Digital Digest – September 19, 2013

Rdio and Red Bull team up for sky dive documentary 

Rdio and Red Bull have inked a global partnership, which will launch on October 14 with a bespoke documentary celebrating the one year anniversary of Felix Baumgartner’s 128,000-foot sky dive, which went viral last year. The two-hour documentary, Mission to the Edge of Space: The Full Story Behind Red Bull Stratos will be housed on an Rdio “microsite” and will feature loads of unseen footage of Baumgartner, and the lead up to his dramatic dive.

Baumgartner was the first human to break the sound barrier, hitting a top speed of 843.6 mph.

In addition to the documentary, Rdio has debuted an exclusive Portugal. The Man track, which was recorded for the documentary.

Colin Blake, Head of Rdio Australia, is pleased with the team-up, telling TMN: “Red Bull is a great brand revolutionising sponsorship and branded content. Rdio is a great brand revolutionising streaming technology and entertainment. To me it feels like a perfect match. We are excited about this project and thrilled to be working with them.”

Pandora wins licensing dispute 

Pandora has won a court case which allows them to include all collection society ASCAP’s members’ catalogues on their service at a blanket rate. This includes the music of ASCAP-members Universal Music Group and BMG, who have attempted to pull their catalogues from Pandora, and negotiate separate, higher fees with the service.

Under the current licensing agreement Pandora has with ASCAP, it gets the right to play all works under the ASCAP license. This blanket agreement doesn’t sit well with a lot of labels and publishers, who have attempted to pull their catalogues from Pandora, or to strike their own royalty deals.

The New York ASCAP rate court, however, judged that the agreement must be upheld until Pandora’s license ends on December 31, 2015, at which point labels can choose to resign with ASCAP, or to strike out on their own.

Judge Denise Cote wrote in her judgement: “All means all. So whether ASCAP purports to categorise Pandora as an ’applicant’ or a ’licensee,’ Pandora’s right to perform the compositions in the ASCAP repertory extends to all of ASCAP’s repertory and ASCAP may not narrow that right by denying Pandora the right to play the songs of publishers who have withdrawn new media licensing rights from certain songs while keeping the songs in ASCAP’s repertory to be licensed for performance by other music users.”

Spotify and Qantas pact over frequent flyer points

In the latest move by Spotify to attract more Australian users, it has turned to the Flying Kanga. Members of Qantas’ frequent flyer program can use loyalty points to buy the monthly $11.99 premium subscriptions to the music streaming service through the Qantas Store. It will cost 4,900 Qantas points for a 3-month subscription, 9,700 for six months and 19,250 points for 12.

Users can access their music playlists on flights without the need for an internet connection. Michael Richardson, head of business development AU/NZ, noted that such a deal “marks a world-first for Spotify. The sheer breadth of our music catalogue and service should appeal not only to that younger audience, but to Qantas’ over 9 million member base.” – CE

Miley breaks Vevo record

Miley Cyrus’ controversial Wrecking Ball clip has become the fastest music video to reach ‘Certified’ status, Vevo’s marker for videos which have received 100 million views worldwide. The video achieved this feat in six days. Cyrus held the previous record, for her video We Can’t Stop, which hit the 100 million mark after 37 days.

Spotify launches ‘Landmark’

Spotify has launched an original content series called Spotify Landmark, which will feature a series of documentaries focusing on major moments in musical history. Spotify Landmark kicked off yesterday with The Real Story Of Nirvana’s In Utero, which times out with the 20th anniversary of the record – also being marked with a deluxe edition of the record.

“[It’s] somewhat like a Behind The Music sort of approach – although we’re more focused on the actual recording and the making of the record and less on the interpersonal dynamics – and an NPR sort of an approach,” Sandy Smallens, head of artist marketing and original content, told Billboard.