The five most-read articles this week in RAIN. Thanks for reading!
Patrick Main, a quality-control expert for Peet’s Coffee and Tea, entered the news sphere when his company partnered with Pandora to create new Internet radio stations for Peet’s stores, and Patrick was asked to program them. He is a part-time musician, and long-time Pandora user. RAIN interviewed him about the unusual assignment.- The main business story was Pandora and Peet’s. It is a first-of-its-kind deal for Pandora, in extending its brnad into a retail space. Peet’s get marketing exposure in the Pandora apps, and customized listening channels for its nearly 300 stores.
Larry Rosin, president of Edison Research, presented research information at the Radiodays conference in Dublin, warning European broadcasters that they will probably face the same digital disruptions that American radio stations have. the final slide of Rosin’s presentation made clear the warning.- RAIN has noted in the past that iHeartRadio’s mobile notifications have been spoiled by heavy ad loads dragging down the listening experience during crucial news moments. but this week a notification about the lost Malaysian plane worked perfectly, and demonstrated how effectively old-media and new-media can work together.
- Serial entrepreneur Michael Robertson was handed a harsh jury verdict this week, charged by the court to pay damages of $41-million dollars in the Capital Records vs. MP3Tunes copyright infringement case. RAIN editor Brad Hill found a 2005 conversation with Robertson about his then-new company.
