Digital radio pays for the use of both sound recordings and musical works. The fairness of the lack of a broadcast radio performance right for sound recordings is a subjective matter. Opinions seem to be split down party lines.

A new study funded by three leaders in music streaming says Internet radio -- including on-demand services -- is used by 53% of online adults age 12 and over. "The New Mainstream," the study was presented Tuesday at Advertising Week by Larry Rosin, the president of Edison Research

Legitimate online music sales in Russia are to more than double this year, a local research company says -- one of the main drivers behind the growth is the successful operation of iTunes in the local market.

Blue Note Records has signed a licensing partnership with Panasonic to develop and co-market a car audio system that would be tuned to the types of music featured in Blue Note's catalog, whose artists range from Norah Jones and Van Morrison to John Coltrane and Thelonius Monk.

This year's NAB/RAB Radio Show and RAIN Summit had their share of "real radio vs. Internet radio" posturing, but following the Cumulus purchase of Rdio, those distinctions seem to be further breaking down. Now, just unveiled research proves that broadcast and pure-plays don't exist in a vacuum from each other. And the debut of iTunes Radio (which we share our first impressions of) is likely to further complicate things.

BMI reported its highest collections in the year, taking in $944 for the year ended June 30, 2013. That represented a 5% increase over the nearly $899 million collected in the prior year.

A judge rules that there's a "triable issue" as to whether the popular UGC site had knowledge or awareness of copyrighted music in some of the videos being shared.

As private talks between entertainment executives and Google on anti-piracy efforts have failed to produce a solution, the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America made their case yesterday in hearing rooms on Capitol Hill and in press conferences while Google declined to comment.

Pandora and Slacker both announced new features to their services Wednesday, the same day that Apple is scheduled to press play on its iTunes Radio service as part of the release of its iOS 7 operating system. With Apple now entering the fray, all players in the field are working hard to up their game.

Vinyl is no longer a nostalgic souvenir of times past. With sales up more than 30% this year, major retail chains like Whole Foods and Target are entering the market—and one of the most established independent players in Newbury Comics is upping its bet

Pandora said Monday it will issue new shares in a move that could raise three times as much investor cash as its initial public offering two years ago. The offering will be for 10 million shares, plus an extra allotment of 2.1 million shares if there is excess demand. Its largest stockholder, Crosslink Capital Inc., will also sell another 4 million shares, reducing its stake from 16.5 percent to 13.4 percent.

In addition to showing what we already know -- subscription services are increasingly popular while interest in paid downloads has peaked -- Google Trends, a service that graphs the frequency of search terms, also shows the popularity of music services in relation to one another

Audiosocket, a music licensing company, has signed a deal to provide SourceAudio with a new fingerprinting technology aimed at reducing the growing number of conflicts over copyright ownership on YouTube. The conflicts have been characterized as inadvertant at best and, at worst, a land grab as copyright owners rush to capture a piece of YouTube's rapidly growing revenue pool.

One of the biggest challenges facing Brian McAndrews, the new CEO of Pandora, will be renegotiating the royalty rates the Internet radio giant pays to the music industry. If Pandora does not come out on top, the outcome could hinder the company's ability to compete with services like Apple's iTunes Radio, which launches next week.

Judge May Ask DOJ to Weigh In on Pandora-ASCAP Case

The ongoing Pandora vs. ASCAP batttle may be growing more complicated, with Judge Denise Cote potentially asking the US Department of Justice for input.

While shareholders and the business media regard as big news the Vivendi announcement that it will study a demerger plan and that activist shareholder Vincent Bollore has been appointed vice chairman of the company's supervisory board, the moves are expected to have little impact on the Universal Music Group.

As expected, Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, Warner Music Group and ABKCO have filed suit against SiriusXM for allegedly continuing to ignore state copyright laws and refusing to pay artist performance royalties for pre-1972 music it broadcasts.