It’s the 13th hour for small webcasters, as broadcasters and supporters scramble to find a solution to new performance royalty rates that threaten to put hundreds, or even thousands of stations out of business. If that many small community or commercial broadcasters were about to go under, there most certainly would be a loud public […]
Live365 is one of the oldest streaming radio service providers, having provided online broadcast tools to countless webcasters, small and large, since July 1999. Early on the service made it comparatively easy for just about anyone to start her own internet radio station, and remained a popular option. It’s sad to learn, then, that Live365 […]
On Friday Apple sent an email to iTunes Radio listeners announcing that the free ad-supported version of the service will shut down January 29. Thereafter iTunes Radio will only be available to Apple Music subscribers, without any advertising. Beats 1 Radio will remain Apple’s only non-subscription music service. This announcement follows news that Apple shut […]
Small and medium sized internet-only radio broadcasters are facing a very immediate danger in 2016, due to changes in the performance rates that they are obligated to pay. Some estimates indicate that these fees may increase by as much as ten-fold, threatening to put hundreds, or even thousands of stations out of business. Paul digs […]
The new performance royalty rates that internet radio will pay artists and record labels were released on December 16 and many small and mid-sized internet-only broadcasters are now fearing they’ll be put out of business. While there was a modest increase on the fee paid for each song played, the bigger concern is what’s missing. […]
Serial music and radio entrepreneur Michael Robertson is back with a new platform that updates and replaces his Radio Search Engine idea, with a focus on making it easier to share songs on social media. Radio Search Engine was exactly what it sounded like, a sort of Google for radio, which let you search for […]
The Copyright Royalty Board recently released two orders that affect community and college radio stations. The CRB sets the royalty rates that webcasters pay for the right to play recorded music. Royalties are paid to SoundExchange, a non-profit group that distributes payments to musicians and record labels. These payments only apply to online streaming broadcasts, […]
At the end of last year I bought a Sonos Play:1 speaker and a Sonos Connect stereo component to add super-simple on-demand music streaming to a couple of rooms in my apartment. I’ve really enjoyed how well the platform seamlessly integrates with services like Spotify, TIDAL, Slacker, Pandora and Deezer Elite, while also easily tapping […]
I’ve written before how a Chromecast is a great and inexpensive way to bring internet radio into your living room, or anywhere you have a television. Now, Google is taking streaming audio one step further with the release today of Chromecast Audio. Like the original video Chromecast, the Chromecast Audio receives content you send from […]
When Art Bell announced his return to daily broadcasting last spring the plan was to be internet-only, with just one shortwave station picking up the online feed. By the time his new show, “Midnight in the Desert,” launched in July he’d signed up about 23 terrestrial broadcast stations, indicating some definite pent-up demand. This week […]
