Connected cars are either either a threat to radio or an opportunity, depending on who you talk to. But there’s not much talk at all about self-driving cars, which are on a quick development pace. Guest columnist Mark Ramsey holds forth. Continue Reading
Yesterday’s announcement that Rhapsody would rebrand as Napster across its global music service empire caused flashbacks in the minds of digital audio veterans. Matt Graves helped launch Rhapsody in 2001, and has worked in the online media fields for even longer. In this guest column he reviews the astonishing and unlikely history of Napster. Continue Reading
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When do we know that a media category has attained maturity? Many answers to that, the most viable probably being a thriving and sustainable financial ecosystem. But a more fun answer is when various groups give out awards designed to celebrate excellence and separate cream from crop. Continue Reading
One pre-1972 copyright case that has escaped broad awareness is Capital Records vs. Vimeo, the high-end video platform. Vimeo has just won an appeal that absolves it from treating pre-1972 music content differently from post-1972 music content. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web. Today: Internet radio’s history; the threat of Amazon; the future of podcasting. Continue Reading
Twitter has confirmed that it has made a capital investment in SoundCloud. Re/code is reporting anonymous sources who say the investment is worth about $70-million. So continues the long, unsteady relationship of micro-blogging service Twitter with music. Continue Reading
Pandora has released a little burst of data demonstrating that landing on a Pandora station gives an artist more exposure than landing on a terrestrial playlist — when the artist is up-and-coming but not there yet. The article is by Glenn Peoples, ex-Billboard columnist who recently took a position at Pandora. Continue Reading
Rhapsody surprised the industry with an un-forewarned announcement that it would consolidate around its subsidiary brand Napster, which it acquired in January, 2012. Napster has been the public-facing brand of the Rhapsody on-demand music service in non-U.S. markets. The announcement is bare-bones. Napster is a trademark with a rich history. Continue Reading
This week Spotify will release the newest edition of its ongoing consumer survey that seeks to measure listening reach — specifically how Spotify Free compares to local AM/FM radio. The results offer a view of radio listening that unites traditional broadcast with Spotify Free, the ad-supported listening tier. Continue Reading
Guest columnist Vickie Nauman is Principal and Owner of CrossBorderWorks Consulting & Advising, and was U.S. President of 7digital for two years. Here, she identifies five points of sustainability in the new music industry. Continue Reading
This year’s music news has been notable for debates and lawsuits about music licensing, rights ownership, and royalty payments. The underlying issue is a complex and inscrutable layering of music ownership. Because of the dense and dark music ownership tangle, digital services cannot always identify correct parties for payment when songs are streamed. An exceptionally broad coalition of institutions has announced an initiative to create a global solution. Continue Reading