DMT 146: Germany, Rdio, iTunes, Bandpage

This week on Digital Music Trends Andrea Leonelli, Adam Webb, and Andy Malt chat about Germany's 1.5% rise in recorded revenues in the first half of 2013, iTunes Radio's advertising partners, Beats Electronics looking for alternatives to HTC, Daisy's curation, Bandpage's deal with Xbox Music and Vevo, Soundcloud's Google+ integration, Rdio introducing Stations, Virgin Atlantic's gigs in the air and Google Play Music All Access debuting in Europe!For links to the stories check out the shownotes. I really hope you enjoy the show, have a great week and 'till next time!--This week's show is brought to you by media law firm Sheridans, at www.sheridans.co.uk, we thank them for their support. --Andrea Leonelliwww.digitalmusictrends.comwww.twitter.com/digimusictrendsDMT 146 Timeline:00:45 Introduction of guests01:10 Discussion around the 1.5% rise in Germany's recorded music sales03:22 Streaming revenues in Germany doubled compared to last year06:10 Rapidshare blamed for music piracy and will have to start monitoring external links to files stored within the server. Is this ruling by the German federal court practical?09:45 Apple releasing iTunes radio. Major blue-chip corporations have joined the campaign. Will this Pandora-like model succeed compared to Apple's previous attempts?11:50 Will the pattern of ads that will be shown on iTunes radio help or hinder them. We compare it to traditional radio and Spotify.13:30 Will it hinder Apple by having such big corporations as sponsors, could advertising have been more targeted if they had been open to more advertisers?15:00 Rumours of Beats Electronics ditching HTC, their biggest stakeholders. Is it a good idea for Beats to find a better deal with another company for e.g. Samsung?17:00 Would HTC dig itself a bigger hole if it was to let Beats go?18:30 Gigaom uncovered some details on the process of playlist curation spear headed by Daisy, will it differentiate them from other streaming services?23:00 Short ad break from Digital Music Trends' sponsor Sheridans.25:50 Bandpage's transformation into being the "Swiss knife of band's widgets". Partnership with Vevo and Xbox Music. How will this help artists and can this be a good strategy for Bandcamp as a company?30:00 Lady Gaga's new single got leaked, Universal and Gaga appealed their fans to post links of all pirate links, yet the single did not sell as well 'Roar' by Katy Perry.33:20 In terms of timing, Lady Gaga's single was released quicker than intended, do you think it resulted in a loss in sales or is the song to blame?39:20 Soundcloud announces Google+ integration. How important is direct access such as this?44:50 Rdio steps up internet radio presence. Will the Stations tab alter your listening habit?50:41 Virgin Atlantic Red Flights to provide live entertainment to unsuspecting customers. Is it really a good idea?53:00 Google Play Music All Access launching in UK and other parts of Europe. It seems like a great idea but they do not have an IOS app yet, can it still be successful? Or is it only good for Android users?56:20 Outro