Latest news with #AccuRadio
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
AccuRadio files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
AccuRadio has followed in the footsteps of iHeartRadio and Audacy by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Company founder and CEO Kurt Hanson confirmed Wednesday's bankruptcy filing was the result of a failed legal settlement with rights organization SoundExchange. SoundExchange had filed a lawsuit against Chicago-based AccuRadio for unpaid royalties owed to artists and labels last year. 'AccuRadio has spent almost 25 years building an innovative and well-loved music streaming service while facing royalty obligations that climbed to levels that seem to suggest the system is rigged, perhaps inadvertently, against small and midsize streamers,' Hanson said in a statement. As of now, the radio platform owes the non-profit organization more than $10 million, The Chicago Tribune reported. The company also owes around $200,000 each to the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) and Broadcast Music Inc (BMI). Known for being one of the earliest internet radio platforms, AccuRadio features music channels from over 60 genres, including playlists dedicated to Taylor Swift, The Beatles, and Adele. It receives more than one million monthly listeners. AccuRadio and SoundExchange have had a long history since the organization was created in 2003. SoundExchange has received more than $13.5 million in royalties over the years, but the ongoing lawsuit claimed AccuRadio stopped the payments in 2018. Despite creating a payment plan in 2020, SoundExchange accused AccuRadio of not following it, resulting in last year's suit filing. The two went head to head over settlements, which ultimately fell through. Both companies exited bankruptcy afterwards, and Hanson believes AccuRadio will do the same. 'Revenues have been consistently rising, and we are now profitable,' Hanson explained. 'Filing wasn't easy, but we believe AccuRadio will emerge healthier, more resilient, and better able to serve our loyal listeners and the artists we champion.' has reached out to AccuRadio for comment about the bankruptcy filing. It is one of many companies that have filed for bankruptcy this year, including various restaurants and fast food chains. It is not the only company to file for bankruptcy this year. Earlier this week, celebrity hotspot Planta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy . Hooters filed for bankruptcy in March , and Bar Louie abruptly closed restaurants before filing for the second time in five years . Other chains in trouble this year include On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina and family-favorite restaurant Bertucci's . Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Visit our profile page and hit the follow button above for more of the news you need.
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Pioneering radio network files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following in iHeartRadio, Audacy footsteps
AccuRadio has followed in the footsteps of iHeartRadio and Audacy by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Company founder and CEO Kurt Hanson confirmed Wednesday's bankruptcy filing was the result of a failed legal settlement with rights organization SoundExchange. SoundExchange had filed a lawsuit against Chicago-based AccuRadio for unpaid royalties owed to artists and labels last year. 'AccuRadio has spent almost 25 years building an innovative and well-loved music streaming service while facing royalty obligations that climbed to levels that seem to suggest the system is rigged, perhaps inadvertently, against small and midsize streamers,' Hanson said in a statement. As of now, the radio platform owes the non-profit organization more than $10 million, The Chicago Tribune reported. The company also owes around $200,000 each to the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) and Broadcast Music Inc (BMI). Known for being one of the earliest internet radio platforms, AccuRadio features music channels from over 60 genres, including playlists dedicated to Taylor Swift, The Beatles, and Adele. It receives more than one million monthly listeners. Company founder and CEO Kurt Hanson confirmed the filing was the result of a failed legal settlement with SoundExchange AccuRadio and SoundExchange have had a long history since the organization was created in 2003. SoundExchange has received more than $13.5 million in royalties over the years, but the ongoing lawsuit claimed AccuRadio stopped the payments in 2018. Despite creating a payment plan in 2020, SoundExchange accused AccuRadio of not following it, resulting in last year's suit filing. The two went head to head over settlements, which ultimately fell through. 'We were extremely disappointed that we couldn't reach a negotiated settlement,' Hanson said. 'Furthermore, AccuRadio resumed full current payments to SoundExchange many months ago and continues to keep current with ongoing obligations.' The company's bankruptcy protection filing was similar to those filed by iHeartRadio's parent company iHeartMedia and Audacy in 2018 and 2024. Both companies exited bankruptcy afterwards, and Hanson believes AccuRadio will do the same. AccuRadio features music channels from over 60 genres, including playlists dedicated to Taylor Swift and The Beatles 'Revenues have been consistently rising, and we are now profitable,' Hanson explained. 'Filing wasn't easy, but we believe AccuRadio will emerge healthier, more resilient, and better able to serve our loyal listeners and the artists we champion.' has reached out to AccuRadio for comment about the bankruptcy filing. It is one of many companies that have filed for bankruptcy this year, including various restaurants and fast food chains. It is not the only company to file for bankruptcy this year. Earlier this week, celebrity hotspot Planta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Hooters filed for bankruptcy in March the second time in five years.
