Deezer may be getting a leg up in the South African market for music streaming thanks to a partnership with Vodacom Group. Bloomberg cited an unnamed person familiar with the negotiations who said the Vodafone unit would offer its customers access to Deezer through an exclusive year-long deal. Neither Deezer nor Vodacom offered comment on the report. Continue Reading
The long-awaited dot-RADIO domain (e.g. BrandName.radio) is a step closer to becoming reality, but not without a new chapter in a controversy which started last October. Today, BRS Media, which administers the purchase of dot-FM and dot-AM domains, will announce it has filed a Reconsideration Request to ICANN against its preliminary choice for administrator — the European Broadcast Union (EBU). We spoke to BRS Media CEO George Bundy for his insights. Continue Reading
Apple might be preparing a heart-to-heart conversation with its music content providers — the record labels. Apple has reportedly reached out to major labels in an effort to negotiate licensing changes that will let it reduce the monthly subscription price of Beats Music. That might be a struggle. But if any company has a track record of working with record labels to reshape the music industry, it is Apple. Continue Reading
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An eight-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming music and online audio. The weekly update of news you need to know in streaming music and online audio, from RAIN News. This week: Sirius XM, Rosanne Cash, audio on the brain, Grooveshark, Google, eMusic, Spotify, and the RIAA. Continue Reading
Deezer drew attention and skepticism last month for its choice to enter the U.S. market with a premium subscription plan offered exclusively through Sonos speakers. Now it’s added a plan with a lower price point, but it’s still not inexpensive to enjoy. Deezer’s service is now additionally available to listeners who have the Bose SoundLink speaker or SoundTouch WiFi speaker systems, at a reduced rate of $5 per month. Continue Reading
The Turtles have filed a class-action suit against Pandora, claiming $25 million in damages for copyright infringement. The New York Times reported that pre-1972 songs only account for about 5% of the music played on Pandora. A representative from the online radio company said that the platform was confident in its actions, noting that Pandora pays separate songwriting royalties on all its music, including those tunes from before the pivotal dates. Continue Reading
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is accepting comments for the Digital Audio Ad Service Template (DAAST), which was released on September 8. Click through for a link to the review document, and how to submit comments. Continue Reading
Following the recent copyright ruling in favor of The Turtles, Sirius XM said it will appeal the decision. “We think Judge Gutierrez is wrong,” Sirius CFO David Frear said at a conference this week. “We’ve been observing the law since we started service.” Frear said that the pre-1972 ruling has much broader implications than for just the satellite radio company. Continue Reading
The latest outburst in the high-profile Spotify debate does more than just criticize streaming, it condemns it. Rosanne Cash, who testified in a congressional music-licensing hearing this summer, stirred up mixed reactions with two recent Facebook posts in which she equated streaming with music piracy, and also continued her impassioned campaign to alter U.S. copyright regulations. Continue Reading
Pioneer launched a firmware update that includes support for Apple CarPlay in five of its NEX systems. Using CarPlay requires an iPhone 5 or later model running at least iOS 7.1 Pioneer first announced these plans to integrate CarPlay in April. Continue Reading
As reports emanate from Advertising Week in New York, RAIN is preparing to continue the focus on digital audio advertising at RAIN Summit Europe, November 4, at 1 Wimpole Street, London. Produced in cooperation with the IAB UK, the conference agenda features four panel discussions which will explore the topic of advertising strategies in streaming audio: Continue Reading
Radionomy announced a new version of RadioManager, its software for producers who manage Internet stations on the Radionomy platform. New features of the upgrade include greater control of commercial placement and workflow automation for payment to producers. Importantly related to income, the new workstation opens monetization of audiences in Spain and Germany. Continue Reading