Music Choice (abbreviated as MC) is an American television music service that digitally broadcasts audio-based music channels and video-related content to cable television providers in the United States. Music Choice reaches 65 million households in North America via linear television channels and TV-on-demand services.
Music Choice is distributed nationwide by
Xfinity
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications company and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the c ...
,
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...
,
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
,
Verizon Fios,
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
and other smaller cable providers. Similar broadcast music services include
DMX,
Stingray Music
Stingray Music is a Canada-based international multi-platform audio service that broadcasts continuous streaming music and other forms of audio on multiple channel feeds. The service is owned by Stingray Digital.
While a song is playing on the ...
,
Sirius XM, and
XITE
XITE is an interactive music video platform. Founded in the Netherlands with linear networks, interactive TV, and on-demand streaming services, XITE is now live in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom a ...
.
History
Early development
Music Choice (formerly known as Digital Cable Radio) was the first digital audio broadcast service in the world and, under its founder and CEO David Del Beccaro,
launched in
test market
A test market, in the field of business and marketing, is a geographic region or demographic group used to gauge the viability of a product or service in the mass market prior to a wide scale roll-out. The criteria used to judge the acceptabilit ...
s circa 1987. From its inception as an eight-
channel
Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to:
Geography
* Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water.
Australia
* Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
audio service from
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...
's cable group, Music Choice evolved into a multi-platform interactive music network based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
that reaches millions of consumers across the country. Music Choice is a partnership owned by a
consortium
A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...
, including
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
,
Charter Communications
Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. With over 32 million customers in 41 states, it is the second-largest cable operator in the United States by subscribe ...
through its acquisition of
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...
in May 2016,
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
,
EMI Music,
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
,
Arris International
Arris International Limited (styled as ARRIS) is an American telecommunications equipment company engaged in data, video and telephony systems for homes and businesses. On April 4, 2019, Arris was acquired by network infrastructure provider CommS ...
(previously
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...
's cable technologies division), and
Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation
SONAM, headquartered in New York City, manages the company's US-based businesses.
Sony's principal U.S. businesse ...
.
Music Choice launched its first 24-hour
interactive music video cable channel,
SWRV
SWRV (pronounced 'swerve') was an American music video television channel from Music Choice that launched on February 10, 2010. SWRV relaunched as Music Choice Play
Music Choice (abbreviated as MC) is an American television music service tha ...
, in February 2010.
Several of its stations are
measured through
Mediabase
Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytic ...
and its playlists are accounted for in weekly airplay charts in addition to traditional radio and
Sirius XM plays.
Platforms
Linear audio channels
Music Choice currently offers over 50 linear channels of various
music radio
Music radio is a radio format in which music is the main broadcast content. After television replaced old time radio's dramatic content, music formats became dominant in many countries. Radio drama and comedy continue, often on public radio.
M ...
formats through
digital cable providers. The number of channels available varies by provider.
Music Choice On Demand
Music Choice offers free
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
content, including hundreds of music videos from various recording artists, original programs, and artist features.
TV Everywhere App
Beginning in July 2008, Music Choice released iOS and Android apps. The app requires login with a participating provider's
TV Everywhere
TV Everywhere (also known as authenticated streaming or authenticated video on-demand) refers to a type of subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themse ...
authentication credentials to use, and the same access is available on traditional desktop/laptop web browsers.
On-screen information
Each Music Choice channel is distributed in
freeze frame television
Freeze frame television is television in which the frames of the video are transmitted as a sequence of still images at a rate far too slow to be perceived as continuous motion by human vision. The receiving device typically displays each frame un ...
, with still slides appearing on-screen as the music plays. These slides display
banner advertising
Digital display advertising is online graphic advertising through banners, text, images, video, and audio. The main purpose of digital display advertising is to post company ads on third-party websites. A display ad is usually interactive (i.e. ...
