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
Inside Radio tells us that Verstandig Broadcasting is pushing back against the recent magistrate recommendation that the case be thrown out. Verstandig is suing SoundExchange, seeking an exemption from paying royalties for recordings used in the online streams of Verstandig stations. the case hinges on an argued loophole in the Copyright Act, which potentially allows a royalty exemption for retransmitted music in a 150-mile radius, representing a typical terrestrial signal reach. It’s all a bit obscure, but significant. 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
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Billboard celebrates broadcasting’s birthday; 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
iHeartMedia, the conglomerate formerly known as Clear Channel, released new data from a study in partnership with Neuro-Insight about the brain’s response to different types of communication. The results showed that radio advertisements performed better than television advertisements for the same companies. Continue Reading
It’s Advertising Week in New York this week. Jennifer Lane was there, and attended a panel sponsored by XAPP Media featuring a discussion of online audio ad campaigns. Bryan Moffett of NPR, Brian Benedik of Spotify, and Cathy Csukas of AdLarge talked about the push to offer innovative opportunities to advertisers. Continue Reading
Grooveshark received some damning news from a New York district court judge yesterday, but it is still trying to swim on. Today the streaming and uploading service shared a blog post with a response to the ruling. “This latest news dealt specifically with an early version of Grooveshark which we dispensed of in 2008 in favor of our current music streaming service,” the company said. Continue Reading
In a wide-ranging conversation with Digitally Imported executives,, RAIN learned that the leading Electronic Music online radio outlet is planning an ambitious evolution of the service. The new Digitally Imported, details of which will be divulged later this month, will position itself as a complete music consumption platform for EDM and other sub-genres of electronic music, combining music discovery and buying functions in a way that founder Ari Shohat describes as “integrated in unique, special ways.” Continue Reading
We’ve been looking for signs that YouTube and Google are making progress with a long-awaited music subscription service, and today Reuters has what seems to be a legit update. Reuters interviewed Jamie Rosenberg, Google’s vice president of digital content, about the company’s plans and learned that its music services are expected to see updates in the near future. Continue Reading