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TAGGED AS MUSIC STREAMING

Senate committee completes work on Bill C-11

| 12/09/2022 5:15 pm EST

The Senate committee studying the Online Streaming Act, Bill C-11, officially completed its work after spending a total of 65 hours in clause-by-clause review and passing 25 amendments. The Senate Committee of Transport and Communications spent Wednesday and Thursday in...

Keep CanCon requirements for Rogers community radio, FRPC tells CRTC

| 12/01/2022 9:35 am EST

The Forum for Research and Policy in Communications (FRPC) told the commission to keep a 40 per cent Canadian content requirement baked into the condition of licence for a...

PIAC, Quebecor, music sector, all oppose Stingray financial relief proposal

Media | 02/01/2022 5:08 pm EST

Quebecor Inc., organizations supporting Canada music and radio sector, as well as the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) are all opposing a proposal by a Montreal-based...

Canadian media company expands in States with $59M acquisition

Media | 01/07/2022 4:36 pm EST

A Montreal-based media and entertainment company is expanding in the U.S....

Hedy Fry new chair of Heritage committee

Media | 12/13/2021 5:43 pm EST

OTTAWA – Veteran Liberal MP Hedy Fry was elected chair of the House of Commons committee on Canadian...

Consensus on CRTC data collection for foreign outlets; disagreement on how

Media | 08/09/2021 5:32 pm EDT

Civil groups and Canadian telecoms companies agree that the CRTC should...

Supreme Court to hear making available right dispute

Media | 04/26/2021 5:55 pm EDT

The Supreme Court of Canada has decided it will hear an appeal from Music Canada and the Society of...

Canadian radio broadcasters ask CRTC for space to compete with streamers

Media | 03/30/2021 5:35 pm EDT

The CRTC needs to do away with restrictive regulations, argue multiple...

Broadcast Act updates not comprehensive enough: NDP, Conservatives

Media | 11/03/2020 6:44 pm EST

The Liberal government’s proposed updates to the Broadcasting Act have...

Henderson steps down as Music Canada CEO

Media | 05/28/2020 5:58 pm EDT

Music Canada CEO Graham Henderson will step down from the role he’s held for more than 15 years, the organization announced in a Thursday press release. In the statement, Henderson said working at Music Canada had been a...

Quebecor launches music streaming service

Media | 05/04/2020 3:54 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc. has launched a music streaming service, QUB musique, focused on Quebec-based artists.  In a Monday release, Quebecor said the service features some 50 million songs, and "hundreds of playlists created by avid local curators who understand Quebecers' needs...

Stingray, Music Choice settle U.S. lawsuits

Media | 02/06/2020 4:50 pm EST

Stingray Group Inc. and Pennsylvania-based music company Music Choice have settled their duelling U.S. lawsuits involving patent infringement. Stingray said in its earnings press release Wednesday that it will pay Music Choice...

Bell and Stingray partner on targeted ads for radio, audio streaming

Media | 09/26/2019 5:05 pm EDT

BCE Inc. and Stingray Group Inc. have launched a targeted advertising platform that allows ads to be placed on their radio stations, audio streaming apps and podcasts. The companies said in a press...

Heritage committee calls for end of ISP safe harbour copyright rules

Media | 05/16/2019 1:10 pm EDT

The House heritage committee says the government should do more to fight...

Music orgs suing public establishments to recover royalties

Media | 03/28/2019 5:46 pm EDT

While the Canadian music industry aims to address revenue shortfalls in the face of increasing internet competition, amalgamators of their content rights have been filing lawsuits against public establishments who they allege have been playing their music without a license....

Public music should feature Canadian content, Stingray says

Media | 02/01/2019 1:18 pm EST

Music in public establishments such as malls, bars and restaurants should...

Stingray shelves Music Choice buy, citing price ‘disagreement’

Media | 01/03/2019 4:12 pm EST

Stingray Group Inc. said it is aborting its previously announced...

CRTC says Stingray can buy Newcap; deal to close this week

Media | 10/23/2018 1:43 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc.’s move to enter the Canadian radio market has...

Stingray names new SVP of advertising sales

Media | 09/19/2018 3:36 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. has appointed Ryan Fuss its new senior vice-president of advertising sales,...

Canadians spent $8B on digital products last year: StatCan

Media | 08/29/2018 6:00 pm EDT

According to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada, 67 per cent of adult Canadians purchased a digital product, such as a subscription to a streaming service, ebooks or online newspapers, between...

