 RAIN 9/21: Pureplays dominate terrestrial simulcasts in July Ando rankings ·Sep 21, 12:36 PM PUREPLAYS PULL AHEAD AS SLACKER DEBUTS AND PANDORA SOLIDIFIES DOMINANCEAndo Media’s newly-released Webcast Metrics for July 2010 show online-only pureplay webcasters surpassing terrestrial simulcasts with over 50% of AAS (Average Active Sessions, which is essentially equivalent to AQH) in the U.S.-only charts. Pureplays also increased their representation in Ando’s Top 20 charts primarily due to a 7.5% month-over-month increase in Pandora’s audience, but also due to the addition of Slacker as a new Ando client.
PUREPLAYS CAPTURE 60% OF DOMESTIC MON-SUN 6AM-12M LISTENING A report from Bridge Ratings last week, based on Ando Media data up to June, pinned pureplay webcasters’ share of domestic Mon-Fri 6am-8pm Net radio listening at 49% (RAIN coverage here). July’s data shows pureplays surging ahead even further — their share increased to 53% in the domestic Mon-Fri 6am-8pm chart. In the expanded daypart of Mon-Sun 6a-12m (i.e., including evenings and weekends), pureplays represent 60% of measured listening. PANDORA CARRIES PUREPLAY WEBCASTERS, REPRESENTING HALF OF DOMESTIC MON-SUN 6AM-12M LISTENING However, the pureplay stats are largely thanks to Pandora’s huge audience. Pandora’s AAS in July (Domestic Mon-Sun 6am-12M) represents roughly 90% of total pureplay AAS. Not surprisingly, Pandora still comfortably holds the #1 position in the Domestic rankings. The webcaster’s AAS, 365,972, is now well over three times that of second-place CBS Radio in the Mon-Sun 6am-12M chart. Pandora’s AAS grew roughly 7.5% since June and over 147% since the webcaster’s debut on Ando Media’s Webcast Metrics rankings last September. SLACKER DEBUTS AT #7 SPOT, BEATS PANDORA IN TSL Ando Media’s July Webcast Metrics is the first to feature listening data from Slacker. The webcaster debuted at the #7 spot in both the Domestic and It’s important to note, however, that Ando does not include Slacker’s mobile listening (or, for that matter, AccuRadio’s) in its rankings. That’s most likely a big chunk of Slacker’s audience, as the company’s VP of Marketing Jonathan Sasse recently said that half of Slacker’s 20 million registered users signed up through mobile devices (RAIN coverage here). Find the charts for Mon-Sun 6am-12am (both Domestic and All-Streams) below. You can view all of Ando Media’s July rankings here and our coverage of June’s ratings here.
TUESDAY’S RAIN SUMMIT EAST SOLD OUT!We’ve officially “filled the room” for this Tuesday’s RAIN Summit East gathering at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, DC. Thanks to all industry professionals, panelists, speakers, and RAIN readers who’ve helped us reach maximum capacity. We’re confident this will be the best Summit yet.
You can find information on the Summit, the agenda and list of scheduled speakers, and details of the RAIN Reader Cocktail Party hosted by Davis Wright Tremaine on the rooftop of their new offices on our RAIN Summit East page here. If you missed registering in time, we are taking names for a “wait list” in the event that we have any cancellations. If you’d like to add your name, please e-mail your contact information to Jennifer Lane at ‘lane.jennifer@gmail.com,’ or call the RAIN offices at 312-527-3879. We’re looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday in DC! REALNETWORKS DROPS OUT OF ROYALTY PROCEEDINGRealNetworks, owners of Rhapsody and one of the larger players in the ongoing webcasting royalty tug-of-war, has officially withdrawn from government proceedings to set statutory rates for the 2011-2015 period (known as “Webcasting III”). The company blames the high cost of litigation and the fact that the “pureplay” webcasting agreements (used by Rhapsody’s direct competitors) prohibit the Copyright Royalty Judges from using the agreement terms as evidence in determining future royalty rates.
RealNetworks themselves did not accept the pureplay agreement that enabled webcasters like Pandora to continue their business with a music royalty rate lower than the statutory rate (the royalties based on rates determined by the government would have exceeded Pandora’s and nearly all other imaginable webcasters’ revenues). A condition of the pureplay agreement — written into law — prohibits the terms of the deal (such as royalty rates) to be used as evidence in future rate-setting proceedings (such as the current Webcasting III) (17 U.S.C. § l14(t)(5)(C)). Real complains that as a public company that derives most of its revenue from sources other than statutory noninteractive webcasting, it could not responsibly enter the pureplay agreement that would have it paying 25% of its total revenue (regardless of source) solely for its noninteractive streams. By the same token, Rhapsody, Real says, can’t compete with other webcasters if it’s forced to pay the statutory rates either. “Indeed, it could not be more clear that the non-precedential Pureplay agreement is the only thing that keeps entities like Pandora viable,” the company’s written withdrawal statement reads. “The expense of continuing The company’s departure from the proceeding leaves Live365 and the non-commercial student broadcast group Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) as the remaining licensees in the proceeding. Most all other groups of webcasters have agreed to voluntary settlements with SoundExchange covering the 2011-2015 term. Read Real’s entire statement (.pdf) here.
PANDORA JOINS LIVE365, RHAPSODY AND OTHERS ON NET-CONNECTED TIVOSTiVo announced today that its Internet-connected DVR set-tops can now access Pandora. The webcaster joins other web music services like Live365, Rhapsody and Music Choice already available on TiVo devices. TiVo users can also access music stored on networked computers. InteractiveTV Today has more coverage here.share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
CommentCommenting is closed for this article.  Other stories RAIN has upgraded (and moved)! RAIN 9/13: RAIN Summit Chicago takes place today! RAIN 9/12: First Summit in RAIN's hometown takes place tomorrow RAIN 9/9: Summer holidays, "doldrums" impact July Webcast Metrics, but audience up over last year RAIN 9/8: Clear Channel launches new customizable iHeartRadio beta; RAIN goes hands-on RAIN 9/7: Meet more speakers you'll hear at RAIN Summit Chicago in less than a week RAIN 9/6: Clear Channel taps The Echo Nest to take on Pandora RAIN 9/2: RAIN reviews Spotify's radio-like product Artist Radio RAIN 9/1: UK online radio aggregator Radioplayer campaigns b'dcasters to create "all radio" ratings RAIN 8/31: Execs from Merlin, Triton Digital, jacAPPS and more to appear at RAIN Summit Chicago |
All-Streams Mon-Sun 6a-12m rankings, with over 13,000 
this litigation cannot be justified as a business matter in the face of a statutory structure that bars it from placing before the 
