 RAIN 7/10: Last.fm royalty program draws criticism ·Jul 10, 12:21 PM LAST.FM ROYALTY PROGRAM DRAWS FIRE: Merlin,
ROYALTY DEBATE MAY BE OVER FOR 2008: Due both to the intense lobbying efforts of the NAB and the constrained calender of this congressional year, it is reportedly doubtful that the terrestrial radio performance royalty debate will make any more legislative headway this year. In the downtime however, legislator Mike Pence (R-IN) is attempting a compromise in which broadcasters would pay a performance royalty, but would also collect “some benefit for sales of music they’ve promoted.” Radio Business Report asks why send money back and forth at all: “Why not keep the banks out of it and barter free airplay for free promotion – just as it has been done for decades?” Read Radio Business Report’s coverage STUDY: TV MATCHES MP3 PLAYERS IN MUSIC USE: A new study from the Parks Associates claims consumers listen to music on their TV as much as they do on portable mp3 players. Still leading both by over 20% was the PC, while mobile phones trailed TV and mp3 players. Director of Research at Parks Associates John Barrett stated, “TVs are ubiquitous and increasingly capable of delivering a range of content, especially with new features like digital music delivery and place-shifting services. This is just the tip of the iceberg for TV applications.” For the full press release and the full chart, click here. MASHABLE’S TOP 30 MUSIC STREAMING SITES: Mashable has posted their list of the Top 30 Music Streaming Sites. Included on the list are webcasters like AOL Radio, Live365, AH.fm, and Yahoo Music among others. This list comes after Wired’s Top 10 Music Sites list, in which Internet radio webcasters fell short (RAIN coverage here). For the full listing, click here. HD RADIO PRICE DROPS: iBiquity Digital Corp., the developer of of HD Radio technology, is dropping the price of digital radio receivers to under $100. Manufacturers are lowering their prices as well, with car and home units being offered for under $200 and as low as $119. For more, read R&R’s 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 |
a London-based trade association focused on achieving fair digital royalties and licensing agreements, issued an email bulletin to its 12,000+ members in response to Last.fm’s Artist Royalty Program—an initiative launched yesterday intended to pay royalties to unsigned artists for song-plays on the streaming site (
to us whether or not the terms and conditions of the Program are intended to prevent master owners pursuing such compensation.” Merlin seconds Last.fm’s advice to seek independent legal advice if artists are unsure about the program, due to the “ambiguous” language of the license terms which leaves aspects of the program “open to legal interpretation.” More on the controversy following Last.fm’s announced royalty program for unsigned artists tomorrow in 