CRTC opens consult on Stingray-Newcap, Quebecor-Serdy deals

Media | 08/03/2018 3:47 pm EDT

The CRTC has set Sept. 4 as the deadline for comments in two acquisitions in the broadcasting sector. It opened consultations Friday on the proposed acquisition of Groupe Serdy by Quebecor Inc. and...

Stingray offers $120M for Music Choice

Media | 08/03/2018 2:00 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. is turning from fighting Pennsylvania-based Music Choice to offering to buy...

YouTube Premium, YouTube Music available in Canada

Media | 06/18/2018 1:55 pm EDT

Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube said Monday that its subscription platform YouTube Premium and its YouTube...

Copyright Act review shifts gears to radio, TV

Media | 05/25/2018 4:08 pm EDT

The ongoing review of the Copyright Act will begin focusing on the music, radio, television and film sectors next month. The House of Commons industry committee has heard from 100 stakeholders since the review began in December, the federal government said in a press release Friday. “To best support the work of its members, the Committee encourages Canadians to submit briefs on the topic of copyright and music, as well as copyright and television, film and radio, as early as possible,” the release said....

Stingray to move into radio with NewCap parent buy

Media | 05/02/2018 5:33 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. will enter the radio business with the purchase of Newfoundland Capital...

CRTC denies ‘self-serving’ Sirius XM fund proposal

Media | 03/16/2018 5:27 pm EDT

The CRTC has denied a proposal by Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. to create...

iHeartRadio files for bankruptcy in U.S.

Media | 03/15/2018 5:17 pm EDT

The owner of iHeartRadio Media Inc., the company that aggregates radio content through its app, has filed...

CRTC asks digital giants for info, promises confidentiality

Media | 02/05/2018 2:02 pm EST

As part of its government-ordered proceeding on future content distribution models, the CRTC is asking a number of companies — including Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Netflix Inc. — for information...

SOCAN expects higher annual revenues for 2017

Media | 01/31/2018 5:44 pm EST

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is estimating that it has broken its performing rights revenue record, according to its preliminary financial results for 2017 released on Wednesday. It said the total performing rights revenue...

End of 2017 saw Stingray, Birch Hill reinvigorate lobby efforts

Media | 01/17/2018 4:39 pm EST

Stingray Digital Group Inc. and Birch Hill Equity Partners ramped up their lobbying in December, with both submitting their first communications reports for the year in the last weeks of 2017....

CRTC OKs ownership change for two Ont. radio stations

Media | 01/15/2018 4:05 pm EST

The CRTC has approved the acquisition of two Ontario radio stations by Byrnes Communications Inc. from...

Samsung to unlock FM chip in new smartphones

Media | 01/12/2018 3:47 pm EST

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will unlock FM chips in its newer smartphones, according to a press release...

Stingray buys concert streaming service

Media | 01/03/2018 2:05 pm EST

Stingray Digital Group Inc. has purchased the New York-based streaming service Quello Concerts in a move...

Need to be proactive, can’t be reactive on radio trends: Bell, Rogers

Media | 11/09/2017 7:04 pm EST

TORONTO — If there’s one thing radio players can do to be successful in...

International market becoming key for music publishers: panel

Media | 11/07/2017 3:56 pm EST

OTTAWA — Markets outside of Canada are increasingly important for music...

Amazon Fire TV stick launches in Canada

telecom | 11/07/2017 1:48 pm EST

Amazon.com Inc. is making available its Fire TV Stick Basic Edition plug-in streaming device available...

Music Choice patents under review in dispute with Stingray

Media | 10/24/2017 5:44 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. is challenging the validity of patents held by...

Narrow the ‘value gap,’ Music Canada tells gov’t

Media | 10/18/2017 7:50 pm EDT

Music Canada is asking the government to address the disparity between the value of creative content and the revenues that are generated from it. “The Value Gap challenges the livelihood and sustainability of an entire global social class, and threatens the future of Canadian culture,” Graham Henderson, president and CEO of Music Canada, said in a Tuesday press release. The “value gap” was outlined in what the organization is calling a first of its kind report, released this week. The gap affects publishing, journalism, film and television production and music, it added. Music...

SiriusXM streaming service adds 75 channels

Media | 10/12/2017 3:38 pm EDT

Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. has added 75 new channels to its SiriusXM Streaming service, it said...

SOCAN appeals decision in making-available-right case

Media | 10/03/2017 1:22 pm EDT

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) has filed an appeal in Federal Court arguing that a Copyright Board decision that established the making available right under the Copyright Act applies to...

Amazon adds Alexa to music app

Media | 09/26/2017 1:22 pm EDT

Amazon.com Inc. is making its voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant Alexa available on its...

