Rdio Adds On-Demand Music to Chromecast’s Internet Radio Line-up
I’ve already told you about how my Chromecast is an internet radio. Now there is one more listening option with Rdio, which just added Chromecast playback this week. Rdio, founded by Skype co-creator Janus Friis, offers on-demand music listening a la Spotify, along with artist stations and playlists. The service was subscription-only until striking a […]
East and West Midlands, UK: community radio signals available
The United Kingdom’s broadcast regulator, Ofcom, just put out an invitation to apply for community radio licenses in West and East Midlands. These are official regions situated (as you might guess) right in the middle of England. What caught my eye, however, is this codicil in the announcement; “Applicants should note that there are currently […]
With Last.fm radio gone, it’s back to Pandora/Spotify VPN tricks for Canada
On April 28, Last.fm will shut down its subscription radio stream. That means the company won’t be streaming content through its own servers, just third party stuff, mostly from YouTube and Spotify. “We understand that many of you will not like this decision,” a Last.fm forum post announced on Wednesday. A flood of Last.fm users agreed. […]
Congressman (and future talk radio host) Mike Rogers: the FCC files
House Intelligence Chair Mike Rogers (R-MI) is leaving Congress and taking a job as a national radio host with Cumulus media. Rogers has established himself as late as a defender of the National Security Agency’s surveillance program. Just for kicks I rummaged around the Federal Communications Commission’s databases to see what he’d sent them of […]
College Radio Survivor: Archiving College Radio History, Upcoming Events, and LPFM Update
Right now I’m dwelling on college radio’s past, as I prepare my presentation for University of Maryland’s “Saving College Radio” Symposium in two weeks. In connection with an exhibit about the history of student radio station WMUC, this symposium will focus on the importance of (and challenges inherent in) archiving college radio’s history. I’ve become […]
LPFM Watch: Over 1100 Applications Granted so Far, including More than 40 for College Radio Stations
This week the total number of granted LPFM applications crossed 1100. LPFMs-to-be are already fundraising and making plans for their new stations. For example, in Portland, Oregon, Q Center’s station Wild Planet Radio, purportedly the “the world’s first nonprofit LGBTQ radio station,” is gearing up to get on the air, sharing a frequency with The […]
Ousted Executive Director Summer Reese Occupies Pacifica Offices
Summer Reese, along with her mother and supporters, has been occupying the Pacifica Foundation’s offices in Berkeley, CA for almost ten days. Recall that Reese was abruptly fired from her position as Executive Director by the Pacifica National Board two weeks ago, without any public statements justifying the action. She and many others contest the […]
SoundCloud: the Twitter monster
Judging by this table of music application inspired tweets compiled by Swarm.fm founder Peter Watts, SoundCloud users are the hugest tweeters these days. Here are the top ten tweet generators: SoundCloud: 42,604,555 open.spotify.com: 10,914,820 last.fm: 8,039,354 Spotify: 4,862,187 Pandora: 3,715,642 Bandcamp: 3,488,443 Myspace: 3,410,535 Shazam: 3,079,587 soundtracking: 2,679,342 deezer.com: 2,459,766 Watts’ application checked the Twitter […]
Podcast Survivor: The Week in Podcasting News and Stories
It’s been kind of a quiet week on the podcasting news front this week. Adam Carolla continues to make the rounds in support of his Save Podcasts Legal Defense Fund and has set up a Soundcloud page with clips from shows discussing the patent troll case. The fund’s benefit event added comedian and podcaster Doug […]
Spotify premium student discount: loss leader challenge to the young?
“The Student Discount is here,” Spotify announced today. “Spotify Premium is now 50% off for students.” This is for college students, I presume (I sneaked a peek at the discount form; it definitely asks users for their “college”). So qualified college attendees get ad free Spotify for $4.99 instead of $9.99. The discount comes as Pandora […]