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Media Beat: March 04, 2020

By David Farrell

AccuRadio invites “dislocated” radio professionals to curate music for fun and profit

AccuRadio, music streaming’s only all-human-curated major music website, is inviting radio professionals “dislocated” by radio’s ongoing restructuring and corporatization to let their creative juices flow again by curating their own unique music channel. 


Out-of-work radio professionals can apply to curate a channel with music of their own choosing and without soul-deadening corporate strictures. 

“Liberated from the limits of commercial radio, curators can build channels using any music they choose,” says AccuRadio COO Ben Husmann.  “It can be music they know intimately, a new genre they’ve always wanted to experiment with, or a ground-breaking blend of songs. It’s completely up to each curators’ whims.”

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“We believe a human touch, not algorithms, makes music listening exciting,” says Kurt Hanson, Founder/CEO of AccuRadio. “We want to give industry professionals a chance to have fun programming music again and give listeners a human touch far superior to algorithm-generated streams.”

Each guest curator whose channel is selected to stream on AccuRadio receives a $300 stipend, with up to fifty channels selected to launch. 

Once the channels launch on AccuRadio.com, five $1,000 awards will be awarded to curators based on the following criteria: 

(1) Channel with the most listening in its first 30 days 

(2) Channel with the most user “favourites” in its first 30 days 

(3) Most creative channel  

(4) Best single-genre channel  

(5) Best multi-genre channel

Hanson offers this advice to those submitting channels, "Create that '70s Japanese Blues channel you've always wanted to build, design a new format at the intersection of Country and Reggae, curate a channel of break-up songs…  No boundaries!  Let your passions, knowledge and professionalism guide you."

For more information about the program and to submit a channel proposal, visit the AccuRadio proposal page online.

About AccuRadio

Launched in the summer of 2000 by radio consultant Kurt Hanson, AccuRadio now features 975 personalizable music channels (which can be blended into over 47 trillion possible combinations).

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Current AccuRadio channel curators include such well-known industry professionals as Scott Adams (Brazilian), Gary Berkowitz (adult contemporary), Thomas Chau (CHR and dance), Bill Gamble (country), John Gehron (oldies), Jonathan Little & Dave Sholin (Americana), Patty Martin (world music), Denise Oliver (folk and classic rock), Rick O’Dell (smooth jazz), Barbara Prieto (R&B), Jack Reeves (Christian), and Mike Stern (alternative).

The USMCA cultural poison pill: Why the broadcast panel report could lead to millions in tariff retaliation

The inclusion of a cultural exemption was viewed as an important policy objective for the government, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insisting “defending that cultural exemption is something fundamental to Canadians.” The USMCA does, indeed, feature a broad cultural exemption that covers a wide range of sectors. The exemption means that commitments such as equal treatment for U.S., Mexican and Canadian companies may be limited within the cultural sector.

Yet the cultural exemption did not come without a cost. The government rarely mentions it, but the agreement also includes a culture “poison pill” designed to discourage the use of the exemption. It grants the U.S. the right to levy retaliatory measures of “equivalent commercial effect” in response to Canadian policies that would otherwise violate USMCA if not for the exemption. – Michael Geist, The Globe and Mail

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New Global TV app delivers top shows and news in ‘one place, live and on-demand’

The streaming Global TV app is the new home for full seasons and live streams from Food Network Canada, HGTV Canada, W Network, History, Showcase and Slice. It’s also the first streaming app to bring Canadians free, 24/7 access to weather and local and national news feeds from Global News.

SVOD subscriptions surpass paid TV for the first time

However, there is overlap – nearly three-quarters of Canadians who pay for TV also subscribe to an SVOD. – Media in Canada (subscription)

Australian newswire AAP to close in latest hit to media industry

Australian Associated Press, the newswire that’s been an enduring and crucial part of the nation’s media landscape for more than 80 years, is closing.

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The company, owned by News Corp., Nine Entertainment Co. and other media outlets, said subscriptions had dwindled amid increased competition from digital platforms. – Ed Johnson, Bloomberg

US to cut number of employees at Chinese media outlets

The United States said it would slash the number of Chinese nationals permitted to work at the US offices of major Chinese state-owned media outlets in response to what Washington said was Beijing's "long-standing intimidation and harassment of journalists". – Aljazeera

SmartNews’ local news feature now covers more than 6,000 U.S. cities

Founded eight years ago in Japan, where it is now one of the top news apps, SmartNews launched its American version in 2014. The app’s content team, including former journalists, screen publishers before they are added to its platform, but articles shown to users are picked by machine learning. Over the past few years, as the political and media landscape in America becomes increasingly polarized, SmartNews has focused on discovery tools with the goal of breaking readers out of “filter bubbles” reinforced by social media algorithms. – Catherine Shu, TechCrunch

MWM raises $55.9M after generating 400 million music app downloads

Some of MWM’s apps include edjing Mix, Beat Maker Pro, Drum Machine, Beat Snap 2, TaoMix 2, and Guitar and Drums. The company has slowly expanded to cover more grounds in the music space, from production to learning, gaming and utilities. – Romain Dillet, TechCrunch

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Neil Young participates in a press conference during Farm Aid at Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center on September 23, 2023 in Noblesville, Indiana.
Gary Miller/Getty Images

Neil Young participates in a press conference during Farm Aid at Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center on September 23, 2023 in Noblesville, Indiana.

Rock

Neil Young Endorses Kamala Harris For President: ‘Cast Your Vote For a Beautiful Future For Your Family’

The rocker joins a long list of artists supporting the sitting VP in her race against Donald Trump.

Neil Young has made it clear he’s no fan of Donald Trump. The “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World” guitar hero has threatened to sue twice impeached convicted felon Trump before for playing his songs at campaign rallies, and over the weekend Young made it clear that he does not want to give the former President a second chance in Washington.

“Kamala Harris — She is an honest forthright truth teller who is experienced in the White House, free from ambiguity or evasiveness, who goes straight to the point,” wrote Young on his Archives site on Friday about the sitting Vice President, who is less than a month away from possibly becoming the nation’s first female President.

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