webcast

Gen Xers too busy to relive the glory days, when Lollapalooza was actually alternative and cool, can enjoy it from the comfort of their laptop couch.

The now heavily sponsored concert festival, taking place August 3-5 at Grant Park in Chicago, will be Webcast live from AT&T's Blue Room Web site.

The Webcasting service starts at 12:30 p.m. central time on Friday and features some good, though mostly adult-alternative, bands. Included in this year's lineup are Pearl Jam, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Amy Winehouse, Modest Mouse, Patti Smith, The Black Keys, Spoon … Read more

As we reported earlier this week, many Webcasting services kept streaming without incident after feared new music royalty fees took effect, as talks with the record industry about alternative arrangements seemed to be proceeding on a favorable track.

How quickly things can change.

Now a new spat appears to be brewing between the Digital Media Association (DiMA), a lobby group representing large Webcasters like Pandora, Yahoo, RealNetworks and AOL, and SoundExchange, the group that collects and lobbied for the new payments on behalf of musicians and record labels.

The issue? Whether Webcasters should be required to cloak their streams in … Read more

July 15, the start date for new and retroactive royalty payments by Internet radio DJs, has come and gone without any apparent catastrophe, thanks in part to last-minute signs that Webcasters may be edging closer to harmony with the music industry.

The consensus among the small and larger Webcasters I've been surveying Monday seems to be that nothing much has changed in their operations--for now, at least. Further unscientific checking of Internet radio streams available at individual Web sites and through Apple's iTunes drove me to a similar conclusion: from NorCal hip-hop to office-friendly Top 40 to Christian … Read more

This Sunday may not be doomsday after all for the smaller Internet radio stations that feared the onset of new royalty fees would kill off their operations.

But contrary to some published reports traversing the blogosphere on Thursday and Friday, SoundExchange, the nonprofit group charged with collecting the payments, has not made any sort of blanket pledge to delay enforcing the contentious new Webcaster payments established earlier this year by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board, according to spokesman Richard Ades.

"There is a misunderstanding, and SoundExchange is making it very clear that everybody is expected to comply with the law," Ades told CNET News.com Friday.

The CRB ruling at issue requires Internet radio operators to pay additional fees to SoundExchange, which passes them on to artists and record labels, retroactive to 2006 and through 2010. Webcasters opposed to the new rules say the changes could drive up their mandatory payments by as much as 300 percent for larger entities and 1,200 percent for smaller ones, arguing such increases could put them out of business.

Here's where it gets complicated.

… Read more

Here's a great idea for anyone who's wondered about chocolate but is still waiting for Mark Kurlansky to publish a book on it.

The Chocolate Manufacturers Association, a club whose members include Nestle and The Hershey Co., is offering everything you need to host a proper chocolate tasting online.

Why should wine, cheese, bread and olives get all the kudos?

Aside from offering trivia of the sort found on many food-organization Web sites, the CMA has posted Webcasts of the tastings and lectures it hosts for the industry professionals who buy chocolate in bulk. There is also a … Read more

It's looking ever less likely that Congress or the courts will act swiftly enough to save Webcasters from the doomsday that they argue will result from imminent new fees. But there are signs that Internet radio players and a group representing artists and record labels may be moving closer to a detente.

A few weeks ago, we reported that the increased royalty rates set to kick in July 15 were poised to create a burden not only for small major Webcasters but for the largest ones as well. Because the fee hikes also include a $500 minimum payment per &… Read more

Update: We're no longer streaming live, but you can catch the recorded video from our earlier session after the jump. To see it, just click the "Read More" link below.

We're broadcasting live from Under the Radar's Media and Entertainment conference this morning. There are two tracks, and we've got our Web cam live broadcasting one of them. For all other posts, just use this link and check back throughout the day for continuing coverage. … Read more

If you depend on the sounds of Internet radio to get you through your workday, don't be surprised if your headphones pipe out little more than dead air next Tuesday.

In protest of the elevated royalty fees Webcasters are poised to begin owing to the record industry next month, Internet radio operators are planning to stage a "day of silence."

So far, Live365 and AccuRadio.com have agreed to cease their music programming on June 26, save for brief audio public service announcements sprinkled throughout the day, according to a Wednesday report by Kurt Hanson of the Radio and Internet Newsletter,. … Read more

Can Justin.TV compete with Queen Amidala?

ValleyWag is reporting that actress Natalie Portman is shopping a project to broadcast a continuous video feed of her work and personal life. The actress reportedly met with venture capitalists in Silicon Valley to seek funding for the project.

Portman isn't alone in looking for new online outlets. Dave Networks, for instance, is building Web sites for stars--said to include Will Smith and Jessica Alba--that that would let them own, distribute and "monetize" their own content.

Many celebrities have documented their lives on television and in movies; and unofficial … Read more