Canadian cities interested in hosting 2nd Amazon HQ

Media | 09/07/2017 4:54 pm EDT

Amazon.com Inc. issued a request for proposals Thursday for North American cities interested in...

Smartphone streaming flat from last year: MTM

Media | 09/01/2017 10:00 am EDT

More than half of anglophones who own smartphones use the devices to stream audio content, according to a new report from Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a project of CBC/Radio-Canada. That 52-per-cent figure in the fall of 2016 and spring of 2017 was one-per-cent lower...

Making available right established for downloads, but no rates set

Media | 08/29/2017 6:26 pm EDT

The Copyright Board has ruled that the making available right under the...

CRTC renews 11 radio stations despite non-compliance

Media | 08/24/2017 2:20 pm EDT

The CRTC has renewed the licences of 11 radio stations after it found them in non-compliance with licence conditions. On Friday, it renewed two radio stations for shorter terms — Radio Ville Marie’s French-language CIRA-FM...

‘No compromise’ on NAFTA cultural exemptions: ministers

Media | 08/23/2017 5:27 pm EDT

Canada’s heritage and culture ministers are of one mind when it comes to...

Stingray partners with Via Rail

Media | 08/08/2017 5:37 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. will offer free access to its Stingray Music mobile app to Via Rail...

Stingray Music hits 2M downloads

Media | 07/24/2017 3:38 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. said Monday its mobile music-streaming application has surpassed the...

32% of anglophones use music streaming services: MTM

Media | 07/20/2017 5:28 pm EDT

The popularity of music streaming platforms among anglophone Canadians has grown over the past year, with 32 per cent reporting using a music streaming service in the past month when surveyed in the spring of 2017. That’s...

Videotron offering extra data to Unlimited Music subscribers

Media | 07/04/2017 3:37 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is increasing the data limits of wireless...

Re:Sound application to overturn tariffs denied

Media | 06/29/2017 3:53 pm EDT

The Federal Court has dismissed an application by Re:Sound Music Licensing Co. for a review of tariffs...

Extension request for Unlimited Music shutdown denied

Media | 06/16/2017 11:58 am EDT

The CRTC said Thursday it won’t give Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron extra time to shut down its Unlimited Music program. It said in a letter that “any claim that Videotron cannot comply with the Commission’s decision by the 19 July 2017 deadline because of...

CRTC rejects Toronto area radio expansion, approves SW Ont. station

Media | 06/09/2017 12:28 pm EDT

Two Ontario markets with prospective applications for broadcasting licences can’t sustain any new radio stations, the CRTC said Friday. In separate decisions posted online, the regulator said...

Videotron ‘author’ of own misfortune: consumer advocates

Media | 06/05/2017 5:01 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron made its bed and now it has to lie in it, according to consumer and digital rights advocates who opposed the company’s request for a delay in complying with the CRTC’s...

Big three take aim at Videotron customers

telecom | 05/29/2017 4:27 pm EDT

BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. are trying to lure customers of Quebecor...

Videotron asks for extension on Unlimited Music finale

Media | 05/25/2017 2:13 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is asking the CRTC for more time to comply with...

Former Videotron customers returning from Bell: Brouillette

Media | 05/12/2017 9:53 am EDT

Manon Brouillette, president of Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron, downplayed the effect that BCE Inc.’s recent move to deploy fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) to all of Montreal’s homes and businesses would have on the company Thursday. She said in a conference call with analysts following the release of...

Rob Farina given expanded radio role

Media | 05/04/2017 9:01 pm EDT

Rob Farina will take on the role of head of radio content, strategy and iHeartRadio for BCE Inc.’s media division, the company announced in a Thursday press release. The position, effective May 29, will...

Valery Zamuner appointed VP of mergers and acquisitions at Stingray

Media | 05/02/2017 5:11 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. has named Valery Zamuner to the position of senior vice-president of mergers, acquisitions and strategic initiatives, effective May 23. “With her...

Canadian music streaming brings in $128M US: report

Media | 04/26/2017 5:43 pm EDT

Canada has become the world’s sixth-largest market for recorded music, according to a new report from the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The group’s 2017 Global Music Report said...

Joly sitting down with foreign digital companies

Media | 03/03/2017 4:05 pm EST

Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly is meeting this week with digital platforms, telling a CBC morning radio show Friday that she was in the Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., region Thursday meeting...

CBC ‘dimmer star’ in media landscape, conservative event hears

Media | 02/27/2017 6:15 pm EST

OTTAWA — When talking about CBC/Radio-Canada’s role in the media landscape, the public broadcaster is a “pygmy amongst giants,” and more focus should be aimed at large...

