Is streaming music to blame? RAIN examines history for a deeper truth, and uncovers present-day… Continue Reading
Songkick, which identifies music tour stops by city, has joined Spotify’s app ecosystem. The concert tracking service can be accessed in Spotify’s desktop program. Songkick hooks into the user’s Spotify music collection to recognize bands and artists of interest. It… Continue Reading
Many home-produced pureplays are inspired by a love of broadcast radio. Some, like yesterday’s The World of Blues (www.theworldofblues.com) and the recently spotlighted East Village Radio (www.eastvillageradio.com), emulate radio by presenting live hosts. Today’s pureplay is mostly playlist-driven, but is… Continue Reading
Serial entrepreneur Michael Robertson conceives of his latest project, Radio Search Engine, as a Google for real-time music searches on radio. RAIN tested the new site, still in beta development mode, and spoke with Robertson about what it is, how… Continue Reading
Clear Channel-owned iHeartRadio announced today that Chris Williams, former VP of Programming for Clear Channel Cincinnati, is joining the New York office as SVP of iHeartRadio programming. According to the press release, Williams will work on some of iHeart’s most-publicized… Continue Reading
Listn is a music app owned by MFive Labs that expands the social possibilities of music listening by connecting people, and their music collections, across platforms and services. The company received $500-thousand in seed funding this week, giving it a… Continue Reading
Singer-songwriter Billy Bragg has stepped into the Spotify debate with a Facebook post that’s getting picked up in the digital music news. Bragg joins Thom Yorke, David Byrne, Dave Allen, and others who critique artist-royalty system in spotify’s business model.… Continue Reading