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"The pioneering features of Windows Media have made it the favored DRM technology... RioPort has long considered InterTrust as its preferred Digital Rights Management partner."
—--RioPort President/CEO Jim Long, quoted in different press releases

YOUR GEEK ROUNDUP
OF ROUNDUPS

Scintillating Tech News for the Sleep-Deprived
NET RADIO RUMBLINGS
Clear Channel
announced today that it will allow some of its stations to resume streaming on the Web, thanks to ad-insertion technology that will allow the company to run Internet-only ads in place of broadcast ads, thus circumventing its contract dispute with AFTRA. The radio and TV union had demanded that its members receive higher fees for radio ads that are repurposed for Internet streams. The ad-insertion tech will be provided by L.A.-based Hiwire. "Hiwire has a proven track record of serving ads for Internet radio," Clear Channel Interactive CEO Kevin Mayer said. "Until we’re able to buy and dismantle AFTRA, it’ll have to do." The solution comes not a moment too soon, as a new study by Arbitron and media research firm Coleman finds that 68 percent of so-called Speedies (consumers with broadband Internet access) who have encountered halted streams easily found similar-sounding alternatives online. Elsewhere, Minneapolis-based NetRadio has detailed its new "growth strategies," which so far have included reducing cash usage, eliminating paid advertising, reducing bandwidth costs, outsourcing e-commerce, and reducing headcounts. The company says it expects its "dependence on the Internet" to decline as it pursues "penetration of other distribution channels." No word if a name change is in the works. Arts & Entertainment Television Networks’ interactive unit, meanwhile, is tossing its mortarboard into the net-radio ring, rolling out a suite of streamers "powered by" web radio outfit Radio Central. Dubbed AandE.com Radio, the service will sport Soft Rock, Classic Rock, and Smooth Jazz "stations" designed to run the taste gamut for today’s well-heeled geezer—something the company hopes will appeal to advertisers, should any happen to appear in the next lifetime.

DRM DRAMA
Microsoft has announced that its Windows Media DRM technology has now been used in more than 7.5 million secure music and video transactions, making it the most widely used tech for distributing digital media over the net, according to the company. That statistic is based on reports from companies including DMDsecure, iBEAM, Liquid Audio, On Demand Distribution, Reciprocal and RioPort. "The pioneering features of Windows Media have made it the favored DRM technology," said RioPort President/CEO Jim Long. But wait! Not to be painted into a security corner, RioPort today also pledged its undying love for competing DRM enterprise InterTrust, announcing a plan to futher integrate InterTrust technology into its PulseOne Media Service. "RioPort has long considered InterTrust as its preferred Digital Rights Management partner," said RioPort President and CEO Jim Long. At this rate, RioPort had better move to Utah.

"A" FOR EFFORT: Newly acquired online outfit Emusic.com has teamed with Internet-caf-turned-ISP Speakeasy.net to provide its music to Speakeasy members. The goal, of course is "seamless" integration of Emusic’s service with the Speakeasy "experience." Under the terms of the partnership, Speakeasy members will be able to pay for their Emusic subscriptions along with their monthly broadband service payment, something the companies consider a "significant first step toward establishing a viable business model for ISPs to facilitate the legitimate distribution of music online." No word yet if new Emusic parent Universal Music Group will sue itself for participating in this clearly subversive agenda. Another UMG acquisition, MP3.com, has announced a summer tour in conjunction with Heineken USA. As we understand it, the somewhat complex business model involves people buying tickets, traveling to a concert venue, listening to live music and drinking beer. Will it work? Beats us. And finally, somebody, somewhere, has finally secured a license from a music publisher for an on-demand digital music subscription service. That somebody and somewhere is FullAudio of Chicago and New York, which has signed an agreement with BMG Music Publishing. "Our BMG Music Publishing partnership is a solid step toward achieving our full digital music service and moves FullAudio closer to market," said FullAudio Chairman/CEO Chris Copeland Gladwin. "That’s one down, about 1,100 to go."

COMPANIES DISCOVER HOW TO MARKET BANDS
Here’s yet another roundup within a roundup for your convenience. Roadrunner and Liquid Audio have teamed to offer unreleased Sepultura and Spineshank tracks. Hail Satan! Meanwhile, Microsoft is offering a month of Wings specials, including released and unreleased music, videos and interviews. New content, if you can call it that, will be updated weekly. Not to be outdone, the Stone Temple Pilots will be getting the AOLTW synergy treatment for their upcoming Atlantic album "Shangri-La Dee Da." The pre-release promotion includes a series of "homemade" STP videos and streaming of the album four days before its 6/19 street. And for those of you who prefer more vintage shredding, MCY has acquired the exclusive digital, broadcast and webcast rights for a Deep Purple concert. If only you could get quaaludes off the net.

SONY OPENS SCREEN DOOR
Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment is preparing to launch a new Web-based broadband service that will let users create songs and videos, storing the results online. Screenblast, scheduled to be launched in the fall, but will be shown at industry conventions staring this week, will allow musicians to record and mix online, and let non-musicians—aka people with jobs—to edit home videos. Sony is hoping to launch the site with original music from well-known musicians, which aspiring musicians could mix with their own. On the video side, the company is hoping to get some "Girls Gone Wild" footage off of Gnutella and put that up for 14-year-old boys to insert themselves into.

IBRING THE INOIZE
With Napster domesticated, peer-to-peer file sharing companies need to do something to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack. iNoize.com has unveiled SmartSource, a technology which, the company claims, allows for "superior streaming" within peer-to-peer networks. SmartSource finds multiple sources of songs and streams from several of them, so that if one source drops out listeners hear an uninterrupted song. Said Craig Hamilton, president of the privately held Canadian company, "This technology is particularly ingenious in that it is auto-sensing and completely seamless as far as the listener is concerned. We’re also very excited about a new application that will allow us to be sued by every label without interruption."

NEAR TRUTHS: KINGDOMS
File under: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. (3/26a)
ONE SHINING HITS LIST
She shoots, she scores! (3/26a)
YTD MARKET SHARE
Zeroing in on the elite teams (3/27a)
BEST IN THE WEST:
STEVE BERMAN
High time for another Eminem skit (3/26a)
MUSIC REVENUE TOPPED $17B IN 2023: RIAA
Streaming subscriptions lead the charge. (3/27a)
THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
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