Quick Hits: Classical streaming; Spotify on Windows Phone; Fallon’s iHeart station

Brief news items and worthy reads from around the Internet:

Summer of classical streaming: A NY Times fine arts writer spends the summer exploring opera and symphonic streaming as a replacement for attending classical festivals. It reads like a cyberspace travelogue. [NY Times]

What day should albums be released?: Yes, it still matters. The leading international recording industry trade group, IFPI, wants new albums formally released in music stores on Fridays, synchronized around the world. (It would pruportedly reduce piracy.) But indie record stores hate the idea, preferring an early-week launch of new discs. (That would supposedly increase sales.) [The Guardian]

Jimmy Fallon’s iHeart station: The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon has been taking viewers through his process of shopping for and buying a truck, perhaps indicating that late-night variety ain’t what it used to be. Anyway, the saga has resulted in a music stream representing tunes Fallon thinks are good road music in a truck. It has a lot of country music … and the olbigatory “Truckin'” (Grateful Dead). The station resides on iHeartRadio, which sent a mobile notification about it. And a press release. But no free trucks, disappointingly. [Fallon iHeartRadio station]

Brad Hill