 RAIN 3/13: Official Sirius XM iPhone app to be available by June ·Mar 13, 10:43 AM LOOKS TO BOLSTER LISTENER GROWTH AS CAR SALES SLIPSirius XM is developing an iPhone application to be released by June. The satellite radio broadcaster told Reuters (here) it’s looking to expand its reach beyond home and in-car receivers, particularly since new car sales look “terrible,” according to Sirius XM management. “There’s a lot of opportunity for [Sirius] with iPhone,” said Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce. “Unlike buying a new car, it’s not an expensive proposition, but it’s a tough time for consumers to be trying new products.” Though Sirius XM currently charges $13 a month for their Internet radio service, it’s not yet known how much it will cost to use the iPhone app.
SMALL ARTISTS AND LABELS SUFFER AS MAJORS, MEDIA BATTLE OVER ROYALTIESWhile big-name artists, the music industry and YouTube grapple over licensing in the US and the UK, it’s the “smaller guys” who suffer. YouTube and parent company Google have been pulling down music videos following a break-down in negotiations with UK performance rights group PRS for Music, while in the US, Warner Music Group removed its content from the site. But in the process, smaller acts and labels have been removed from a site they see as necessary for promotion.
The music industry argues that YouTube should pay more for using music videos, while Google and YouTube counter that they should pay a “portion of per-video revenue” (sound familiar?). Meanwhile, labels like Roadrunner Records — which is majority-owned by Warner — lose out. “I spent the better part of two years carefully building the Roadrunner Records YouTube channel into one of the top ten music channels by subscribers and views on the site,” said Roadrunner director of New Media Jeremy Rosen in speaking with Digital Music News (here). “All my hours at YouTube have, for the time being, come to naught.” For smaller artists and The parallels are quite clear between YouTube and Internet radio. While the music industry pushes for higher royalty rates and collection agencies grumble that they “can’t live with” the returns of a percentage-of-revenue system (RAIN coverage here), the small labels and independent musicians who depend on webcasts for promotion and music sales suffer. By pushing for higher royalty returns in the name of “artist’s rights,” the music industry is hurting the very people they’re claiming to protect.
NORTH’S INTERNET RADIO SPORTS TALK PROGRAM TO LAUNCH 4/6Mike North (pictured), former sports talk radio host for Chicago’s WSCR “The Score 670,” will be launching his own Internet radio sports talk station on April 6. ChicagoSportsWebio.com will feature simulcasts of North and Dan Jiggetts’ Comcast SportsNet Chicago TV program along with some notable names in Chicago sports radio, including George Ofman who’s leaving WSCR 670-AM to be a field reporter for North’s station. For more, read coverage from Chicago’s Daily Herald here.AOL MUSIC LAUNCHES METAL/HARD ROCK SITEAOL Radio has launched Noisecreep, a website dedicated to the metal and hard rock genres. The website features music news, videos and links to AOL Radio’s metal and hard rock Internet radio stations. RBR has further coverage here.SLACKER LAUNCHES SXSW CHANNELSlacker Radio has launched a new channel featuring bands playing at this year’s South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX. Dubbed “Blackberry at SXSW 2009 Radio,” the channel is available online and through Slacker’s mobile applications. Tune in 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 |
labels “the promotional benefits appeared to trump” concerns of licensing. 