Miami Herald
15-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Online music streaming pioneer files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The radio broadcast industry has historically struggled with financial distress for decades, first in its battle against the television networks since the 1950s. Then, the battle intensified as internet music streaming began to grow in the 1990s. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter IHeartRadio, the nation's largest radio station chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018, handing control of the network to its lenders in exchange for $10 billion in debt. Related: Popular whiskey and wine company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Audacy, the second-largest radio station owner in the country, on Jan. 5, 2024, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, seeking to reduce its debt from $1.9 billion to $350 million and hand ownership of the company to its bondholders. The company's CEO, David Field, said at the time that 'The perfect storm of sustained macroeconomic challenges over the past four years facing the traditional advertising market has led to a sharp reduction of several billion dollars in cumulative radio ad spending.' Audacy was known as Entercom Communications in 1968 when it was founded by Joseph Field, the father of David Field. The company bought CBS Radio and its 117 stations in 2017, before changing its name to Audacy in 2021. Later last year, High Plains Radio Network, which operated 18 radio stations in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Arkansas, filed for bankruptcy in March 2024. And now, online music streaming service AccuRadio filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after reaching an impasse in negotiations with SoundExchange in seeking a lawsuit settlement over royalties owed for its services, according to a company statement. Related: Popular casual restaurant chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy AccuRadio filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago on May 14 to restructure its debts, listing $500,000 to $1 million in assets and $10 million to $50 million in liabilities. More bankruptcy: Iconic auto repair chain franchise files Chapter 11 bankruptcyPopular beer brand closes down and files Chapter 7 bankruptcyPopular vodka and gin brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy The Chicago-based debtor's largest creditors include SoundExchange with a secured claim over $9 million; ASCAP, owed an unsecured claim of over $205,000; BMI, owed an unsecured claim of over $202,000; AdSwizz, owed an unsecured claim of over $18,000; Amazon Web Services, owed an secured claim of over $17,000; and Triton Digital, owed an unsecured claim of over $11,000. 'AccuRadio has spent almost 25 years building an innovative and well-loved music streaming service while facing royalty obligations that climbed to levels that seem to suggest the system is rigged, perhaps inadvertently, against small and midsize streamers,' AccuRadio CEO Kurt Hanson, who founded the firm back in 2000, said in a statement. 'The Copyright Royalty Board's rate-setting process leaves small and midsize players out of the process because the extremely high costs of lawyers, expert witnesses, and discovery make participation virtually impossible,' Hanson said. SoundExchange filed a lawsuit against AccuRadio on July 19, 2024, to recover alleged unpaid royalties owed to music performers and rights owners. SoundExchange was designated by the U.S. government to administer the Section 114 sound recording license to collect and distribute digital performance royalties on behalf of more than 700,000 music creators. SoundExchange's litigation against AccuRadio is subject to an automatic stay while the bankruptcy case proceeds. AccuRadio offers more than 1,400 music channels tailored to adult listeners. The independent service has been 100% advertising-supported for over two decades, with an audience of over a million listeners a month, according to the statement. Related: Classic auto parts company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Daywatch: Chicago posts 7th largest population increase in nation
Good morning, Chicago. Chicago posted the seventh biggest population gain of any city in the country last year, leading a wave of growth that also lifted many suburbs, particularly those on the fringes of the metro area. The city of Chicago added 22,164 residents between mid-2023 and mid-2024, according to new estimates from the U.S. census. That population growth works out to a percentage gain of only 0.8%, but it marks the second year in a row that Chicago's population grew, reversing a downward trend in previous years. Read the full story and see population estimates for your city, town or village across the Chicago area. And here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including the Trump EPA gutting limits on certain forever chemicals, the Chicago Bears 2025 schedule and a film highlight of this year. