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...
BCE Inc. is bringing in a new face to help lead the launch of iHeartMedia Inc.'s free digital radio and music streaming service in Canada. As of May 1, Rob Farina will be Bell Media's senior advisor for the "development, launch, and overall execution" of the iHeartRadio service in Canada, Bell said in a press release. According to the release, Farina was the vice-president of programming and innovation for Rogers Communications Inc.'s radio division and served on Rogers' Senior Content Council. Earlier in his career, Farina was program director for...
T-Mobile U.S. Inc. announced Thursday it has added more video providers to its unlimited mobile video streaming service, Binge On, including Google Inc.’s Youtube, Google Play Movies and Discovery GO. It said in a press...
Stingray Digital Group Inc. said Monday in a press release that it has signed an agreement with EITC’s du, a provider of mobile, Internet, cable and IPTV services in the United Arab Emirates, to provide Stingray Music and...
Stingray Digital Group Inc. announced Tuesday it is launching a TV app for Telus Corp.’s Optik TV subscribers, called Stingray Music Videos TV. It said in a press release that the app will be available to Optik TV...
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) said Monday that the amount of revenue it collected last year surpassed $300 million for the first time ever. It said in a...
BCE Inc. announced Wednesday it has signed a partnership deal with iHeartMedia Inc. in order to bring iHeartRadio, the free digital radio and music streaming service based in the U.S., to Canada this year. It said in a press release that iHeartRadio will provide customers “instant access to the live radio feature,” and will showcase content from Bell’s broadcast and digital-only radio stations across mobile, auto dashes, tablets, smartphones, gaming consoles and wearables. The release added that the partnership would also bring iHeartRadio-brand events to...
OTTAWA — Extending copyright terms from 50 to 70 years after the death of the author is necessary to boost investment in creative industries, Robert Hutton, executive director of the Canadian...
Google Inc. is folding its music-streaming service Songza into a new ad-supported, free tier of Google Play Music. Wendy Manton, a Google spokeswoman, said in an email that this is happening everywhere Songza had been available,...
The CRTC is asking Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron to answer 16 questions regarding its Unlimited Music service, including why it chose to launch a zero-rating service rather than increase data caps....
The use of data analytics to build a global audience steered much of the discussion around content discoverability at an event hosted by the CRTC in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The panel of experts...
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) has granted Eric Baptiste another five-year term as CEO. SOCAN said in a press release that the reappointment will extend Baptiste's tenure with the...
Stingray Digital Group Inc. has appointed Tom Pentefountas as senior vice-president of sales for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. A press release Monday said that the former vice-chairman of broadcasting for the CRTC...
Rob Farina has resigned as vice-president of content with Rogers Communications Inc.'s media division, the company has confirmed, following a report he called for a boycott of a record company he...
Pandora Media Inc. announced Monday it will be acquiring key assets from music streaming service Rdio Inc. for $75 million US. It said in a press release that it will be acquiring technology and intellectual property, as well as...
CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan told a group of broadcasting professionals this week that radio operators should look at how they can become a bigger presence on smartphones in order to hold their own against an increasing number of new options for audio consumption, such as online streaming. In online text of a speech given at the Ontario Association of Broadcasters' annual general meeting in Toronto, Shoan noted how U.S. radio broadcasters have been lobbying wireless carriers and device makers to unlock chips in smartphones that are capable of picking up FM radio signals. Canadian...
Apple Inc. has made its music-streaming app available for Android devices. The Apple Music website now includes a link, that takes users to the Google Play store, to download what it calls a "beta" version of the app...
Quebecor Inc. announced Wednesday that its music division will now be headed by Lyne Robitaille, who will become the senior vice-president of newspapers, books and music. It said in a press release that Distribution Select,...
Rhapsody International Inc.’s music subscription service, Napster, announced Monday that its subscription service is now available in Canada. It said in a press release that, for a limited...
Google Inc.’s Youtube announced Wednesday it will launch a new paid video subscription service that will have ad-free original content. It said in a blog post that the service, called Youtube Red, will be available on all...
An undue-preference complaint against a music streaming service offered by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron has Rogers Communications Inc. arguing that zero-rating the service is a net-neutrality violation, while Telus Corp. is supporting Videotron and saying the service does not harm consumers. Rogers argued the pricing structure of the service amounts to an undue preference under the Telecommunications Act, and is contrary to the CRTC’s net-neutrality rules and regulations on overage charges in the commission’s wireless code. “The decision to favour certain types of audio...
The CRTC has moved back the deadline for interventions in an undue preference complaint against a music service offered by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron. The previous deadline in the case against...
Apple Inc.’s iPhone owners stream audio and video content more than any other device owners, according to a new report released by Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a project of CBC/Radio-Canada. The report said that among...
The CRTC has merged two complaints against a service by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron that exempts some music streaming services from counting against mobile customers’ data caps. Videotron...
Stingray Digital Group Inc. has launched a channel that it says is the first in North America to offer around-the-clock 4K content. The Stingray Ambiance channel is available through TV service offered by Quebecor...
Smartphone penetration among anglophone Canadians was at 73 per cent this spring, according to a new report by Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a project of CBC/Radio-Canada. MTM said in a report Tuesday that the proportion of...
