With the release of its new “How Google Fights Piracy” report, Google announced a change to its search engines that will make illegal sites less likely to appear in queries. Senior Copyright Counsel Katherine Oyama wrote a blog post explaining the main points of Google’s latest efforts in the anti-piracy space. Continue Reading
Pandora has appointed Steve Bené as its new general counsel. Bené joins the online radio service from Electronic Arts, where he held the same position and worked on negotiations with music and movie studios. In his role at Pandora, Bené will be a member of the company’s executive leadership team and will oversee all legal operations. Continue Reading
Spotify has announced the addition of a new subscription designed for family sharing. Under the Spotify Family plan, up to four family members can be added to a single billing account while keeping their listening histories and playlists separate. All people in the family will have access to the full set of Premium features. Continue Reading
Demonstrating how blockbuster business deals can quickly change, AT&T has stopped offering new Beats Music subscriptions to its customers. Existing Beats subscriptions that were launched within the AT&T phone plans will continue unaffected. What directional guidance does this news offer on the question of how Apple will incorporate Beats Music? Continue Reading
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This week: Sirius XM loses again in court; NextRadio milestone; SoundCloud’s struggles; SONY publishing threat; TuneCore payouts; Twitter’s new music feature Continue Reading
Twitter has introduced a musical new feature called the Audio Card that allows its members to embed a track in a tweet. The social network is first working with SoundCloud on the launch of the feature, and the streaming platform’s entire library will be made available for embeds. A select number of partner artists are rolling out the feature today, and the social network said that its @TwitterMusic handle would announce updates about the people and organizations using the Audio Card. Continue Reading
In July, we wrote that Playlists.net, a platform for sharing Spotify playlists, was looking for a buyer. Today, the hoped-for deal was announced. The UK startup ShareMyPlaylists has been acquired by the artist and services arm of American recording giant Warner Music Group. Financial details of the purchase were not disclosed. Continue Reading
Digitally Imported (DI.fm) announced details and partnerships related to its upcoming platform overhaul, which RAIN News previewed two weeks ago. The ambitious plan to build interactive features on top of a renowned electronic-music pureplay radio site is now fleshed out with key content partnerships. Continue Reading
Bandcamp introduced a new approach to music ownership this week with the trial of an artist-based subscription. An independent band called Candy Says is using the direct-to-fan platform’s beta feature to offer an annual subscription to its music. For £20 (about $32) a year, listeners can have seven of the group’s back catalog and Bandcamp-only albums in addition to all new releases. The songs will be made available as downloads and as streams. Continue Reading
We have liked Journal Broadcast Group’s digital initiatives since the launch of its breakthrough Radio League app in March. Radio League is a pureplay Internet radio outlet; one of its stations is called Now Trending Hits. Journal has launched a Now Trending website wich complements the pureplay station, and delivers a BuzzFeed-like assortment of newsy items. Continue Reading
Pandora announced that it has 255,000 registered users in New Zealand. The New Zealand Times reported on the growth of the online radio service, which launched in the region, along with Australia, in December 2012. About half of the registered users log into the service during any 30-day period. Continue Reading
The judicial trend in cases about the copyright pre-1972 recordings has swung decidedly in the favor of artists. In August, Judge Mary Strobel issued a tentative ruling in support of Sirius XM in its legal defense against major record labels. However, on Tuesday she ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, securing compensation for the labels for the public performance of pre-1972 recordings. Continue Reading