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History The still emerging race to succeed Dick Durbin in the U.S. Senate featuring candidates from within the state's congressional delegation has created a domino effect — a growing list of contenders now racing for suddenly open seats in the U.S. House. In a rare acceptance of regulations adopted during the Biden administration, the Trump-led Environmental Protection Agency is backing the first national limits on a pair of toxic forever chemicals contaminating the drinking water of most Americans. But the Trump EPA wants to eliminate standards for a handful of replacement chemicals that appear to be just as dangerous, if not more so. A Wisconsin judge charged with helping a man who is in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration agents who were trying to detain him at her courthouse filed a motion to dismiss the case yesterday, arguing that there's no legal basis for it. The Illinois Gaming Board has given Bally's Chicago the green light to resume building its permanent casino after a two-week stop work order over an unauthorized waste hauler at the River West site. Construction is expected to start up again today on the planned $1.7 billion casino complex at the former Tribune printing plant site, with a refined vendor vetting process in place, the Rhode Island-based casino company said. Illinois Head Start officials reacted warily yesterday to assurances from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that the administration of President Donald Trump supports continued funding for the federal early childhood development program, which supports about 28,000 low-income children and families in Illinois alone. The investigation comes three months after the U.S. Department of Education launched one into Northwestern and four other universities for 'widespread antisemitic harassment.' Chicago-based internet radio pioneer AccuRadio, which launched its free music streaming service in 2000, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid an ongoing legal dispute over artist royalty payments. AccuRadio, a leading independent streaming service offering nearly 1,400 music channels, owes SoundExchange, the organization empowered by Congress to collect digital royalties for recording artists, more than $10 million, according to the bankruptcy filing. The Chicago Bears will play at least three prime-time games in the first season under new coach Ben Johnson, including an opening NFC North clash with the Minnesota Vikings on 'Monday Night Football' on Sept. 8 at Soldier Field. Bears 2025 schedule: A closer look at each game — and our writers' predictions The Bulls met with several players for one-on-one interviews, including Tre Johnson, Thomas Sorber, Asa Newell, Liam McNeeley and Collin Murray-Boyles. Jase Richardson has a meeting scheduled with the Bulls later this week. The collection reflects the team's outlook on the draft — while the frontcourt is an obvious weak point for the roster, the Bulls are still in a position in which drafting the best available talent is a necessity regardless of position. Here's what we heard from several players who may be on the Bulls' radar heading into the draft. 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson's saga got second billing Tuesday after Pete Rose's reinstatement from his long and storied battle to get into the Hall. Recency bias was no doubt at play, but Jackson's story is one that all true fans should learn, writes Paul Sullivan. Here's an abbreviated version of how it played out in the Tribune, and in this particular column, 'In the Wake of the News.' Starbucks put new limits starting Monday on what its baristas can wear under their green aprons. The dress code requires employees at company-operated and licensed stores in the U.S. and Canada to wear a solid black shirt and khaki, black or blue denim bottoms. College is a time of reinvention, writes Tribune TV and film critic Nina Metz. But the pressure to immediately fit in and find your place as a freshman can be intense. Who are you when you're away from home for the first time? Are you seen as 'cool' enough to make equally cool new friends and attract the 'right' sort of romantic attention? These issues come to the fore, amid boozy parties, sloppy hookups and bad judgment, in the lightly raunchy Amazon comedy 'Overcompensating.' Four months ago at the Sundance Film Festival, a terrific debut film called 'Sorry, Baby' made its world premiere and won the screenwriting award and led, quickly — surprisingly so, in this post-pandemic realm of diminished moviegoing and movie-buying expectations — to very good things. Tribune film critic Michael Phillips says Eva Victor's film is many things, plus one overriding and quite rare thing: a calm, confident and dead-serious dark comedy, risking a lot right there, about a young woman's coping mechanisms in the emotionally muddy aftermath of sexual assault.