(the only advertising on the service, as the audio programming airs commercial-free) along with a looping carousel of “Did You Know?” factoids paired with file photos of the artists in question. In the past, the on-screen trivia factoids have been criticized by some as featuring facts that are overtly depressing or deal with death, as a May 2017
HuffPost
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
story cited a number of factoids recalling various illnesses, homicides, and suicides of various musical artists and their close family, friends and partners over an evening of the network's programming. The color coding on the channel can be blue, pink, green or yellow depending on the dayparts. In 2021, these Music Choice channels has a photo slideshow, with still changes the picture appearing on-screen as the music plays.
SWRV
In February 2010, Music Choice launched SWRV (pronounced 'swerve'), a 24-hour
interactive music video cable channel. The network struggled to gain momentum and was eventually rebranded to Music Choice Play on October 15, 2013, then wound down by the start of 2016.
Subscription services
As of the fall of 2021, Music Choice offers several subscription services which are available through the extended Internet-connected services of cable set-top boxes.
Music Choice Karaoke
A home
karaoke
Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music i ...
service providing access to instrumental versions of popular songs sorted into playlists with sing-along lyrics.
Music Choice Relax
A service providing calming instrumentals and soothing nature imagery for the purposes of relaxation.
Music Choice Plus
A service providing immediate access to any song in the Music Choice library, along with playlist creation, device downloads, and song skipping abilities.
Legal issues
Stingray
In June 2016, Music Choice filed a lawsuit against
Stingray over patent infringement. The lawsuit occurred one month following the announcement that Comcast, part owner of Music Choice, had chosen instead to offer
Stingray Radio.
Music Choice drew criticism with the lawsuit; Stingray responded:
“Given the significant inroads that Stingray has made in the U.S. market
omcast expansionwith its industry-changing technology, Stingray believes that Music Choice’s complaint is without merit and primarily motivated by competitive concerns rather than a desire to protect its intellectual property.”
Music Choice's lawsuit against Stingray disputed a number of U.S. Patents pertaining to the on screen formatting of Stingray Digital's music channels. On August 29, 2016, Stingray countersued Music Choice calling the patent lawsuit a ''"smear campaign".''
Music Modernization Act opposition
In 2018, A2IM CEO Richard James Burgess accused Music Choice of trying to solicit artist and label support to deceive Congress into reducing artists royalties paid by Music Choice. The criticism came as Music Choice publicly opposed the passage of the
Music Modernization Act
The Orrin G. Hatch–Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, or Music Modernization Act or MMA (, ) is United States legislation signed into law on October 11, 2018 aimed to modernize copyright-related issues for music and audio recordings due t ...
, which ultimately was signed into law on October 11, 2018.
SoundExchange
On April 10, 2019,
SoundExchange
SoundExchange is an American non-profit collective rights management organization founded in 2003. It is the sole organization designated by the U.S. Congress to collect and distribute digital performance royalties for sound recordings. It pays ...
filed a lawsuit against Music Choice for underpayment, following an audit of Music Choice's royalty statements.
See also
*
Dash Radio
Dash Radio is a digital radio broadcasting platform with over 80 radio stations. These stations are curated by DJs, radio personalities, musicians, etc. The platform includes partner stations curated by Snoop Dogg, Kylie Jenner, Lil Wayne, Tech N9 ...
*
DMX (music service)
DMX, A Mood Media company, is a "Multi-sensory" branding agency based in Austin, Texas. DMX also provides music for cable and satellite television networks worldwide, including DSTV in Africa. It was the first company to offer music by satel ...
*
Muzak
Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments. The name has been in use since 1934, and has been owned by a division or subsidiary of one or another company ever since. In 1981, Westingho ...
*
Sirius XM
*
Stingray Radio
*
Xite
XITE is an interactive music video platform. Founded in the Netherlands with linear networks, interactive TV, and on-demand streaming services, XITE is now live in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom a ...
References
External links
Music Choice Official website
{{Sony Corp
Cable radio
Video on demand services
Music television channels
Television channels and stations established in 1987