Podcasting News: Carolla Settles with Podcast Patent Troll
One chapter in the podcast patent troll story has closed. On Friday popular podcaster Adam Carolla and patent company Personal Audio filed a joint motion to dismiss Personal Audio’s suit against Carolla [PDF]. At the end of July news surfaced that Personal Audio said it offered to drop its suit, but that Carolla’s company rejected […]
Internet DJ week: are you being your true self or Michael Cera?
Attention all social media music playlist mavens: are you posting your own personal favorite tunes, or are you really favoring content based on how you want others to see you? If it’s the latter choice, you are not alone. An Aalto University (Helsinki, Finland) user study concludes that “being authentic is very important for social […]
LPFM News: Competition in Western States Up To FCC Now
Things certainly slow down in the middle of August, and that holds just as true for low-power FM. Just one construction permit was granted in the last week, to the St. Mark Radio Association in Wilmington, NC. Also in the past week the deadline to file petitions to deny (PTDs) against applicants competing for frequencies […]
Voice of America, Radiogram, and the market for free speech
The Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the Voice of America and other such services, has issued a report on short wave radio. Bottom line: it isn’t looking great for the BBG’s commitment to the service. From the report: “The BBG must use shortwave where it is most effective. In the past, shortwave audiences were […]
Grassroots Radio Conference Kicks Off Thursday
Fans and creators of independent radio of all kinds who can make it to Ames, Iowa this week should do so. That’s because community radio KHOI and the Pacifica Foundation are hosting the 16th Grassroots Radio Conference. We’re reported on GRC several times, both when it was announced in June and in LPFM Watch because […]
Podcast Survivor: Podcast Networks, Part Trois
Generally speaking I don’t cover the debut of many new podcasts, or new podcast networks, for that matter. In part it’s due to practicality–it’s tough to keep up. More importantly, it’s because I’m interested in the underlying structure of podcasting. When I do write about a new show or network it’s spurred by an interesting […]
Remembering Robin Williams as Irreverent DJ Adrian Cronauer in Good Morning Vietnam
It’s always sad to learn about another great talent who left this world too early. As you probably know, comedian and actor Robin Williams died on Monday. So many of his performances are permanently etched on my psyche, from watching Mork and Mindy during my 80s childhood, to memorable performances in The World According to […]
Internet DJ week: acrostic Spotify messages, Pokemon radio attacks, youth wasted on young
The Music Machinery blog alerts us to a new Spotify related application, Acrostify, which creates Spotify playlists based on “acrostics,” aka secret word messages embedded in other things. Since yesterday (Sunday, August 10) was the Russian composer Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov’s birthday, I input “Happy Birthday Glazunov” and selected the “classical” format. Out came this playlist: […]
Welcome To Night Vale Returns To “Normal”
Welcome To Night Vale, soon to embark on their first European tour, has just released their fifty-first episode, “Rumbling”. After a drawn out corporate conflict, a mayoral “election”, and some reconstruction, the little desert burb of Night Vale has finally returned to a state we could dubiously call normal. Indeed, many facets of the show […]
LPFM News: More Guel Dismissals, LPFM Supplier Closes
Two new low-power FM construction permits were issued by the FCC this week, to stations in Santa Ana, CA and Ferndale, MI. There were also nine more dismissals of applications associated with Antonio Guel in Milwaukee, Denver, Houston, Des Moines, and Palm Springs. Like last week’s dismissals, these were all cancelled because the Commission was […]