Chicago Tribune
15-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Daywatch: Chicago posts 7th largest population increase in nation
Good morning, Chicago. Chicago posted the seventh biggest population gain of any city in the country last year, leading a wave of growth that also lifted many suburbs, particularly those on the fringes of the metro area. The city of Chicago added 22,164 residents between mid-2023 and mid-2024, according to new estimates from the U.S. census. That population growth works out to a percentage gain of only 0.8%, but it marks the second year in a row that Chicago's population grew, reversing a downward trend in previous years. Read the full story and see population estimates for your city, town or village across the Chicago area. And here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including the Trump EPA gutting limits on certain forever chemicals, the Chicago Bears 2025 schedule and a film highlight of this year. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History The still emerging race to succeed Dick Durbin in the U.S. Senate featuring candidates from within the state's congressional delegation has created a domino effect — a growing list of contenders now racing for suddenly open seats in the U.S. House. In a rare acceptance of regulations adopted during the Biden administration, the Trump-led Environmental Protection Agency is backing the first national limits on a pair of toxic forever chemicals contaminating the drinking water of most Americans. But the Trump EPA wants to eliminate standards for a handful of replacement chemicals that appear to be just as dangerous, if not more so. A Wisconsin judge charged with helping a man who is in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration agents who were trying to detain him at her courthouse filed a motion to dismiss the case yesterday, arguing that there's no legal basis for it. The Illinois Gaming Board has given Bally's Chicago the green light to resume building its permanent casino after a two-week stop work order over an unauthorized waste hauler at the River West site. Construction is expected to start up again today on the planned $1.7 billion casino complex at the former Tribune printing plant site, with a refined vendor vetting process in place, the Rhode Island-based casino company said. Illinois Head Start officials reacted warily yesterday to assurances from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that the administration of President Donald Trump supports continued funding for the federal early childhood development program, which supports about 28,000 low-income children and families in Illinois alone. The investigation comes three months after the U.S. Department of Education launched one into Northwestern and four other universities for 'widespread antisemitic harassment.' Chicago-based internet radio pioneer AccuRadio, which launched its free music streaming service in 2000, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid an ongoing legal dispute over artist royalty payments. AccuRadio, a leading independent streaming service offering nearly 1,400 music channels, owes SoundExchange, the organization empowered by Congress to collect digital royalties for recording artists, more than $10 million, according to the bankruptcy filing. The Chicago Bears will play at least three prime-time games in the first season under new coach Ben Johnson, including an opening NFC North clash with the Minnesota Vikings on 'Monday Night Football' on Sept. 8 at Soldier Field. The Bulls met with several players for one-on-one interviews, including Tre Johnson, Thomas Sorber, Asa Newell, Liam McNeeley and Collin Murray-Boyles. Jase Richardson has a meeting scheduled with the Bulls later this week. The collection reflects the team's outlook on the draft — while the frontcourt is an obvious weak point for the roster, the Bulls are still in a position in which drafting the best available talent is a necessity regardless of position. Here's what we heard from several players who may be on the Bulls' radar heading into the draft. 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson's saga got second billing Tuesday after Pete Rose's reinstatement from his long and storied battle to get into the Hall. Recency bias was no doubt at play, but Jackson's story is one that all true fans should learn. Here's an abbreviated version of how it played out in the Tribune, and in this particular column, 'In the Wake of the News.' Starbucks put new limits starting Monday on what its baristas can wear under their green aprons. The dress code requires employees at company-operated and licensed stores in the U.S. and Canada to wear a solid black shirt and khaki, black or blue denim bottoms. College is a time of reinvention, writes Tribune TV and film critic Nina Metz. But the pressure to immediately fit in and find your place as a freshman can be intense. Who are you when you're away from home for the first time? Are you seen as 'cool' enough to make equally cool new friends and attract the 'right' sort of romantic attention? These issues come to the fore, amid boozy parties, sloppy hookups and bad judgment, in the lightly raunchy Amazon comedy 'Overcompensating.' Four months ago at the Sundance Film Festival, a terrific debut film called 'Sorry, Baby' made its world premiere and won the screenwriting award and led, quickly — surprisingly so, in this post-pandemic realm of diminished moviegoing and movie-buying expectations — to very good things. Tribune film critic Michael Phillips says Eva Victor's film is many things, plus one overriding and quite rare thing: a calm, confident and dead-serious dark comedy, risking a lot right there, about a young woman's coping mechanisms in the emotionally muddy aftermath of sexual assault.
