70% Of Cloud-Based Music Users No Longer Use P2P Music Services
In a survey recently conducted by Thumbplay, 70% of respondents reported that they have stopped using Peer-to-Peer P2P services since engaging Thumbplay Music. Thumbplay Music, which works on numerous devices across all major smartphone platforms in the U.S., is one of the most widely-available cloud-based streaming music services in the U.S. More than 500,000 people have downloaded Thumbplay Music to date; nearly 70% are male and the largest user group for the service is 25 – 34-years-old, followed closely by 35 – 44-year-olds. Thumbplays popular, feature-rich app with more than 10 million songs has been publicly available on Android, Apple and BlackBerry smartphone platforms since June 2010. It is also available for PCs/Macs.
- 70% Of Cloud-Based Music Users No Longer Use P2P Music Services
Digital Music: Spotify, Google and Grandfathering Label Deals
Last year, around the time that Apple acquired music service Lala, Google and Spotify were deep in acquisition discussions, says a source with knowledge of the negotiations. Ultimately no deal happened, and the two companies tried to negotiate a deal to have Spotify pre-installed on all Android phones instead. But the deal almost happened, says our source, and Google was going to pay nearly $1 billion for the service. Ultimately the deal went sideways because Google was demanding that all label deals be grandfathered in. And Spotify wanted a $800 million+ walk away fee if the deal faltered (Google had a similar provision in their Admob acquisition).
Here’s what “grandfathering” label deals means: The deals that music labels do with online music companies contain a provision that if the company is acquired, the deals terminate. That’s exactly what tripped up Facebook when they were looking to acquire or partner with a music startup a few years ago.
- How Spotify Almost Sold To Google For $1 Billion, Plus New Apple Rumors
Pandora Brings Mobile Advertising to Small Businesses
In a bid to further expand its local ad revenue, Pandora has opened up its mobile advertising platform to small to mid-sized businesses.That means that advertisers can now run both banner and audio campaigns across Pandora’s mobile applications, which the company says account for more than half of its 65 million users daily listening.Those ads can be targeted by location, though at the moment, that targeting is based on the zipcode users provide to the service as opposed to a physical location shared by a GPS-enabled smartphone. Still, the format represents a new challenger to terrestrial radio stations, and Pandora is actively targeting local businesses – think car dealerships, banks and local universities — around the U.S. that currently advertise there.
ASCAP Loses Major Music Download Appeal Case; Blanket License Fee Calculation Remanded to District Court
Is a song download a public performance?
In a strongly worded opinion coming out of the US Second District Court of Appeals last week, the court ruled against ASCAP and remanded the case, which involved Real Networks and Yahoo.
The court (decision available here in full text via Film Music Magazine) analyzed existing copyright law and precedent extensively. The meaning of the word “perform”, defined in Section 101 of the US Copyright Act as “to recite, render, play, dance or act it, either directly or by means of any device or process,” had a significant impact on the decision.
As Film Music Magazine noted, the decision “in large part hinged on the fact that a download does not include a ‘contemporaneously perceptible event’ – that during a download, the musical work could not be heard or listened to.”
We’re looking forward to seeing how this decision will impact our new media and technology clients, for whom the difference between a download and public performance can sometimes mean thousands in royalties.
Apple in talks for iTunes music subscriptions, blocks Spotify in the process
“Just as we’ve heard many times over the past few years, Apple is apparently in talks with music labels for a subscription-based iTunes plan that would give customers unlimited access to songs for a fee, the New York Post reports.
Sources tell the paper that Apple’s VP of internet services Eddy Cue, who heads the iTunes and App Store teams, has been in talks with music executives as recently as a few weeks ago. Apple has in mind tiered pricing for the service between $10 and $15 — but it still needs to work out issues with the labels like how much music to include in every tier, and how long consumers have access to content.”
- Apple in talks for iTunes music subscriptions, blocks Spotify in the process