Tyson Parker has been named head of artist and music industry relations at BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division, the company said Monday. Parker was previously vice-president of communications and artist relations at Universal...
A new report from Ericsson AB shows that while people are increasingly consuming video on mobile devices, the cost of data limits many from taking advantage of what the technology makes possible. The report released Thursday from...
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is asking the CRTC to direct Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron to change the price structure of its new music service, which exempts data consumed through some...
MONTREAL — Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is giving itself an undue preference with a new service that allows its mobile customers to listen to music streaming without it counting against their data caps, net neutrality advocates say. “The issue is known colloquially now as zero rating, where you treat certain packets from certain sources as not charged under your telecom billing plan,” John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), said in a phone interview. “The idea behind net neutrality is that that kind of favouritism isn’t...
Representatives from Stingray Digital Group Inc., Google Inc.’s Google Music and Rdio Inc. will take part in the announcement about the new music service from Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron on...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron announced Tuesday it will be launching a new music service later this week. It said in a news release that a service called Unlimited Music will be “a Canadian first in mobile...
BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division has undergone a number of changes to its executive ranks, with four individuals leaving and one new one coming in. The company confirmed in an email Tuesday that Phil King, president of CTV,...
Quebecor Inc. on Friday announced it has shut down its Zik music-streaming service, citing a pattern of consolidation in global industry for online music. "Despite the efforts of many independent sites around the world, many...
Stingray Digital Group Inc., a provider of music content through both traditional TV channels and streaming apps, announced Thursday it will acquire three TV music channels in order to expand its broadcast offerings. The Montreal-based company said in the release that it is buying Brava NL, Brava HD, and Djazz TV, three channels broadcasting music and cultural content "distributed to an estimated 35 million subscribers in 50 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle-East and the Caribbean." “Stingray is always on the lookout for opportunities to further expand its global footprint and diversify its highly-successful offering. We will leverage these three channels to strengthen our relationships with Pay-TV operators and their subscribers worldwide, and to solidify our position as the leading B2B provider of quality music...
The CRTC announced Monday it plans to review rules for French-language vocal music on the radio. It said in a release that it would re-examine the current framework in order “to ensure that it...
Google Inc. announced in a blog post Tuesday it will be adding to its current Google Play Music offering a free, ad-supported music streaming service. It will give users “a new way to find just the right music and ......
Music-streaming revenue reported by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) increased from $3.4 million in 2013 to $21.3 million in 2014, the organization said in a press release Tuesday. Its...
The television channel of AOL Inc.'s Huffington Post, called HuffPost Live, has been approved for distribution in Canada, the CRTC said Friday. A notice on the commission's website, said an application put forward by the...
Peter Steinmetz is the new chairman of Re:Sound Music Licensing Co.’s board of directors, the organization said Wednesday. The organization, which is the copyright collective representing musical artists and labels in...
Apple Inc. announced Monday its new music streaming subscription service, called Apple Music. The company said in a press release that the service will be available via an app to subscribers in more than 100 countries starting...
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said Thursday that rules regarding Canadian content for radio stations might change to help stations compete in the digital age. According to speaking notes for a presentation to the Western...
Music streaming service Rdio Inc. said Thursday it is introducing a new mid-level service option in several markets, including Canada, for $3.99 a month. The company said in a press release that the new option, called Rdio...
Stingray Digital Group Inc. has filed for an initial public offering, according to documents filed Friday with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. The Montreal-based company’s products include audio TV channels, as well as music- and video-streaming apps. Stingray said in the preliminary prospectus that it operates in 111 countries and reaches an estimated 110 million TV subscribers. The company’s revenue in fiscal 2015 was $71 million, the document said. “Our business model is based on subscription revenues, which gives us significant predictability of future cash flows, reduces cyclicality of earnings, and increases customer retention,” it said. “Our long-term objective is to aggressively continue growing Stingray’s business. We believe that we can achieve our goal by...
Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a project of CBC/Radio-Canada, said in report released Wednesday that the percentage of anglophones using "personalized" audio streaming services over the last year or so has been...
A 27-year-old entrepreneur wants to offer an alternative to what he calls a monopoly in the market for audio music channels offered through TV service providers in Canada. Evan Kosiner, president and owner of Kosiner Venture...
Rogers Communications Inc. has launched new wireless plans for customers of its Fido brand that include exclusive content from Vice Media Inc. Rogers said in a press release that its new “Fido Pulse” plans will...
Customers of Rogers Communications Inc.’s Fido subsidiary will receive free access to Spotify AB’s premium music-streaming service for two years, the company said Monday. “Plug in and escape, anytime, anywhere,...
Apple Inc. is reportedly planning to launch its own music-streaming service, according to the New York Times. The streaming service will be part of a “sweeping overhaul” of the company’s music services, the paper said, including the iTunes Store and its existing iTunes Radio service, the latter of which is not available in Canada. Apple is working with producer Jimmy Iovine, as well as musical artists Dr. Dre and Trent Reznor, on the new services, according to the report. All three work for the company’s Beats subsidiary, which Apple purchased in 2014 for a reported...
In the past six months, Canadians’ usage of streaming music services seems to have jumped, in a trend that’s not only good news for streaming services, but wireless companies as well. Nielsen Co. only began...