75% of anglophones subscribe to TV service: MTM

Media | 01/31/2017 6:58 pm EST

New data shows that the number of anglophone Canadians with TV subscriptions has continued to fall, reaching 75 per cent in the fall of 2016 — a 14-per-cent decline over the past five years. That number is down two per cent...

Marie Ginette Lepage takes SVP role at Stingray

Media | 01/26/2017 5:54 pm EST

Marie Ginette Lepage is leaving Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron to join the team at Stingray Digital Group Inc., Stingray announced. In a press release, the company said Lepage would take on the role of senior...

Sprint customers to get Tidal exclusives after acquisition

Media | 01/23/2017 5:50 pm EST

Sprint Corp. has agreed to acquire a 33-per-cent stake in music streaming service Tidal in an agreement that will see it offer exclusive music content for its customers. The deal will provide...

CRTC approves three channels for distribution

Media | 01/19/2017 7:27 pm EST

The CRTC said Thursday in two decisions it has approved three channels — Stingray Brava, Bestseller and Mult — for distribution in Canada.   Stingray Digital Group Inc.'s Stingray Brava is an English-language service from the Netherlands, “featuring cultural performance arts, including opera, ballet and classical music,” Bestseller is a Russian-language channel with “programming suitable for family viewing” and Mult is a Russian-language channel with children’s animated programming, the regulator said. The latter two channels were...

Rob Farina named head of iHeartRadio

Media | 12/15/2016 5:26 pm EST

BCE Inc. has named Rob Farina head of iHeartRadio, syndication and strategic initiatives at Bell Media Radio. Farina was previously brought in by the company to help advise on the launch of iHeartMedia Inc.'s free...

67% of anglophones stream music: MTM

Media | 12/02/2016 8:01 pm EST

More than two-thirds of anglophone Canadians use the Internet to listen to streaming audio, a number that rises to more than 90 per cent among students and those under 35, according to a new report from Media Technology Monitor...

Artists ask Joly to ‘stand up for creators’

Media | 11/29/2016 5:41 pm EST

A coalition of artists, including authors, directors and musicians, is asking Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly to consider the compensation artists receive as part of the ongoing review of Canadian content...

Bernier would streamline CBC’s mandate, remove ads as CPC leader

Media | 11/23/2016 9:22 pm EST

OTTAWA — Conservative MP Maxime Bernier said Wednesday that if he is selected as the next leader of the federal Conservative Party and the next Canadian prime minister, he would move...

MacDonald talks competition for radio, set-top rating system

Media | 11/10/2016 7:08 pm EST

CRTC commissioner Christopher MacDonald said radio stations must build on their strengths in order to deal with increasing competition in a speech to the Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) conference Thursday. He noted “the growing popularity of streaming services and satellite radio among Canadians continues to erode listenership” and said the numbers of Internet-connected cars are projected to grow, according to a transcript. In response, radio stations must “must leverage the competitive advantages provided by the intimacy they foster with listeners...

Videotron goes on defence as differential pricing hearing wraps

Media | 11/04/2016 11:49 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — Those who innovate shouldn’t be penalized because their competitors can’t keep up, the CRTC heard Friday from representatives of the telecom company...

Zero-rating regime should be similar to ITMP framework: CNOC

Media | 11/01/2016 12:50 am EDT

GATINEAU — On the first day of the CRTC’s hearing on differential pricing practices, a consortium representing small telecoms asked the CRTC to allow but regulate the practice of zero-rating,...

SoundCloud Go launches in Canada

Media | 10/19/2016 4:50 pm EDT

SoundCloud has opened its subscription service, SoundCloud Go, to Canadian customers, the audio platform announced Wednesday. In a post on the company’s blog, SoundCloud said the service, which allows listeners to...

Stingray announces first ‘content distribution partner’

Media | 10/14/2016 6:36 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. said Friday it has purchased more than 600 hours of exclusive music and documentary content from EuroArts Music International GmbH, making it...

Amazon launches second music service in U.S.

Media | 10/12/2016 9:54 pm EDT

Amazon.com Inc. has launched a stand-alone music streaming service in the United States. While it has offered music streaming for its Prime customers since 2014, the new Amazon Music Unlimited is available to...

Some Corus talk radio stations streaming on Apple Music

Media | 10/12/2016 7:23 pm EDT

Corus Entertainment Inc. is making seven of its news talk radio stations available for free internationally on Apple Inc.’s Apple Music streaming service. The company said in...

iHeartRadio launches in Canada

Media | 10/07/2016 4:56 pm EDT

iHeartMedia Inc.'s free digital radio and music streaming service is now available in Canada, according to a press release from BCE Inc.’s media division. The free app, iHeartRadio, is available on a preview basis...

