iHeartRadio Passes 120 Million Users

iHeartMedia may be bankrupt, but radio still lives… online at least. iHeartRadio says that it has surpassed 120 million registered users, adding another 10 million listeners over the last few months. Beyond its radio and music streams, iHeart attributes the growth to the addition of 20,000 podcasts, including 750 iHeartRadio…

Alexa, Do You Help Or Hurt Radio?

Since Amazon’s Echo device dropped two years ago, the debate has been raging over whether or not these these voice command devices will help or hurt broadcast radio. Here we try to answer this question by taking a close look at the numbers. ___________________________ Guest post by Fred Jacobs of…

SoundExchange Q2 Payments Up 17.5%

SoundExchange distributed $208.7 million in sound recording performance royalties in Q2 2018. That’s up both 17.5% over the same quarter last year and the $189.9 million paid out in the Q1 of this year. The PRO has paid out a total of $398.6 million so far in 2018.

Broadcast Radio Targets Millennials With New Format

Although radio as a platform for discovering new music has been on the decline for some time, with little to offer millennials, a new format known as "Right Now Music Radio" is hoping it can change this and bring radio into the modern age. ___________________________ Guest post by Bobby Owsinski…

This Week In 1955, Rock ‘n Roll Went #1 For First Time

In this piece Daniel Reifsnyder takes a journey back to 1955, when rock ‘n’ roll climbed to the top of the charts for the first time with the now culturally ubiquitous number "(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock". _________________________ Guest post by Daniel Reifsnyder of Soundfly’s Flypaper blog For someone…

Has The Time For Classic Rock’s Eulogy Arrived?

In this piece Fred Jacobs takes a long hard look at the legacy of classic rock, and whether the genre will be able to endure and gain more popularity as we move forward into the future and more legacy artists age out, or whether its time as a genre has…

BET Awards 2018: Full Winners List

Kendrick Lamar won best male hip hop artist and album of the year for “DAMN” at last night’s BET Awards. Beyonce won best female R&B/pop artist, and Cardi B won for best female hip hop artist. Migos took home the the best group award and SZA won for best new…

Thought Streaming Royalties Were Bad? Radio Airplay Royalties Even Worse

Almost since its inception, streaming has often been maligned in the industry for the pittance which it pays out to artists, and while this criticism is often merited, things are actually much worse in the world of old-school radio play. ______________________________ Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 Artists…

‘What I Learned From Anthony Bourdain About Music, Radio’

In the wake of the tragic passing of Anthony Bourdain, radio industry veteran Seth Resler shares important lessons learned from the food tourism pioneer, and how he helped shape a radio broadcaster’s career. ______________________________ Guest post by Digital Dot Connector, Seth Resler of Jacobs Media Strategy On Friday morning, we…

SiriusXM To Pay SoundExchange $150 Million Settlement

SoundExchange and SiriusXM have settled their years-long litigation surrounding outstanding claims for unpaid and underpaid royalties from January 2007 through December 2017 in exchange for a lump sum payment of $150 million. The preforming rights organization will distribute the settlement funds to the rights holders and artists whose sound recordings…