x Yesterday, KCRW hosted a live online session with several key figures surrounding the Internet Radio Equality Act introduced to overturn CRB rates. The session is now available as a downloadable podcast here. x

From the New York Times: "The auction giant eBay said it would begin selling radio airtime to advertisers starting Wednesday, expanding into a business that Google entered last year.

"EBay, through a partnership with Bid4Spots, [previous RAIN coverage here]... will offer advertisers a way to buy unsold radio inventory from 2,300 radio stations in the top 300 media markets in the United States

"Advertisers can go shopping for airtime on the eBay Media Marketplace, originally a forum for cable television ads which began in March...

"In eBay’s new service, advertisers or their ad agencies will create auctions on the eBay Media Marketplace, then radio stations registered with Bid4Spots can make offers. Advertisers can also stick with Bid4Spots’ own service if they prefer it to eBay’s exchange.

“There are a lot of businesses that do business with eBay and are comfortable doing business with eBay,' said Dave Newmark [pictured right], chief executive of the privately held Bid4Spots. 'EBay feels it can reach out to those businesses and provide them an effective advertising program.'

"Google, however, has a head start over eBay in cracking the  radio business...

"Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, has said his company will ultimately have 1,000 employees dedicated to radio advertising alone."

Read the entire story at the New York Times online.

BY DANIEL MCSWAIN
A host of popular Internet radio and music services were recently honored at the 2007 Webby Awards Ceremony in New York City.

From a pool of international nominees in both the commercial and noncommercial fields, BBC Radio 1 won the Webby Award for "Radio" chosen by members of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

NPR's online product took home hardware for the People's Voice Award in the "Radio" category, an award which our own AccuRadio won in the 2006 Webby Awards [previous RAIN coverage here].

Last.fm, the UK-based online music service acquired by CBS last week [previous RAIN coverage here], swept the "Music" category, taking top honors in both the People's Voice and Webby Award voting.

For a full list of nominees and winners across all categories, click here.

From DCist: "Most unsigned bands are lucky to have a few dozen fans at their concerts. Now there’s a chance for local artists to bring their music to a much larger audience — the greater D.C. metropolitan area.

"WTOP radio is now broadcasting iChannel, an Internet radio station that features unsigned artists, on its HD Radio channel, 103.5-2.

"Bands can submit their music to iChannel,... Those that make the cut can set up an artist profile and will be able to track how many times their songs have been played and downloaded, how many people have visited their profile, and where they rank in listener ratings.

"Because iChannel is on WTOP’s HD Radio channel, you must have a special HD Radio receiver to tune in."

Read the full article at DCist.

A full 1/4 of the U.S. House of Representatives now supports H.R. 2060, the Internet Radio Equality Act. Today's new co-sponsors bring the total to 109. Two of the newest additions sit on the Judiciary committee, while another sits on the Small Business committee.

Additionally, S. 1353, the Senate version of the IREA, has also gained a new co-sponsor, listed below the House chart.

	Representative Brian Baird Washington's 3rd District 5th-term Democrat
	Representative Norman D. Dicks Washington's 6th District 16th-term Democrat
	Representative Rahm Emanuel Illinois' 5th District 3rd-term Democrat
	Representative Rush Holt New Jersey's 12th District 5th-term Democrat
	Representative Steve J. Israel New York's 2nd District 4th-term Democrat
	Representative Sheila Jackson Lee Texas' 18th District 7th-term Democrat Key committee(s): Judiciary
	Representative Patrick J. Kennedy Rhode Island's 1st District 7th-term Democrat
	Representative Gwen S. Moore Wisconsin's 4th District 2nd-term Democrat Key committee(s): Small Business
	Representative Donald M. Payne New Jersey's 10th District 10th-term Democrat
	Representative Linda T. Sanchez California's 39th District 3rd-term Democrat Key committee(s): Judiciary

S. 1353 sponsors
	Senator Ron Wyden 3rd-term Democrat from Oregon
	Senator Sam Brownback 3rd-term Republican from Kansas Key committee(s): Judiciary

Co-sponsors
	Senator Susan M. Collins 2nd-term Republican from Maine