Headlines

Both The New York Times and The Verge have the details about the settlement about mechanical licensing rights, which refer to a copyright holder’s control over the ability to reproduce a musical work. Spotify will pay over $20 million to music publishers to settle. The money will pay for royalties already owed but unpaid, and a $5 million penalty. In return, publishers will not file copyright infringement claims against Spotify

Before we allow the newspaper industry to control how strong radio is, how about this report to help pour a little positivity on their radio is dead narrative. And this data comes from outside the radio industry.

Whether you're concerned over what happens to Class A Clear Channel AM's or you have general concerns about the FCC's plan to revitalize the AM band, comments must be filed by Monday. If you have not filed and you intend to do so, GO HERE. The proceeding number is “13-249”.

The way the CBS announcement — to explore ways to get out of the radio business — is being reported, you would think CBS CEO Les Moonves came up with the idea the night before the CBS shareholder meeting. Everyone with a pulse inside the industry was aware this was a possibility.

Kelly Harrington is a Communications Manager and writer for Reach Media in Dallas. She also leads Reach Media’s social media initiatives, which include the wildly popular Tom Joyner Morning Show. Harrington has only been in radio for about five years but she's clearly one of the industry's rising stars. We spoke to Harrington and asked her to share her secrets, including why she's passionate about radio, how she believes we can make the industry better, and why she's been so successful at what she does.

Earlier this week Univision launched an upgrade to its digital app Uforia that included more than 25 mood curated stations, an alarm clock, car mode features and much more. Mark Lopez is Univision's GM of Digital. We spoke to Lopez about the importance of the Uforia upgrade, which has now been downloaded over 4 million times and has 14.5 million streaming sessions per month. (NOTE: A panel at next week's Hispanic Radio Conference will focus on Smarter Digital Strategies)

The NBA's Los Angeles Clippers and iHeartMedia have signed a new deal to bring the team over to AM 570 LA Sports/KLAC. The first game to be broadcast on the station will be Saturday night. The Clippers had been on KFWB-AM (980) since 2009 but have been looking for a new radio partner since the station changed to a foreign-language format last month. Clippers games will also be heard on The Patriot, KEIB AM 1150, when there are conflicts with Dodgers baseball.

WFLS has raised $136,089 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with a two-day radiothon. The station has raised $727,404 since 2011. The three-day fundraising event kicked off with the radiothon on March 10 and 11, and was hosted by Steve Waters and Jessica Cash from the 93.3 WFLS Morning Show.

After a five-day stunt, Hubbard has flipped it's "Modern Music" station (KLCK-FM) in Seattle to Rock and will feature artists such as AC/DC, Foo Fighters, Van Halen, Nirvana, and Guns ‘N Roses. Entercom has a Classic Rock (KISW) and Alternative Rocker (KNDD) in the market, and CBS also has a Classic Rocker (KZOK) in Seattle. Hubbard will kick off the new KVRQ-FM 98-9 with 12,000 songs in a row.