From the press release: "
WOR
Radio 710 AM and
SiteShell
Corporation announced today that they have
entered into an affiliate licensing agreement. Under the terms
of their deal, SiteShell will create and dynamically maintain
a locally branded, e-commerce integrated web site for the major
market, Talk/Information giant...
"Memorable WOR shows that kept America entertained
during radio’s 'Golden Age,' like 'The Shadow,' 'The Green Hornet,'
and 'The Lone Ranger,' are among those that will be
featured in the interactive 'History' section of WOR’s new web
site. The history section is just one of several interactive features,
which will be included in the web site.
"SiteShell’s BlueDot WebSite NetWork is now hosting
approximately 150 NetWork WebSites for its affiliated radio stations,
with about 100 more currently in production. The affiliated stations
are owned by over two dozen broadcasting companies."
Read the entire press release
here.
From Billboard.com: "Legal on-demand digital music remains
just out of reach as the world continues to wait
on the major labels to license content for such services, but
that isn't stopping a host of technology companies from trying
to come as close to it as possible in the mean time.
"In the latest example, MusicMatch,
a jukebox software developer and rival of
RealNetworks
and
Microsoft, test-launch(ed)
an online radio subscription service Monday.
"The service, known as MusicMatch
Radio MX, allows users to access 'near on-demand' streaming
audio at CD quality and will offer three pricing tiers: $4.95
per month, $12.95 for three months, and $49.95 per year.
According to MusicMatch chief executive Dennis Mudd, the
aim of the service is to push the Digital
Millennium
Copyright Act as close to its boundaries without actually violating
it. That means users can't search for tracks by name, but by using
a core of 25 artists and combining them with MusicMatch's personalization
technology, they can create highly tailored streams that approximate
their tastes.
The company says it expects to launch a full on-demand
streaming service by late summer, pending licenses from the major
labels.
Read the entire here.
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From eCompany.com: "Like a troubled movie star, the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA (in .pdf
format
here),
always seems to be involved in fresh controversy...
"In the case of Napster, U.S. Circuit Judge Marilyn
Patel announced last month that, essentially, she can't do anything
more to enforce her order that
Napster
remove all copyrighted works from its site, even as users continue
to swap the songs with different file names to avoid filters.
(Looking for Beatles songs? Try searching under 'Fab Four.') The
strange result is that Napster is being allowed to limp along
until enforcement of the DMCA becomes technically feasible --
and who knows when or if that will ever happen, or if most people
even want it to happen...
"According to U.S. attorney Daniel L. Alter, who testified
on behalf of the federal government in defense of the DMCA, 'It's
as if we were talking about a software program that shuts off
navigational systems on airplanes or shuts down smoke detectors.
The government (should not be prevented) from banning the distribution
of that kind of software.' But by encouraging the court to adopt
such a stringent interpretation
of the DMCA, attorneys like Alter are trying to compensate for
the law's effective failure in the real world.
"The DMCA may be winning these short-term battles,
but it's clearly losing the war, and it's losing on two fronts:
First, the law is being invoked in cases where its ability to
deter anybody's behavior is questionable; second -- and more alarming
-- it's being used to preempt rights that are close to Americans'
hearts...As a result, the DMCA is starting to look more like a
weapon -- and not even an effective one -- and less like an impartial
arbiter."
Read the entire piece
here.
(Thanks to MP3Player.com's Bob Bellin for pointing out this
piece...)
Reprinted from yesterday's edition...
This is in response to Scott Stafford's piece on possible major
label online subscription models here.
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"There
is truly no reason to 'reinvent the wheel...'"
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Scott Stafford's piece on "tag teams" was -- to
steal on of your words -- scintillating. Cooperation is definitely
the key. Far fetched as it might be, especially when you consider
the
giant infants in this new frontier, cooperation will be the driving
force behind all major interactive success, and ultimately, the
rate at which any success is achieved.
There would be little to discuss...or monetize, if certain
services didn't 'steal' from labels and artists for the free dissemination
of music. This alleged heist would be more appropriately dubbed
a 'major promotional effort' by all those who now stand to benefit.
If you get right down to it, Napster and its knockoffs have essentially
wet the entire worlds' feet to the power of digitally accessed and
controlled entertainment; a daunting task by any giant label's or
independent webcaster's standards.
There is truly no reason "to go and reinvent the wheel" for
90 million users (to steal Mr. Stafford's stolen words), but the
mutual lack of awareness for the various yet crucial elements of
this industry never ceases to amaze me.
This is in response to RAIN Reader Feedback from
KOIT/San Francisco's Bill Conway (here)
on BRS Media's study on the number of online broadcasters (reported
in RAIN here).
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"The
most accurate numbers available..."
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As mentioned in the Press Release the 5000 number
does NOT include the current list of stations not streaming,
the total list is over 500 stations. Before the AFTRA drop the total
was closer to 5500.
BRS Media has been tracking radio and the Internet for over
5 years. Since 1995 we have maintained data and databases of radio
stations on the net.
Data extracted from these databases are use to generate the
number used within the press release used last week. Contrary to
assumptions made from Mr. Conway we have never counted AM/FM, FM/FM
or AM/AM simulcasting stations as anything more then 1 streaming
station in any data numbers released.
| |
George T. Bundy, Chairman & CEO
BRS Media
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This is in response to RAIN's coverage of the new XACT
Radio Network here.
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"XACT
allows radio to reinvent itself..."
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With the advent of the Web, a radio station's
competitors are no longer just other stations in their market,
but hundreds of online Internet options and the soon-to-come Satellite
radio that will be available to their listeners.
If radio does not provide its listeners with a service that
matches their comprehensive music tastes, they will find it in other
places. Sites like AOL's Spinner.com, MSN's Music Radio, Launch.com,
MTV's SonicNet, NetRadio.com , LIVE 365.com, VH-1 Online and many
others offer listener-directed control over dozens of music genres.
Radio has the brands that consumers are familiar with -- and it
is up to the stations to act now to retain (or perhaps recapture)
that loyalty.
XACT Radio Network allows radio to reinvent itself in order
to compete effectively online. And with continual station imaging
and streamed promotions on the service, the station’s brand
remains intact -- it is not damaged.
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"Can
a company really sustain itself with banner advertising?..."
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The XACT player is another clever gadget operating
under the same flawed business model as so many before
it. Can any company really expect to sustain itself with banner
advertising in the player?
The problem here is not the technology or the idea, they
are both great, it's in the fact that yet another company is out
touting something that we will all get so worked up about, such
as Kerbango or GetMedia, that won't be around unless someone has
very, very deep pockets.
