Rhapsody has expanded its subscription music service to 14 additional European countries in a bid to compete more effectively with international services like Spotify and Deezer. The far-reaching expansion increases the number of territories where Rhapsody is available by greater than a factor of five. New countries include France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Portugal. As part of its efforts to woo foreign subscribers, iterations of the service in each country launched with custom playlists and editorial content developed during the course of a year.
Pandora is making a bid for the living room with a new version of its Internet radio player optimized for TV sets. TV.Pandora.com is a standards-compliant Web app that works with Internet-enabled TVs and Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game consoles. The TV version of Pandora includes all of the features users are accustomed to, but optimized for the big screen.
The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) has launched a new forum called LINK, aimed at facilitating communication among the creative community, management societies and decision-makers. The initiative, announced at the Creators Summit in Washington, D.C., will serve as a think tank comprising artists from the fields of music, drama, literature and the visual arts who will represent the creative community before policy makers around the world.
R&B singer/actress Brandy has struck a new deal with Creative Artists Agency for representation. Brandy, who began her singing career at 15 in 1994 and starred in the UPN sitcom “Moesha” from 1996 to 2001, released her sixth studio album, “Two Eleven,” last year and had a recurring role on the popular BET series “The Game” last season.