Enjoy great online radio at AccuRadio

DISPUTE BETWEEN LAST.FM AND MERLIN CONTINUES: In a response to criticism of its unsigned artist royalty program, Last.fm failed to address indie artist advocacy group Merlin’s primary concern: that the program does nothing to compensate independent artists for previous “illegal” use of their music. Merlin issued a warning about Last.fm’s program to its members yesterday (RAIN coverage here). Last.fm’s response states only that they are “disappointed” in Merlin for “talking publicly about our discussions,” reports Wired (here). Last.fm is referring to negotiations over “a non exclusive blanket license and a settlement agreement” for Merlin members. However, Yahoo reports (here) that negotiations have completely broken down due to Last.fm’s unwillingness to “properly address its illegal infringing activity,” according to Merlin. It should be noted that the Last.fm program’s royalty rate, the greater of 10% of “net revenue” or $0.0005 for each complete track transmission, would result in a payout far less than the CRB statutory rate for webcasting. However, the current CRB rate is grossly inflated. Is Last.fm’s program cheating artists, or is it what the CRB rate should be?

WEBCASTS COME TO iPHONE WITH NEW APPLICATIONS: Along with the release of the new iPhone toady came over 500 new applications on the newly launched Apple App Store, including a number of options to listen to Internet radio on the popular device. The most prominent and highly rated so far is the free Pandora application, which lets users tune in to the personalized webcast service free of monthly charges (RAIN coverage here). Other Internet radio programs include Tuner (pictured), a net radio aggregator that comes with pre-listed Top 500 stations and allows users to input their own favorites. Tuner costs $5 from the App Store. Read PC Magazine’s review of Tuner here. Meanwhile, SomaFM has updated their iPhone-friendly stream for the new iPhones, including a handy feature that allows music playback to continue in the background while users check email, text message, or surf the web. For more on SomaFM’s update click here. Additionally, the iPhone “Remote” application was also released (RAIN coverage here).

RICK DEES’ DDN MOBILE LAUNCHES: Rick Dees has launched a mobile-based, listener-interaction platform for radio called DDN Mobile. The platform will help integrate campaigns with mobile devices, allowing text messages to be quickly created and sent out to listeners. “The best part is how listeners are responding. They want this type of interaction, which has created some remarkable opportunities for advertisers,” said Josh Cooperman, director of sales and marketing at Dees Entertainment. For more, read R&R’s coverage here.

VERIZON’S NEW CHOCOLATE PICKS UP FM, NOT WEBCASTS: Due out on July 13 is Verizon Wireless’ new Chocolate mobile phone, which includes an FM radio but no webcast functionality. Abandoning the slide design for flip functionality, the phone does have access to Rhapsody on-demand, along with mp3 playback and room for microSD cards up to 8GB. The new model also features a scroll wheel and will be available in black and light blue. For more, read Digital Music News’ coverage here.

Comment

Commenting 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