Que. music industry wants CanCon rules for streaming services, ISPs

Media | 09/30/2016 8:38 pm EDT

The Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video (ADISQ) is asking for regulatory action to help support the music industry as it deals with the...

Fresh lawsuit filed in Stingray, Music Choice dispute

Media | 08/30/2016 8:53 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. has responded to a patent infringement lawsuit filed by competitor Music Choice and filed its own suit against Music Choice alleging illegal business activities. In June, Music Choice, a Pennsylvania-based multi-platform video and music network, filed a complaint for patent infringement against the Montreal-based company. In court documents Tuesday, Stingray, which had already called Music Choice’s complaint “not material,” formally denied the allegations and filed counterclaims of “non-infringement and invalidity of the five...

Stingray hires Rick Bergan to head U.S. distribution

Media | 08/02/2016 5:26 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. is expanding its management team with the appointment of a head of content distribution in the United States. Rick Bergan, who previously held the senior vice-president of distribution position at...

Twitter to live-stream out-of-market MLB games

Media | 07/25/2016 9:46 pm EDT

Canadians will be able to watch some Major League Baseball (MLB) games on Twitter Inc.’s social media service. The company said in a press release Monday that it would live-stream out-of-market games from the...

SOCAN purchases Audiam

Media | 07/21/2016 8:37 pm EDT

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) has acquired a New York-based company specializing in tracking data of music released on streaming websites. “With Audiam, SOCAN now has a comprehensive database and metadata of all musical works and commercially released digital sound recordings, and the technology and business understanding to match and connect the two, issue licences and get rights-holders paid all they have fairly earned,” SOCAN said in a Thursday press release. The three-year-old company “shook up the music royalties system by identifying and correcting serious gaps in the digital rights music chain,” Eric Baptiste, SOCAN CEO, said in the release, particularly with Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube videos. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. In May,...

Stingray Music reaches 1M downloads

Media | 07/05/2016 6:42 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. said Tuesday that its mobile streaming music app has doubled its user base in the span of a year, reaching one million downloads. Users spend an average of five hours per week listening...

Facebook, AT&T defend differential pricing in CRTC review

Media | 06/30/2016 8:23 pm EDT

Facebook Inc. and AT&T Inc. have waded into the CRTC’s review of differential pricing practices, arguing that the commission should allow carriers to offer zero-rated services...

Advocacy groups take aim at data caps in zero-rating review

Media | 06/29/2016 6:45 pm EDT

Questions around telecoms’ usage of data caps should be at the centre of the CRTC’s proceeding on differential pricing practices, advocacy groups said in interventions, calling for the...

Stingray Digital buys 4K TV channel

Media | 06/16/2016 5:24 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. said Wednesday that it has acquired the Festival 4K television channel, which broadcasts live performances, including festivals, concerts and theatre productions, according to the press...

SOCAN signs on with European rights management group

Media | 06/03/2016 5:55 pm EDT

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN)  has signed an agreement with a European partner to manage Canadian rights overseas. In a Friday press release, the French authors’...

Canadian support for CanCon doesn’t extend to online media: poll

Media | 06/03/2016 3:55 pm EDT

The majority of Canadians doesn’t believe that online media, such as Netflix Inc.’s over-the-top (OTT) service or music streaming services like Spotify AB's, should fall under the...

Smartphone penetration 77% among anglophones: MTM

Media | 05/17/2016 7:42 pm EDT

The number of anglophone Canadians with smartphones reached 77 per cent in the fall of 2015, up from 73 per cent in the spring of that year, according to a new report from Media Technology Monitor, a project...

Modify zero-rated plans to hit net neutrality goals: Sandvine

Media | 05/16/2016 9:24 pm EDT

If communications providers stick to principles of transparency and openness, zero-rated and sponsored data services can stay out of regulatory and consumer trouble, according to a report released...

Effect of zero-rating on competition under debate

Media | 05/06/2016 8:21 pm EDT

OTTAWA — A panel discussion on net neutrality Friday dug into whether zero-rating can help or harm market competition, with Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Telus Corp. taking issue with the argument that innovation could be harmed if rules prohibiting such content are eliminated. “I keep hearing that innovation at the edge will disappear, innovation at the edge will die,” Woodhead said at the New Developments in Communications Law and Policy conference. “This is sort of the Loch Ness monster argument. No-one’s ever seen it, but...