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RAIN 3/17: Radio legal experts offer free guide to music licensing issues
·1 hour ago NEW GUIDE ANSWERS COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT LICENSING MUSIC FOR THE WEBWebcasters (and others running digital music services) face a sometimes baffling labyrinth of rights and licenses involving that music, and just trying to “stay legal” can be a daunting task. Law firm Davis Wright Tremaine has published (and is offering free access to) “The Basics of Music Licensing in Digital Media” — which answers the most-commonly asked questions from those who use music in online streaming, online video, downloads, and commercials.
Internet radio legal specialist David Oxenford is a DWT attorney and co-author of the guide (and, he’ll speak at our RAIN Summit West April 12th in Las Vegas — more info here.). Oxenford and co-author Robert J. Driscoll explain the different rights that can be implicated by the use of music, the controversy surrounding digital music use, and the concept of “fair use” and how it applies. It’s bedrock information that broadcasters and webcasters need to understand, and you can read it here. UK SONGWRITERS’, PUBLISHERS’ DIGITAL EARNINGS GROWTH OUTPACES LOSSES FROM FALLING CD SALESRoyalties that songwriters, composers, and publishers earn in the UK from digital music sales is reportedly growing faster than their earnings from CDs are falling. Licensing organization PRS for Music (which represents 65-thousand UK songwriters, composers and music publishers) says UK online revenues for its members grew 73% last year (from £17.6 million to £30.4 million). Revenues from CD and DVD sales were down, but only £8.7 million, making 2009 the first time annual growth in online revenues has been higher than the fall in revenues from CD or DVD sales. Overall 2009 global revenues for its members totaled £623 million, up from £608.3 million in 2008. Check it out from the BBC here.
DMARC FOUNDER HILLES JOINS EX-CC COLLEAGUE IN NEW VENTURETwo former Clear Channel Radio execs have scored a $550-thousand investment for their new venture. Robert Williams and Drew Hilles formed Digital Brand Connections to “build proprietary digital media players for well-known brands to stream rich media to their customers and fans.” A primary customer target will reportedly be sports franchises.
After Clear Channel, Hilles founded dMarc Broadcasting, which Google bought in 2006 for its now shuttered radio advertising project. Read more here. Full story (and reader comments):  RAIN 3/17: Radio legal experts offer free guide to music licensing issuesMore RAIN
RAIN 3/16: Online radio pioneer KPIG turns to subscriptions to manage royalty burden
·1 day ago MAPLETON CEO BETS SUBSCRIPTION TAKE WILL OUTPACE AD REVENUEAll Access reports Freedom, CA-based KPIG, as of yesterday, will charge a subscription fee to access its online stream as a well to contain royalty costs. Subscriptions cost a little over $5/month.
KPIG parent Mapleton Communications President/CEO Adam Nathanson told the news source, “The more listeners you have and time spent listening, the more royalties the radio station pays to SoundExchange. Converting the online stream to a subscription model that is ‘commercial-free’ makes business sense as it will preserve the KPIG online stream with subscriber support and also address consumer demand for more PIG music online.” Radio Paradise founder Bill Goldsmith was webmaster at the adult alternative station when it launched the world’s first full-time webcast in 1995. All Access has more here. NPR CREATING ALTERNATE VERSION OF SITE SPECIFICALLY FOR APPLE IPADNot only is NPR.org preparing an app for the anticipated Apple iPad, they’re designing a “Flash-less” iPad-specific version of the website. Apple’s iPhone and the new iPad (which arrives early next month) do not run the standard version of Adobe’s nearly-ubiquitous web software Flash, so applications and websites (seemingly most these days) that use it don’t function on the devices. The result will be that an iPad user looking to tune in to NPR can either download the iPhone app (which will work on the newer device), or simply go to NPR.org on the iPad’s browser. The site will know it’s being viewed on an iPad and display the “Flash-less” version of the site. Read more from AllThingsDigital here.
