MP3tunes Sets Your Music Free
Michael Robertson thinks people should be able to listen to their digital music anywhere on any device. That’s exactly what MP3tunes sets out to do. Robertson, the founder of MP3tunes, is a huge advocate of cloud based music services. He’s no stranger to the vengeance that record labels have when it comes to protecting digital [...]
Understanding Digital Music Licensing
Navigating the rules of using music in a digital media platform is complicated. Whether you’re a streaming music service, offering podcasts, downloads, videos with music from your site, or simply creating ads for advertisers, chances are you’re creating a public performance when you’re doing that, which in the digital world means you have to have [...]
Streaming Ad Insertion Patent Suit Gets Resolved
Update: I’ve been hearing from some sources that the report that all of the companies involved in the lawsuit may not have been involved in this settlement, as was reported by Inside Radio on 12/30. That report was my only source of information on the settlement. Key broadcasters have settled a patent lawsuit that claimed [...]
Spotify Launch Hits a Snag
Spotify, the European on-demand music streaming service that has taken Europe by storm, will apparently delay a US launch. For several weeks now there have been reports that the major labels were putting pressure on Spotify to abandon a free, ad-supported streaming model. The New York Times recently reported that major labels, already involved as [...]
SoundExchange, Broadcasters Chat At RAIN Summit East
Last week at the NAB Radio Show in Philadelphia, RAIN hosted a side channel of digital audio related programming in the form of three short panels and a few quick presentations. I spoke on a panel hosted by Dan Halyburton of RadioTime, along with Les Hollander of Pandora, and Matt Sunshine of Center for Sales [...]
Pandora: Broadcasters Should Pay Performance Royalties
Last week, after news that Pureplay Webcasters had reached an agreement with Sound Exchange on performance royalties, Internet radio industry darling Pandora made more news by announcing support for the Performance Rights Act before Congress. That bill would require AM/FM broadcasters to pay performance royalties as well. Deep background, for those who don’t have it, [...]
Congratulations to Pureplay Webcasters
Last week, “Pureplay” webcasters and Sound Exchange came to agreement on royalty rates for the use of sound recordings by Internet Radio stations for the period from 2006-2010. The deal, and analysis of it’s benefits, have been well summarized by David Oxenford (the attorney that represented the webcasters) here, and by Kurt Hanson, Publisher of RAIN: The [...]
Online Music Sales Will Top CD Sales By 2012
The current trend of declining music sales will continue, according to Bloomberg.com, citing a study released recently by PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLC. Internet piracy and declining demand for compact discs are the main reasons behind the prediction that music sales will drop 12% by 2012. As consumers switch to online and wireless formats for music such as [...]
Major Label Sues Grooveshark
I like music site Grooveshark, and have written about it several times (here, and here). They’ve got a great service that allows you to listen to any song you want. They’ve been exploring some unique revenue models – for example, in addition to selling advertising, they have a service that allows musicians or independent labels [...]
The Future of Online Music: Labels and Services Working Together
The icy relationship between major music labels and digital music services may be thawing, according to a recent article in the New York Times. Imeem, a digital music service that lets people listen, share and discover music based on their tastes and friends’ recommendations, had 26 million people a month using their service and owed [...]
