COMPLIMENTARY REGISTRATIONS TODAY FOR “RAIN LAS VEGAS SUMMIT” Plans are coming together well for the 5th annual “RAIN Las Vegas Summit,” the year’s premiere gathering of both broadcast and Internet-only webcasters, on the afternoon of Monday, April 14th. (More details are available in Kurt’s Blog, at right.) Confirmed speakers include a keynote by RAIN‘s Kurt Hanson on “The Future of Radio,” the debut of a major new national research study on broadcast, satellite, and Internet radio listening by Solution Research Group’s Jeff Vidler, and an insightful presentation on website design by Edison Media Research’s Tom Webster. Last year’s registration was $120 in advance, $150 at the door, but complimentary registrations are available TODAY to the first 30 RAIN readers who sign up — just write us at summit@kurthanson.com. (Note: Great airfares and hotel rates are generally still available!)

RIAA CONNECTS SATELLITE DEAL, RADIO ROYALTIES The DoJ approval of Sirius’s buyout of XM means a lot of things to a lot of people (reference the flurry of analysis and commentary in the last few days). What’s it mean to the RIAA? Well, it means radio should pay royalties to the record labels to play their music, of course! RIAA Chairman/CEO Mitch Bainwol, in a statement, called the approval “powerful validation that competitors should play by the same set of rules.” He said, “On the heels of this decision, the logic for a performance right for terrestrial radio has never been clearer. Terrestrial radio… continues to reap special interest subsidies in the form of… an outdated exemption from compensating artists and record companies. It’s time for… parity amongst all delivery platforms.”

RAMSEY SAYS INTERNET WILL BRING “DRAMATIC REINTERPRETATION” OF CAR RADIO” Mark Ramsey, in his Hear 2.0 blog, makes some interesting points about Chrysler’s announcement that it will enable Internet access in its cars by the end of the year. In the Washington Post story, Chrysler’s product development chief comments, “We want to make the radio itself a Wi-Fi port.” Ramsey warns broadcasters that this “dramatic reinterpretation” of “car radio… will mean entertainment and information services which are out of the control of your station or your competitors.” Read Ramsey here.

CANDIDATES, APPROVE THIS AD BUY TargetSpot wants political money on Internet radio, and is offering a “$500 match” for a candidate ad buy. “(TargetSpot will) match the initial deposit of $500 put into any account by any valid electoral committee,” announced CEO Doug Perlson (an ex politico himself, according to Tom Taylor’s Radio-Info). And with the ability to “geo-target” ads, Perlson suggests, it works well for local races. There’s more here.

PANDORA HIRES EAST COAST SALES VP Former AOL and MSN sales exec David DeRobbio is now regional vice president of East Coast sales for Pandora. Pandora sales VP Cheryl Lucanegro said DeRobbio’s “knowledge of the agency landscape in New York, as well as his experience at MSN and AOL,” made him the ideal choice.

NEW PHILIPS STREAMIUM FEATURES NEW SUPPORT FOR NET RADIO A tech reviewer says the newest model in Philips’ Streamium line of wireless audio devices “break(s) new ground… in the new support for Internet radio stations.” The company has partnered with Net radio providers BlueBeat, Live365 and Radioio for “out of the box access” to these companies’ streams. Other webcasters can be accessed by the device through the Club Philips website. It’s available in the UK now for £700 — that’s over $1 million U.S.!! (Well, it’s actually about $1,400.)

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