Deezer CEO Axel Dauchez recently told an interviewer, "We are looking for a partner in the U.S., maybe an operator or a blue-chip company, that is able to provide us with a significant volume of subscribers," and said his company has already opened discussions with potential American partner firms.
The Wall Street Journal reports Dauchez is concerned by the U.S. music streaming market's "unbelievably high" entry costs (as well as a marketplace that already includes Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio, Xbox Music, MOG, and others).
The Paris-based on-demand music subscription service Deezer just began offering a limited free ad-supported service for desktop listening (no mobile) in more than 150 countries. Deezer is partly owned by Access Industries, Russian billionaire Len Blavatnik's company that owns Warner Music Group. Deezer raised $130 million in fall.
Read more in The Wall Street Journal here.
Philadelphia non-commercial adult rock station WXPN has launced the new "Singer Songwriter Radio" on its XPN2.org stream, which had been its online-only alternative/indie music stream.
The Internet Radio Fairness Act (IRFA), among other measures, would require Copyright Royalty Judges, when determining royalties for web radio, to use the same legal standard (known as 801(b)) they use for satellite radio and cable radio royalties. Under current law, CRB judges are instructed to try to set royalties at a "fair market value," using a legal standard known as "willing buyer willing seller." This has led to the current state of affairs in which webcasters like Pandora pay many times the royalty of other types of digital radio when expressed as a percentage of revenue.
We're happy to announce our second-annual RAIN Summit Europe industry event, May 23 in gorgeous Brussels, Belgium. We'll gather with Internet radio leaders from across Europe and around the world at the Hotel Bloom for a full day of informative panels, presentations and networking.
