Court Gets it Right

Here's some good news: a federal appeals court ruled that preference-based playlists are not interactive!

Just as anyone can tune the radio dial until he finds a station he likes, he can tell online services what music he likes and hear that kind of music - all under the US compulsory license, which means the online service doesn't have to negotiate special on-demand rights or prices.

This is a victory not only for Yahoo and Launch, but Pandora and every other preferences-based streaming service out there!

Ad-supported music streaming

Why Ad-Supported Music Won't Work: Blame The Labels

Here's a post on why it's tough to find a market for on-demand streaming: the content prices are too high for online advertising prices. My favorite truism from the post is: "Sites that try to comply with label requests repel users and soon go out of business."