 RAIN 3/9: Music exec allegedly reveals that by 2013, labels will pay services to play music ·Mar 9, 11:25 AM ARRINGTON WRITES UNNAMED EXEC SAID WHEN CD SALES BOTTOM OUT, MONEY WILL REVERSE FLOW“It’s all part of a master plan, Michael Arrington in TechCrunch says a “big music label executive” has revealed to him. “The labels fully understand that recorded music, streamed or downloaded, is going to be free in the future.” Arrington reportedly had lunch with the unnamed executive, who revealed that by 2011 or 2013, when CD sales will have dropped to nearly zero, “music will largely be little more than marketing collateral, meaning that the Internet services… will be embraced in the future as ways to get the word out on hot new music. These services pay for the privilege today (either through high streaming rates or in court), but in the future they’ll be the ones getting paid by labels.”
But then why not flip the switch now? “Until then… suing customers and partners Read the TechCrunch article here. RAIN Analysis: Can this actually be possible? The promotional power of Internet radio and other online services is something webcasters and broadcasters have understood, and argued, for years (and record label promotional execs would agree). But why would labels be spending millions of dollars lobbying for a performance royalty for broadcast radio now if their “master plan” includes this philosophical “180” in just a few years? LISTENERS “CUT THE CORD” TO PANDORA AND CBS… AND THAT’S A GOOD THINGA Radio & Records article on major webcasters’ mobile strategies reports that, according to Pandora founder Tim Westergren, 10%-20% of the service’s daily listening (depending on the time of day) is via the iPhone or iPod Touch. “We have about 45,000 new registered listeners a day, and currently about 20,000 of those are from the iPhone every day,” Westergren told R&R. “It’s a substantial piece of our new listenership. And about three-fourths of those listeners on the iPhone are new to Pandora… Beyond just the growth in listenership and new listeners it’s also driving adoption for Pandora on a bunch of new platforms,” Westergren said.
CBS Radio is also seeing significant audience for its mobile application. President of digital media and integrated marketing David Goodman told R&R, “We had 102,000 people streaming the inauguration concurrently through our AOL Radio powered by CBS Radio iPhone app.” An online preview of the R&R article is here. OXENFORD EXPLAINS DETAILS OF BROADCAST ROYALTY DEAL Industry attorney David Oxenford translates some of the tougher legal technicalities found in the recently-published streaming royalty deal between SoundExchange and the NAB. He outlines the major parts of the agreements, including rates, minimums, census reporting (with detail on the exemptions to census reporting), and rules for small broadcasters. For more, read Oxenford’s blog post here.
INSTRUCTABLES.COM SHOWS YOU HOW TO CONVERT A VINTAGE RADIO INTO WI-FI RECEIVERInstructables.com has a bright idea for what to do with that aging vintage radio in your basement: why not convert it into a tabletop Wi-Fi Internet radio? Instructions found 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 |
just makes too much sense,” Arrington reports his source as revealing. “Venture capitalists have directed hundreds of millions of dollars, via their litigation-mired startups, into the label coffers… Apple still sends a lot of money to the labels for paid downloads, and sites like MySpace Music, Imeem, Rhapsody and Last.fm pay big streaming dollars. Until CD sales really stagnate, all those revenue streams bring in more money than facing reality.”
I think that this TechCrunch article again shows the serious short-sightedness of major label executives. But first, I want to make a statement- “Years ago, Prince integrated his CD sales into his concert platform and sold millions of units.” Think about that for a second. Most people have no time to mess with computers and bittorrent clients- they will ‘pay for convenience’. Ca’mon you guys! Wake the hell up! Are all you major label cats really nothing more than wide eyed road kill?? THINK! INNOVATE!!
Bill Wilkins, CEO
Melted Metal Web Radio
— Bill Wilkins · Mar 9, 02:40 PM · #