Kinsey Wilson, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of NPR Digital Media, will present the keynote address at the RAIN Summit West in Las Vegas April 12. More info and registration here. SONOS RAISES $25 MILLION IN NEW FUNDING Sonos, the maker of network-connected audio systems like the ZonePlayer (which you can control with an iPhone; RAIN coverage here) and the multi-room BU250 system (here), has raised $25 million in a Series C round of financing. The round comes from Index Ventures. Mike Volpi, a partner with Index Ventures, will join the Sonos board. The money will help Sonos expand into China and Japan. VentureBeat has more on the story here.
PHONES WITH 4G SPEEDS COMING SOON FROM SPRINT AND VERIZONBoth Sprint and Verizon have announced release windows for high-speed 4G phones. Sprint says the first device will come in the first half of 2010 — with “dozens of [4G] devices” coming by the end of 2010, according to CEO Dan Hesse — while Verizon says their first phone will arrive mid-2011. Sprint’s 4G networks are built on WiMax technology, whereas Verizon utilizes Long Term Evolution (LTE).
Both offer data speeds much faster than 3G networks, up to 10 times faster according to Forbes (here). However, 4G networks are expensive and may signal the end of unlimited data plans, as Verizon’s chief technology officer tells The Wall Street Journal (here). “It’s one thing to say all you can eat is gone,” he said. “It’s another to have consumers worrying, ‘Can I stream this radio?’ That’s what we don’t want.” PEW: INTERNET RADIO REACH APPROACHING 33%Nearly 1 in 3 Americans now listen to Internet radio, reports the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism’s in its 2010 “State of the News Media.” The 236 million Americans listening to broadcast radio has held relatively steady the past five years, compared to sliding numbers for network news and newspapers (online and cable news is up, however, indicating a more “on-demand” behavior in consumers). However, “new technology is encroaching on the amount of traditional radio use,” with around 40% of respondents saying they listen to radio less because of time spent on the iPod/MP3 player. Radio Ink has more here. Full story (and reader comments):RAIN 3/16: Online radio pioneer KPIG turns to subscriptions to manage royalty burden
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RAIN 3/15: Pandora CEO Kennedy's keynote, expert panels highlight successful RAIN Summit North
·2 days ago FIRST-EVER RAIN EVENT IN CONJUNCTION WITH CMW WELL-ATTENDED AND WELL-RECEIVEDJudging by feedback from attendees and participants, Friday’s first-ever RAIN Summit North educational and networking event in Toronto (part of Canadian Music Week) was a success on all counts.
The half-day session of panels, presentations, and keynote address from Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy took place in the stylish Fairmont Royal York Hotel Concert Hall (hopefully you can get a sense of the room in the long-view shot of Joe Kennedy giving his speech, below left). The afternoon featured four discussions by our expert panels, which covered copyright tariffs in Canada and the U.S., features of digital services for radio from several vendors, online ad revenues, and trends in mobile delivery (Several people mentioned the mobile panel as their favorite — in the photo above, left to right, is moderator Barnaby Marshall of RockPeaks, Livio founder Jake Sigal, Corus Radio’s Earl Veale, RIM/Blackberry’s Pete Watson, and Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media/JacAPPS). Vision Critical’s Jeff Vidler previewed a new study, Radio Futures 2010, on Internet radio listening in Canada, the U.S., and the UK; Listener Driven Radio’s Daniel Anstandig presented his company’s crowd-sourced programming platform; and RAIN publisher Kurt Hanson offered the latest installment of his State of the Industry address on the present and future of Internet radio.
We’re very grateful to the sponsors whose help allowed us to stage RAIN Summit North, especially: StreamTheWorld, JacAPPS, Listener Driven Radio, and Pandora. We’re also very appreciative to the RAIN readers and our panel participants who are the most important factors in the success of our events. Thank you! Look for more coverage of RAIN Summit North coming later this week! Registration is now open for our next event, RAIN Summit West, Monday, April 12th, in Las Vegas (during the NAB Show). More info and registration are here. FCC TO UNVEIL PLAN TO EXPAND NATION’S ACCESS TO HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND INTERNETThe FCC is expected to unveil a sweeping plan for broadband development tomorrow with the intention to bring high-speed Internet into most American homes. Specifically, the plan will call for speeds of 100 megabits per second (10 times faster than most current connections) in 100 million homes by 2020. The FCC also wants to double the amount of spectrum devoted to wireless Internet, thanks to the popularity of smartphone devices. SiliconValley.com has more details on the plan here.
