Yahoo Music Radio
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet radio |
| Predecessor | LAUNCHcast |
| Founded | November 11, 1999 |
| Founder | Todd Beaupré, Jeff Boulter |
| Fate | Merged into iHeartRadio (2014) |
| Parent | Yahoo! |
Yahoo! Music Radio, previously known as LAUNCHcast, was an Internet radio platform that provided both a free, advertisement-supported service and a subscription-based premium option. The service allowed listeners to generate customized stations through a recommendation algorithm and also offered access to 150 pre-configured Internet radio channels.
History
Conceived by Todd Beaupré and Jeff Boulter from LAUNCH Media, the platform debuted on November 11, 1999. After facing financial difficulties following the dot-com crash, Yahoo! purchased LAUNCH Media for $12 million in June 2001, subsequently incorporating the platform into Yahoo! Music. At the time of acquisition, the user base numbered approximately 7.4 million.
By December 2008, escalating royalty expenses prompted the transfer of the service to CBS Radio, which assumed responsibility for advertising, sales operations, and improved compatibility with browsers such as Firefox and Safari.
In June 2012, the service was consolidated into iHeartRadio, providing users with access to exclusive experiences like the iHeartRadio Music Festival. The platform was quietly phased out in early 2014.
Legal issues
In January 2003, the company reached a settlement with Sony Music regarding licensing rights for Sony's recordings.
On April 27, 2007, Yahoo prevailed in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Sony BMG related to LAUNCHcast’s personalization capabilities. The core issue was whether LAUNCHcast qualified as an "interactive" service—necessitating negotiated licenses with record labels—or as a "non-interactive" service, which only requires compulsory licenses through SoundExchange. Since users could influence but not directly select specific tracks on demand, LAUNCHcast was classified as non-interactive.
After six years of legal proceedings, a jury determined that the compulsory licenses held by LAUNCHcast were adequate. Although the plaintiffs appealed, on August 21, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed this ruling, confirming that user control over playlists was insufficient to categorize the service as interactive.