Last week we began receiving notes from webcasting clients of two large hosting companies, Radionomy and StreamLicensing, noting that recent changes and communications had troubled their webcast stations. The two situations are coinciding in time, but are unrelated — except both are about music licensing. Continue Reading
Live365, the internet radio host which catastrophically unplugged its service in January, has resurfaced and is planning to re-open. The re-emergence of a mainstay resource for internet radio stations will come as a shock of good news to small webcasters which have struggled to survive since January, or which have not survived. But the news is full of yet-unanswered questions. Continue Reading
Webcaster host StreamLicensing runs a business model that pays label royalties on behalf of its member stations, funding the business with advertising target to combined audiences. But when that royalty cost dramatically escalated for U.S. webcasting in January, owner Marvin Glass sold to Stardome Media Group and warned the new owners that success would be an uphill climb. We spoke with a Stardome exec about the way forward. Continue Reading
Mobile music is on the grow. Studies by comScore/Millennial Media and AYTM have shown increasing interest in streaming on tablets and smartphones. The latest demonstration of this push into mobile is the just-announced partnership between Nobex Partners and StreamLicensing. Under the new deal, Nobex will help create custom apps for StreamLicensing’s 1,200 radio stations. Continue Reading