Instant Radio
Historically, radio stations have only partially cooperated with record label attempts to control when and where an important new record is first aired. It's not unusual for a new album or single to be "embargoed" until a specific date by the labels, with stations often competing with each other to find ways to get around this restriction and be first to air a hot new song.
Intel Goes High-Def
Like it or not, audiophiles may find that it will be the computer industry, not the traditional consumer electronics manufacturers, that creates a successful platform for high resolution audio. As we reported">http://www.stereophile.com/news/010904ces/">reported last week from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Microsoft's latest Windows Media Audio (WMA) codec contains provisions for up to eight channels of 96kHz/24-bit lossy or lossless PCM audio—and Apple OSX fans have had an operating system that supports 96/24 for some time.
Intellectual Property Crime Dwarfs All Other Crime?
On June 15, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), US Chamber of Commerce, and the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy (CACP) announced an ambitious agenda to convince Congress and the White House to "transform the enforcement of U.S. intellectual property rights laws."
Internet Distribution Threatens Music Retailers
"Adapt or die" is the first law of economic Darwinism. It's a choice that many music retailers are beginning to face with the rising tide of alternative distribution channels. According to market research organization Jupiter">http://www.jupiter.com">Jupiter Research, online music services will account for approximately 9% of all CDs sold this year, a 50% increase from 2000. Retailers, once the music industry's only sales interface with the buying public, are looking at what might be an increasingly marginalized future. Those who wish to stay in the game may become "affiliates" rather than independent distributors.
Internet Entrepreneurs: Blame it on the Rio
The popular condensation of Darwin's theory of evolution is "adapt or die." The phrase could certainly have been addressed to the music-industry establishment by any one of four Internet entrepreneurs in a public discussion last week at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club. The four---Gerry Kearby of Liquid">http://www.liquidaudio.com/">Liquid Audio, Gene Hoffman of GoodNoisehttp://www.goodnoise.com/">GoodNoise;, Arnold Brown of AudioExplosionhttp://www.audioexplosion.com/">AudioExplosion;, and Andrew Keen of Audiocafe.com---gathered">http://www.audiocafe.com/">Audiocafe.com---gathered at the public affairs forum Tuesday evening, February 22, for a spirited discussion of "The Future of Music Distribution."
Internet Music Distribution Might Heat Up in Wake of AOL-TW Deal
At the moment, music fans who want to add to their collections by trolling the Internet are limited to bootlegs of dubious quality and legality, low-resolution shareware from innumerable unsigned bands, and teaser samples intended to help sell CDs by mail. Despite the subject's near-constant presence in the media, sales of downloadable music amounted to only about $1 million in 1999—as compared to total music sales of approximately $13 billion. The trickle of business is in large part due to reluctance by the music industry to open up its vaults because of a lack of copyright protection.
Internet Radio Buh-Bye?
On March 2, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) published a "Determination">http://www.loc.gov/crb/proceedings/2005-1/rates-terms2005-1.pdf">"Deter… of Rates and Terms," which announced an artist and recording company royalty fee structure for Internet radio based upon a "per song" structure. As it so happens, that was the model proposed by SoundExchangehttp://www.soundexchange.com/">SoundExchange;, a digital fee collection agency founded by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Internet Radio Listening Doubled in Past Year, Study Claims
The computer continues to insert itself into every aspect of daily life. Now it is a source for music from one's hometown—whether that town is across the state or across the ocean.
Internet Radio Listening Doubles
A study released earlier this month by The">http://www.arbitron.com">The Arbitron Company and Edison">http://www.edisonresearch.com">Edison Media Research shows that Internet radio broadcasting continues to be a fast-growing medium. The survey of Arbitron diarykeepers also brings to light both the challenges and opportunities that the Internet presents to radio broadcasters, particularly in the much-talked-about arena of e-commerce.
Internet Radio Reprieve?
Internet radio streams have received a reprieve from the US Copyright Review Board (CRB) decision to restructure">http://stereophile.com/news/042307net/">restructure the royalty fees for the format. In March, the CRB established fees, effective retroactively to the beginning of 2006, that would be ramped up each year through 2010, with a cost of 0.08¢ per performance (per listener) in 2006, going up to 0.11¢ in 2007; 0.14¢ in 2008; 0.18¢ in 2009; and 0.19¢ in 2010.