Sirius XM has agreed to pay $210 million to settle a lawsuit centered on royalties for recordings made before 1972. The settlement covers about 80% of oldies played by Sirius, and allows the satellite radio company to play those labels’ old recordings through the end of 2017. Continue Reading
Sweden has revised its plans for a transition to digital radio. Minister for Culture and Democracy Alice Bah Kuhnke said that there isn’t enough support at this time to justify the complete transition. She said the government would follow the international adoption of the technology and see if a future transition would be viable. Continue Reading
Indie licensing agency Merlin conducted a survey of its members and found that digital service revenue increased in 2014 for nearly three-quarters of its respondents. Digital revenue now accounts for more than half of overall income for more than half of Merlin’s members. The survey pointed to streaming and subscriptions as key factors in the growing digital revenue. Continue Reading
TuneIn announced that it is launching a native app for the Xbox One game console. The app syncs with other devices that run TuneIn’s software and allows for the home screen of the console to become personalized based on what you listen to. TuneIn also takes advantage of the Xbox One’s Snap feature, which lets two programs run side-by-side on the screen. Continue Reading
In a webcast presentation yesterday, Edison Research revealed all the podcast-related survey data from The Infinite Dial 2015. The result is a more comprehensive view of who is listening to podcasts, in what numbers, and the audience attributes. Continue Reading
Asheville radio listeners got a new station last week that plays 80’s music — and they’ll get a kick-off month-long stream of music uninterrupted by commercials — that is a commercial-free 10,000-song stream. Continue Reading
Spotify has acquired Seed Scientific, adding to its cadre of big data capabilities. Under the new ownership, Seed Scientific will focus on analyzing the interactions artists, listeners, and brands have with the streaming platform. It will be the basis of a new Advanced Analytics division at Spotify, led by Seed’s founder and CEO Adam Bly. Continue Reading
Mobile app developer jācapps announced an initiative called App Everywhere, intending to put radio station brands everywhere that listeners might want them to be, including smartwatches, smart TVs, and digital dashboards in cars. Continue Reading
Multiple major independent groups have voiced support for Apple Music following the tech company’s choice to pay royalties during the free trial period of its upcoming streaming service, with many signing contracts that reflect that new policy. WIN, Beggars Group, Merlin, and IMPALA are all joining the bandwagon. Continue Reading
The Download on Podcasts is a weekly feature sponsored by PodcastOne.
If Serial was the first mile marker of podcasting’s modern era, President Obama’s appearance this week on WTF with Marc Maron is the second, and possibly more important signifier.
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Beatport has introduced an embeddable music player that can can be added to websites and social channels. The company also recognized the recent debates about artist payments by putting its policy front and center. That means every stream of a song, no matter where it happens, will yield some payment to rights holders. Continue Reading
by Brad Hill
Yesterday Google announced it was introducing a free-listening, Internet radio-style component to its Google Play service. The announceement was widely viewed as counter-Apple positioning. But Apple has freemium too. Both companies, the owners of mobile computing, are playing the same game with the same pieces. Continue Reading