Our plans for our annual RAIN Las Vegas Summit, which will be held all day on Monday, April 16th at the Renaissance Hotel in Las Vegas, continue to develop. Check here for more info on the Summit as it is confirmed.

From today's New York Times: "For all the talk about satellite radio, the most vibrant frontier in radio may be the Web...

"Currently, the most compelling online radio is interactive. Services like Pandora, Last.fm and Slacker evaluate your musical tastes, then serve up a continuous stream of programming to match. They mix familiar songs with new material you might like...

"With so much momentum, there are still plenty of bumps. The Copyright Royalty Board of the Library of Congress recently announced a Web-radio royalty payment plan that has caused many free Internet broadcasters to fear for their fragile business models.

"Some new interactive music services choose not to stream anything. Instead, they rely strictly on music the listener already owns or new tracks donated by publicity-hungry independent artists and labels. Others are becoming as creative with the way they license content as they are with the way they personalize it for you...

"The most ambitious free service is Slacker, unveiled this month... Slacker will offer a free software player, like the once-popular Musicmatch Jukebox, and sell a portable iPod-like device, like those Rio made.

"One twist is that, like Last.fm, the Slacker jukebox will enhance the radio stream by paying attention to the songs you choose. (D.J.’s will aid in programming as well.) Another twist is that, in addition to MP3s, the portable player will carry personalized radio streams that will be automatically freshened. For $7.50 a month, users get access to more features, but even if you do not pay, you will be able to buy the portable device and have access to free — though ad-rich — radio streams...

"Because of the controversy over royalty rates, and because of its unique portable properties, Slacker made its own licensing deals directly with the four major music groups plus several hundred independent labels. Last.fm recently announced content deals with the Warner Music Group and EMI for tracks on its new, ad-free $3-a-month premium radio service.

"The royalty issue is explicitly why services like Soundflavor, Goombah and Mog don’t offer true streaming radio...

"Mog’s most inspired development starts today. It is Mog TV, a personalized stream of YouTube music video posts. Mog says there are 400,000 videos there now, plenty to personalize for all tastes.

“Imagine if YouTube knew what songs were in your music collection,' said Mog’s chief executive, David Hyman. 'It’s the ultimate mash-up.'

"As for artist royalties, that currently appears to be YouTube’s problem."

Read the entire article at the New York Times Online.

From the Washington Times: "Some webcasters are pulling no punches when it comes to protesting a recent decision by U.S. copyright authorities they say will run them out of business.

"'The recording industry giants apparently don't care who gets hurt as long as they get more money,' says one commentary circulating Web radio channels, suggesting that the Internet Radio Amber Alert System, an industry-sponsored service that lets webcasters air the alerts immediately after they are issued, could be an unintended casualty. 'This could very well cost a child's life. Maybe your child's life.'

"Savenetradio.org — which describes itself as 'a coalition of independent webcasters who have had enough' — has posted two dozen audio spots recently protesting the March 2 vote of the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB)...

"Paul Philbeck, operator of RadioNC.com and creator of the Amber Alert ad, defends the outspoken spots, which are posted on webcastersunite.net...

"John Simson, executive director of SoundExchange... rejects Mr. Philbeck's PSA as over the top.

"That's just ludicrous. This is about music — this isn't about anything else,' he says, stressing that U.S. rates are in step with those across Europe.

"If someone wants to have a public service channel and broadcast Amber Alerts, they're free to do that,' he says."

Read the entire article at the Washington Times.

"Slaight is actively involved in the music and entertainment industry and is a staunch supporter of Canadian music talent... Slaight assumed his current position as president and chief executive officer of Standard Broadcasting in 2000... Standard Broadcasting has also been involved in various new digital media, including Puretracks, MapleMusic, Iceberg Radio and Sirius satellite radio service in Canada."

Read the entire press release here.