Group funded by uk gov’t board will launch “apollo” by next year
Yahoo, We7, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and digital agency Somethin’ Else form a new consortium, funded with £1.8 million from the Technology Strategy Board — which is in turn funded by the UK government. The goal of the consortium is reportedly to develop a “cloud radio” service codenamed “Apollo” which should be ready by next year.
There aren’t many details to go on yet, as PaidContent reports. The take-away for now is that some big names in online music have come together to create some sort of new service.
“The focus for Apollo will be to develop next-generation personal radio and music services that can work across any Internet-connected device, such as mobiles, tablets and web TVs,” the group’s announcement states.
Beyond that, it’s yet to be seen what kind of service this will be, much less what its impact may be on UK and international online radio. Stay tuned.
UK service We7 announced late last year that it would move away from on-demand music and instead focus on Internet radio. “Becoming the Pandora plus of the UK and Europe would be a great aspiration to have,” We7’s CEO said then.
“Apollo would seem to be an enlargening of that idea,” observes PaidContent
http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419...l-cloud-radio/
Million-song dataset: take it, it's free
"Online music developers and Pandora and Last.fm lovers, take note. The next phase in research on how to deliver smart music delivery systems is underway, facilitated by a Million Song Dataset just released by The Echo Nest music application company."
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2011...t-its-free.ars
Proposed CPB De-funding Would Hurt HD Radio
Mar 16, 2011 11:27 AM, By Mark Krieger
" . . . populist outrage over burgeoning public debt suggests that the perennial proposal to eliminate all federal funding for public broadcasting may finally find its legs in the halls of Congress -- and that could well be causing some discomfort for those whose interests align with the advancement of HD Radio."
Musicians group thanks White House for PRA support
The brief mention of a radio performance royalty in a White House intellectual property white paper earned kudos from musicFIRST’s Tom Matzzie. "We appreciate the Administration's support and look forward to the day when performers are fairly compensated."
http://www.rbr.com/radio/musicians-g...a-support.html
Is a new tech bubble starting to grow?
"Rush to go public. Several tech initial public offerings are expected in the next 12 months, including online gaming site Zynga, business contact site LinkedIn, Internet radio station Pandora and online phone-call company Skype . . . Just because a company files plans for an IPO doesn't mean it will actually happen. Widely watched video game rental service GameFly, a sort of Netflix for video games, filed for a $50 million IPO on Feb. 10, 2010. However, more than a year later, the deal is still stuck in the pipeline."
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/...ch-bubble-.htm
Rising gas prices shouldn't hurt car buying
"a regression analysis over the past 20 years suggests there is actually no correlation” between gas prices at the pump and vehicle sales.
http://www.radio-info.com/news/risin...-or-car-buying