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From CNet News.com: "RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser gave a first public look Thursday at the MusicNet subscription service his company is building, describing features that resemble Napster's file-swapping service.

"MusicNet, a joint venture with major record labels from AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann and EMI Group, plans to let music fans search for, then download or stream, a broad range of music owned by those three labels, Glaser (pictured, with artist Lyle Lovett) said...

"Like Napster, however, these giants told members of Congress on Thursday that they are running into legal licensing roadblocks, highlighting just how far the mainstream music industry has fractured as it moves further onto the Net. MusicNet and Duet face opposition from songwriters and music publishers, which stood side-by-side with the record labels in the fight against Napster but are now sitting across the negotiating table as the labels try to launch subscription services...

"The labels are asking Congress to grant a 'safe harbor' that protects them from further lawsuits while they launch the subscription services, saying they would pay retroactive fees to publishers after the Copyright Office clarifies the law.

"'Music publishing issues stand out as the most significant impediment' to online distribution, Glaser said. 'If we're not able to quickly resolve these issues, it will be necessary for Congress and the (United States) Copyright Office to step in.'

"Instead of the old anarchic grassroots file-swapping, MusicNet is putting peer-to-peer to a new use that looks more like the Net-speeding capabilities of Akamai Technologies and its rivals. If a song that one member wants can be downloaded more quickly from another member instead of from the central servers, the system can go to this other member instead."

Read the entire article here.

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BY PAUL MALONEY
These are indeed dark days for streaming, so it's always a treat to find a traditional broadcaster doing their thing on the web. MyStar Communications' Adult Contemporary WTPI-FM/Indianapolis is indeed a broadcast outlet still available on the Internet.

Formatically, WTPI is probably a lot like the "soft rock" station in your town. We heard Carole King, Stevie Nicks, John Mellencamp, Phil Collins, and the like. Basically, after a song that might have appeal to 25-54 year-old females has successfully run its course at a format like CHR, Rock, or Country (that is, it's "researched" well with test groups and sold well at retail, yet isn't new anymore), it lands at this type of format. Not for the musically adventurous to be sure, but probably the most lucrative music radio format (these stations generally compile significant "time spent listening" by a demo quite appealing to advertisers).

The site itself was easy enough to navigate and explore. The station and the site showcase all the on-air personalities, not just the morning show (and that's quite a job -- there are some many DJs at this station, the station might drive cume by hiring half of their target audience!).

There are a couple schools of thought on this. Our theory is that if your station's personality is worth showcasing (and pity the radio professional whose personality isn't!), then do it. It adds to your brand and offers entertainment value to listeners that your competitors can't. This is especially important for this kind of format, the listeners of which most likely use the radio differently than say, a hardcore jazz fan listens to a particular channel.

WTPI does bring personality (and useful information) in their original editorial material -- the CD and movie reviews. Here's an opportunity to expand the station's value to the listener, and give them the "human element." Even if a certain listener thinks the weekend jock who panned the listener's favorite artist's new CD is a blowhard know-nothing -- the station has made a memorable, "human" impression. This will always benefit the station.

But make the most of your personalities. We're talking about the "Air Staff" profiles here. The problem here isn't that the WTPI personalities are spotlighted, or that they aren't interesting people. But why not present them in a way that makes them compelling and interesting?

Why not challenge the personalities -- and make them contribute some of their creativity? Listeners think radio personalities are larger then life, so why disappoint them? How about this: have each personality write one paragraph about something that a listener would be interested to read. The jock's favorite moment with a music celebrity, their most embarrassing/heartbreaking/thrilling moment in their broadcast career, the worst "dues" they had to pay in their career, or why a certain cause or charity is most important to them -- all could be compelling "stories." Tell the story! Things like this would serve to attach a human element to the station and brand -- again, things that no competitor can do exactly the same way.

Finally, it was quite nice to see a broadcaster making use of an Internet "side channel." WTPI offers a Smooth Jazz Internet-only stream called "Nightbreeze." The theory here, apparently, is to once again "expand the brand." It's a way to offer something to the station's listeners whose tastes are closer to the fringe of WTPI's musical offerings, and hopefully prevent them from looking elsewhere. The role that the "tucked away on a weekend morning" specialty show has played for broadcast radio (WTPI does indeed have a Sunday morning jazz show) can now be filled by an Internet-only channel without interrupting normal programming.