NPR billboards return of Canadian indie band
National Public Radio Music released on-demand streams for a couple of indie band’s new albums on Monday morning: Broken Social Scene‘s Forgiveness Rock Record and The Hold Steady‘s Heaven Is Whenever. The streams are available on NPR’s “Exclusive First Listen” series. As I write this I’m listening to NPR’s stream of Broken Social Scene, a […]
Facebook's undiscovered radio apps
There are Facebook applications for practically everything these days, so I thought I’d check out what the possibilities were for streaming radio. But after running a search for the term “radio” in Facebook Applications section, I was surprised by the relatively small number allowing for music streaming. One of the best results that I could […]
Ofcom puts another nail in local radio's coffin
Commercial radio broadcasters on both sides of the Atlantic are no doubt praising the United Kingdom’s move to allow licensed stations to cut down on their news and local fare. “Changes in the advertising market, greater competition for audiences’ attention and technological developments mean that the radio industry is facing significant challenges and is having […]
Record Store Day 2010 Radio Guide
The 3rd annual Record Store Day is taking place tomorrow (Saturday, April 17, 2010) in independent record stores all over the world. In honor of the event, stores will be hosting live performances, meet and greets with artists, and will be selling and giving away exclusive releases on both CD and vinyl. It’s a wonderful […]
Music Banned from Radiowaves in Somalia
There are growing concerns about the control that militant groups are wielding over citizens and media outlets after music was banned from Somali radio on Tuesday and school bells were outlawed from a Somali town on Thursday. Today’s New York Times reports that, “Insurgent groups in Somalia have increasingly alienated the population by imposing a […]
Sirius Subscriptions Bounce Back a Bit
On Wednesday Sirius XM radio (SIRI) announced that it added 171,441 net subscribers in the first quarter of 2010. While this is certainly better news for the company than a net loss, the gain still doesn’t quite put its subscriber base at the same level it was at the end of 2008. Then the company […]
DJ Chairman Genachowski Throws a Few Bones to Radio at NAB
The National Association of Broadcasters wraps up its annual national trade show in Las Vegas tomorrow. Radio has its own annual show, so at the big one it tends to take a back seat to television when it comes to big announcements. Nevertheless, when FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski gave his remarks [PDF] to the crowd […]
Pandora promises background listening for the iPhone
You can listen to Pandora just about anywhere if you’ve got an iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android (or at least anywhere that your respective network can reach). But there’s one thing missing on the iPhone: background listening. That, however, is about to change, according to Pandora’s Tom Conrad. “Some weeks ago Apple invited us to a […]
Radio Still Relevant, Although not Necessarily for Music Discovery according to Infinite Dial Study
Yesterday Edison Research and Arbitron (ARB) released the latest findings from their ongoing series of studies about the convergence of radio and technology. The Infinite Dial 2010: Digital Platforms and the Future of Radio is based on a February, 2010 telephone survey of more than 1700 people in the United States and serves as a […]
Wireless companies blast Sirius XM in spectrum controversy
The Federal Communications Commission has called for comment on proposed rules intended to prevent interference between Sirius XM radio (SIRI) and wireless broadband in the 2.3 GHz band area. But when Sirius XM asked for a one week extension on the comment deadline, the organization representing the various wireless companies blasted the request. “At virtually […]