How might this affect Internet radio? More wireless spectrum may help make listening to Net radio on mobile devices easier and cheaper, Matthew Lasar of Radio Survivor writes (here). Additionally, if the plan helps get more low-income people online — folks who “make up a huge constituency for broadcast radio” — they may become new Internet radio listeners. “They’ll change the nature of Internet radio, which currently plays to a more middle class audience,” Lasar writes. JACOBS MEDIA’S JACCAPPS CAN NOW DEVELOP ANDROID APPSJacobs Media’s mobile app development division jacAPPS can now create radio applications for Android devices. The company has previously released station-specific apps for the iPhone, releasing 140 apps so far (one of which is pictured at right). Jacobs Media will now build apps for Android as well because the platform “is showing signs of rapid consumer acceptance and appears to be the second option for smartphone applications behind the Apple platform,” says the company’s press release.
WIRED: SLACKER “SECRETLY” PREPPING ON-DEMAND SERVICEWired’s Eliot Van Buskirk reported over the weekend that Slacker is reportedly readying an on-demand subscription service “combining elements of Pandora, Rhapsody and Spotify.” According to “a well-placed source,” the service should be arriving in the next few months though no price has been revealed.
Slacker’s pre-existing streaming radio services may give the service a leg up over other on-demand services, Van Buskirk writes. “Even after they subscribe, users might still spend a majority of their time streaming custom Slacker stations, which can cost about a tenth less per song than on-demand plays.” Find Wired’s article here. COMSCORE RATES TARGETSPOT #1 FOR SITE TRAFFICE IN “RADIO” CATEGORYTargetSpot took the top spot in comScore’s adjusted February report for entertainment radio, attracting 29 million unique monthly visitors. That includes CBS Radio, AOL Radio, Yahoo Music, Live365 and over 70 other partners. This was comScore’s first month ranking TargetSpot’s audience. In second was Westwood One‘s partner sites (27.4 million unique views). ReplaceAds (18.6 million) took third, with Pandora (12.5 million), and Clear Channel Online (9.2 million) following in fourth and fifth. For more on the story, check out Mediaweek’s article here or Jennifer Lane’s coverage at Audio4Cast here.Full story (and reader comments): RAIN 3/15: Pandora CEO Kennedy's keynote, expert panels highlight successful RAIN Summit North
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RAIN 3/11: RAIN travels to Toronto for Summit event and Canadian Music Week
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Stories·6 days ago FIRST-EVER RAIN SUMMIT NORTH IS TOMORROWWe’re looking forward to seeing/meeting many of you (and at least one of us will be experiencing his first Canadian Music Week) at the RAIN Summit North, tomorrow from 2:45 to 7pm at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto. We hope you’re able to come for a full afternoon of valuable panels (and the keynote address from Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy). But if you’re in town for CMW and have other commitments, please try to stop by for the RAIN Cocktail Party at 6pm. More details, and the afternoon’s full agenda, are here.
NOKIA PRESENTS SMARTPHONE-CONNECTED DASHBOARD OF THE FUTUREFirst Ford, then Mini and now Nokia is giving us a glimpse of what they think tomorrow’s car dashboard will look like. In this case it includes a cradle for your Nokia smartphone device, which will transmit — among other things — music to your car stereo. Alpine, Fiat, Harman Becker and Valmet Automotive have partnered with Nokia to bring this sort of idea into cars. Engadget has more here.
