It might seem ironic that Swedish musicians are unhappy with their participation in Swedish-born Spotify. But it makes sense that if any national group of artists would take action related to Spotify payouts, it would be in Sweden, where streaming… Continue Reading
RAIN’s Weekend Perspective summarizes the week’s important events for a weekend catch-up, and revives your weary neurons for coming week. DEVICES & TECH In the suddenly exploding realm of wireless speakers, two new products landed in the market. Sonos Play:1… Continue Reading
In the first methodology change after the acquisition of Arbitron, and its rebranding as Nielsen Audio, Nielsen has announced it will include radio online reruns in its ratings, according to Inside Radio and Audio4cast. The decision is an inching movement… Continue Reading
Tunecore, one of several intermediaries that provide a gateway to digital distribution for independent musicians, announced on its blog that 330-million dollars has been paid out to musician clients during the company’s seven-year history. Tunecore represents an interesting and significant… Continue Reading
Some Boomers will tell you that in the 1960s and early 1970s, everyone identified either with The Beatles or The Rolling Stones — but not both. The two preeminent recording bands of the era anchored opposite poles of a sprawling… Continue Reading
RAIN’s Weekend Perspective summarizes the week’s important events for a weekend catch-up, and revives your weary neurons for coming week. DEVICES Two new streaming devices assaulted the traditional home radio. Samsung Shape: First, Samsung introduced its WiFi-connected speaker system called… Continue Reading
Video: NME Magazine took a video camera to young musicians in the U.K. to ask them, bluntly, whether Spotify is evil. (Watch it here.) The answers were (perhaps politely) all variations on the theme of “No.” Musicians (at least, the… Continue Reading
The cost of content is a shared issue in terrestrial, webcast, and pureplay balance sheets. Music licensing costs come as a patchwork of statutory and negotiated agreements. Stakeholders on the music content side include composers, performers, and labels. Three organizations… Continue Reading
Rhapsody, one of the oldest listening platforms, a subscription-only pureplay, and lately a beleaguered business wracked with internal changes, has brought new features to its Radio product. “Radio” in this context means playlists. Until now, Rhapsody has offered a suite… Continue Reading
Inside Radio reported new diary-based research indicating that AM/FM radio occupies at least two-thirds of audio minutes heard across generational divides. The study is branded by USA TouchPoints, a metered-behavior service launched in 2011 under the wing of the Media… Continue Reading
This morning Pandora released its monthly Audience Metrics bulletin, showing across-the-board growth in the company’s key indicators. Pandora’s reported listening hours grew to 1.36-billion, an 18% year-over-year gain from September 2012 (1.15B). Month over month, listening time marginally improved from… Continue Reading