When the New York Times referred to music consumption as a “culture of free,” XAPPmedia CMO Bret Kinsella took to his keyboard to compose a sharp rebuttal. “Don’t fall for the narrative,” he cautions. Continue Reading
Australian telecommunication company Telstra announced that it is shuttering Bigpond Music, its online music download store. “The download-to-own music market has changed a lot,” a rep from Telstra said. “We believe the best way for us to continue to provide great music services to our customers is via a partner model.” Continue Reading
iHeartMedia has proposed reducing the royalty rate webcasters pay to artists and labels, cutting the existing rate set for terrestrial webcasters by 80 percent. The suggested royalty amount is less than half of Pandora’s suggested rate, which in turn is about half the rate suggested by SoundExchange, which represents music labels. iHeart’s argument is based on its negotiated deal with Warner Music Group, which provides lower royalty rates in exchange for greater exposure of Warner music. Continue Reading
Mark Mulligan of MIDiA Research wrote a blog post with his insights about the current price issues for streaming music. He highlighted the apparent either/or choice facing listeners – pick a totally free platform or pay $9.99 a month for a subscription – as a problem for the music industry to solve. Continue Reading
The inverse relationship of streaming music and music sales is well known: Streaming up, sales down. A similar symbiotic relationship exists between music concerts and music sales. But how do streaming and concerts interact? Is the relationship mutually beneficial? That’s what Spotify’s Director of Economics Will Page set out to discover in a new study. Continue Reading
Sponsored by AudioBoom
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
Sponsored by AudioBoom
An eight-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming music and online audio. This week: RIAA, Shazam, Apple, U2, copyright ruling, Beats Music, WBUR, Google Glass. Continue Reading
Billboard reported on weekly album sales today from Soundscan, noting benchmark low performance, and identifying long-term trends. They key bullet point is 3.97-million units sold in the latest reporting week — the first time album sales have dipped under 4-million. Continue Reading
Niche label Blue Music Group, which specializes in Scandinavian jazz and classical artists, announced yesterday that it has withdrawn its catalog from Spotify’s on-demand streaming service. The announcement, and its wording, make an interesting illustration of the tricky decision facing content owners during a time of industry disruption. Continue Reading
If U.S. legislative bodies and lobbying groups are neck-deep in music-licensing and copyright issues during this “Summer of Copyright,” their northern neighbors are wading into turbulent waters, too. A protest of Canadian music royalty rates, set by the government in May, is underway. Continue Reading
Garth Brooks is the best-selling solo artist of all time. He has been content to sit out the digital music disruption, which has mainly occurred during a 13-year retirement. Tomorrow, though, the official Garth Brooks site will start selling downloads of Brooks’ back catalog. A new album will drop in November, and the download version will likewise be sold exclusively on the site. Continue Reading
The Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives held its second hearing on music licensing regulations, hosting a panel of music-industry executives who delivered prepared statements and answered questions. As with the first hearing on June 10, four contentious issues framed today’s proceeding:
All four pillars of copyright discontent got some play today. Broadcast radio took a severe beating, but unlike the first hearing, the radio industry was represented. Continue Reading