SPARK RADIO iPHONE APP TO AGGREGATE 30,000 STATIONS BY APRILSpark Radio, a new $6 iPhone app aggregates over 10,000 stations from around the world, but the company behind the app — Handcast Media Labs — plans to include over 30,000 by April. Spark Radio uses RadioTime’s directory and finds nearby stations using a user’s GPS location. The app also includes social media interaction and plenty of visual attractions, including 8 visualizers. Find out more from AppScout here.SLACKER BUILDS HIP-HOP STATION FOR THE SOURCE MAGAZINEA new hip-hop station from The Source magazine is powered by Slacker. Members of the magazine’s team actually programmed the station, however. Billboard reports (here), that Slacker also recently announced a station programmed by members of AFI. Last year, the service created a station for Blackberry in support of SXSW.AIRKAST LAUNCHES APPS FOR 3 MAX MEDIA STATIONSMobile radio app maker AirKast has created three new applications for iPhone and BlackBerry mobile devices for Max Media LLC. Each app focuses on a specific Virginia-based station: WVHTFM (Hot 100.5), WVBWFM (92.9 The Wave) and WGHFM (97.3 The Eagle). For more, check out the press release here.Full story (and reader comments): RAIN 3/11: RAIN travels to Toronto for Summit event and Canadian Music Week
RAIN 3/17: Radio legal experts offer free guide to music licensing issues RAIN 3/16: Online radio pioneer KPIG turns to subscriptions to manage royalty burden RAIN 3/15: Pandora CEO Kennedy's keynote, expert panels highlight successful RAIN Summit North RAIN 3/11: RAIN travels to Toronto for Summit event and Canadian Music Week RAIN 3/10: Tomorrow, CBS turns off ALL streaming outside U.S. RAIN 3/9: Given history, CRB and "willing buyer" could make for punishing radio royalty  |
Kurt Hanson's blog
Apple iPad: No Flash, no multitasking... yet·48 days ago In Monday’s blog, I speculated about the features that might be part of the highly-anticipated Apple tablet that was going to be announced on Wednesday (i.e., yesterday) — noting two key potential features that could have an impact on online radio listening. Feature #1 was the ability to multitask. That would mean that you could listen to Internet radio on an app while you simultaneously read an e-book or surfed the web or wrote an e-mail. Feature #2 was full support for Adobe Flash. That would permit users to launch most webcasters’ media players directly from their websites within the Safari browser, without the need for downloading a unique app for each one. (Such support would also allow viewing of, among other things, TV shows on Hulu.com.) Unfortunately, neither feature was part of the big announcement in San Francisco yesterday. That says to me that the iPhone and iPod Touch will, for now, be the better devices for Internet radio listening. They’re the perfect size and they’ve got great connectivity. The iPad (the name Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced yesterday) doesn’t really add anything to the equation.
Pictured above, a Starfleet-issued PADD (Personal Access Display Device) from the year 2374 (as seen on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.”) Tablet computers have been called PADDs in the “Star Trek” universe for the last couple of decades. Did that influence the name of the Apple device? Well, Jobs did show some scenes from the recent “Star Trek” movie in his presentation… However, keep in mind that, in the long run, everything gets better. Compare an iPod circa 2004 (small black & white screen, does nothing but play MP3s, clunky) to an iPod Touch circa 2010 (vibrant large color screen, thousands of apps, elegant) and then project forward six more years. It’ll have everything we’re talking about and much more, including features and abilities that we probably can’t even imagine today. In fact, a year from now, there will no doubt be major improvements already. Progress continues. Plan for it! Full story (and reader comments):Apple iPad: No Flash, no multitasking... yet
Latest CRB royalty news
SoundExchange and "Pureplay" webcasters announce 2006-2015 royalty agreement
·253 days ago SoundExchange and a set of “Pureplay” webcasters on July 7 announced that they had reached an agreement for The deal includes a “discount” from the rates set by the Copyright Royalty Board for large webcasters, and offers smaller webcasters percentage-based payment options (specifics are here). The agreement is offered as an alternative to the CRB rates (RAIN coverage here) and covers royalties from 2006 to 2015 (2014 for small webcasters)… Full story (and reader comments):SoundExchange and "Pureplay" webcasters announce 2006-2015 royalty agreement
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By 6:15 the crowd moved to the reception area on the Royal York’s Conference floor to finish the afternoon at the 
sound recording royalty rates for the period of 2006-2015.
