webcast

The online hactivist collective Anonymous intends to block Webcasts of President Obama's State of the Union address this evening because of what it calls a lack of attention to issues important to the group.

"There will be no State of the Union Address on the Web tonight," the group said today in a blog post announcing the effort, which it has code named #opSOTU.

Specifically, the group says it objects to Obama not addressing the prosecution of Web activist Aaron Swartz, the long detention of alleged WikiLeaker Bradley Manning, wireless wiretapping, the targeted killings of U.S. … Read more

Pandora continues to expand the number of automobiles that are compatible with the Webcasting service.

Oakland, Calif.-based Pandora said today at CES 2013 that the Chrysler Group has agreed to include Pandora's Uconnect Access into the entertainment systems of its new cars. Uconnect enables owners to stream the service via their smartphone to the car's sound systems.

Up to now, Pandora has been long on flashy partnerships and listener numbers but hasn't convinced a skeptical investment community that its business model is sound. During the initial public offering in June 2011, the stock opened at $16 … Read more

Music listening patterns continue to evolve and not just from analog to digital but from downloads to streaming, according to findings from Internet research firm, NPD.

For the quarter ending in June, the audience for Internet radio services in the United States, which include companies such as Pandora Media, grew 27 percent from the same period a year earlier, NPD reported. In comparison, on-demand services such as Spotify, YouTube and Rhapsody, grew 18 percent over the same period.

Web radio stands to be an important money maker and it's not hard to figure out why the music sector and … Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Pandora and the major record labels were busy this week drawing up battle plans and forming alliances in preparation for a coming Capitol Hill fight over the royalty rates Webcasters are required to pay for music.

CNET has learned that representatives from the three largest music-recording companies, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group, plan to meet early next week with some of the industry's top artist managers in New York to discuss strategy about how to block passage of the Internet Radio Fairness Act.

The legislation seeks to reduce the rates … Read more

It wasn't as if Pandora investors needed much to send them stampeding out of the stock.

Pandora shares are trading this morning at $10.82, down more $3.43 or 24 percent, a day after the company failed to meet analyst expectations for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended January 31.

Skepticism has dogged this company ever since it announced plans to go public a year ago. Any misstep was bound to spook Wall Street.

Pandora's revenue for the period fell short of estimates while the company's losses grew from the same time a year earlier. Fourth-quarter … Read more

Illegal file-sharing services aren't the only ones getting kicked off the Internet for failing to compensate artists.

SWCast Network, a company that hosted a platform for Internet radio stations, was recently taken offline for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The company was accused by SoundExchange, a nonprofit that collects royalties on behalf of the music industry, of failing to compensate them since 2005.

Citing the requirements in the DMCA, SoundExchange requested that SWCast's bandwidth provider cut off service to the Webcaster. SWCast went dark two weeks later, on April 17. This was the first time in … Read more

If you didn't catch YouTube's streaming Webcast of the Coachella music festival last weekend, you missed a chance to see the music world changing before your eyes.

For three days, viewers were treated to live sets by superstars like Kanye West, the Strokes, Arcade Fire, Duran Duran, and nearly 60 other artists. At any given moment, they could choose from performances on three separate stages--each of which had its own channel with multiple high quality camera angles--and all with low lag, few technical glitches, and fairly unobtrusive advertising.

In short, if you couldn't be at Coachella, this … Read more

Few people know this but for a little while last year, the music-royalty rates that Web radio stations have complained about for years appeared to be behind them.

In a midtown Manhattan law office last November 6, representatives from Webcasting companies and SoundExchange, the group that collects royalties for recording artists and labels, struck a deal "in principle," said sources familiar with the negotiations. The agreement was designed to restructure the royalty rates Webcasters have long said would decimate the sector.

But a week ago, came word that a final deal was never signed. The Digital Media Association (DiMA), the group that represents most of the largest Webcasters, including Pandora, Live365 and Yahoo, announced that the parties failed to reach an agreement. How could that happen? Both sides told members of Congress in September that they were close to a deal. In November, the blog All Things Digital reported a settlement was within grasp and quoted Pandora founder Tim Westergren saying "all the hard stuff has been done."

After interviewing multiple sources on both sides of the issue, the picture that has taken shape is that Webcasters blew a golden opportunity to reach an accord that would have given them much of what they asked for. What appears to have happened is that some in Webcasting were willing to play a game of brinkmanship with SoundExchange. At the very least, the actions of some larger Webcasters undermine their claims that they can't afford to continue for much longer without a settlement.

There is still a chance the two sides can come to terms. Talks are ongoing. But as it stands, time is quickly running out and nothing has occurred to indicate a breakthrough is near, according to sources on both sides. If a settlement isn't reached, its conceivable that some Web radio stations that legitimately can't afford to pay the performance fees set by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) two years ago may be in jeopardy. Representatives from SoundExchange declined to comment. Westergren did not return repeated phone calls.

Did Real want a deal? There's no doubt who the music side blames for derailing the agreement. … Read more

WASHINGTON--Barack Obama was sworn in as president Tuesday in what many spectators viewed as the nation's most interactive inauguration ceremony so far.

As millions of people in Washington and around the globe watched a weekend of festivities, culminating with Tuesday's ceremony, they gave their instant feedback online and through text messages and other means to family, friends, and anyone else listening. At the same time, event organizers were able to give spectators live updates about the state of affairs in the nation's chilly, crowded capital.

Most people who watched the inauguration did it through traditional television broadcasts, … Read more