 RAIN 01/13: Washington analyst says Performance Bill has high chance of passing ·Jan 13, 11:10 AM CHANGES IN ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE, NAB’S WEAKENED STATE BENEFIT ROYALTY’S CHANCESGeorge Reed-Dellinger, an analyst with Washington Analysis, said in a recent client note that the Performance Bill has a “surprisingly high” chance of passing through Congress this year. The bill, which would impose a performance royalty on terrestrial radio, will benefit from “substantial changes in the political and economic landscapes,” Reed-Dellinger stated.He writes that in nearly every country, “an artist or recording studio receives a royalty fee when music is aired over the radio. In the U.S., the broadcasters have been exempt from such a payment owing to the marketing/demand stimulation effect that a broadcast has on the sales of recordings…the odds of legislation being enacted in the 111th Congress that would eliminate this exemption appear to have risen to above 50%.” Reed-Dellinger also points out that the NAB — the Performance Bill’s primary opponent — has become weakened and misdirected on Capitol Hill. “[The NAB] has become less influential in recent years and, in our opinion, squandered chits on such recent campaigns as the attempt to block the XM-Sirius merger…[broadcasters] appear to have lost some clout as their role as an employer, as well as their influence over the media-news-entertainment scene.” For more, read R&R’s coverage here. FLYCAST ONE OF PC WORLD’S “BEST PRODUCTS OF CES 2009”PC World picked FlyCast and Slacker as some of their “Best Products of CES 2009.” Ginny Mies at PC World cited the expansion of these streaming apps to new platforms as one of the reasons they were picked. FlyCast recently added support for Android and desktop PCs (RAIN coverage here), while Slacker is now available on Blackberry mobile devices. Palm’s new smartphone Pre — which Pandora will support — was also highlighted by PC World. See all of PC World’s CES picks here.
NYT: “OVERARCHING THEME” OF CES WAS INTERNET-CONNECTIVITY“If there was one overarching theme from the Consumer Electronics Show here last week,” writes Saul Hansell in the New York Times, “it was that absolutely every device in our lives is becoming a computer connected to the Internet.” From the new Palm Pre, to Ford trucks and LG televisions, a majority of new products at CES include Internet-connectivity. Sony chief executive Howard Stringer even stated that in two years, 90 percent of all Sony products will connect to the Internet. “The more established brands know the battleground is shifting,” away from what differentiates products from one another and towards “the Internet services it connects to.” Read the New York Times article here.CBS RADIO TOUTS 30% GROWTH IN WEB VISITOR TRAFFICCBS Radio websites saw a 30% growth in unique visitors (as opposed to online listening) during December, as compared to the same month in 2007. There was a 7% increase in visitor traffic between November and December, with KRLD-Dallas posting the largest jump in visitor hits with a 133% increase since December 2009. For more, read MediaPost’s coverage here.
SLOTMUSIC TRIES TO STAY ALIVE WITH SLOTRADIOIf you thought slotMusic — the plan from SanDisk to make flash-based SD cards the new CD — was laughed off the market, think again. SanDisk unveiled its slotRadio player at CES last week, which contains a pre-packaged SD card featuring 1,000 current songs. However, the SD card included cannot be altered. The player will cost $99.99 when it becomes available early in 2009, and slotRadio cards will go for $39.99. For more, check out Engadget’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 |
