snapshot 5/17/07

Positioning phones to create new social networks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070517/tc_nm/summit_satnav_phones_dc_1;_ylt=Amn_pZjipGtSsVoLlpSAyhFkM3wV
Finding friends and meeting new ones could become even more important uses for global positioning chips than getting from A to B as the technology spreads to cellphones in coming years. Combined with mobile Internet access, GPS (global positioning system) is seen in the industry as adding a new dimension to social networking that could also have implications for the media business.


RealNetworks Incorporates Lyrics Into Rhapsody
http://futuremusic.com/blog/?p=1440
RealNetworks has inked a deal with LyricFind, a Toronto-based concern, to incorporate Lyrics into the web-based version of Rhapsody. The announcement follows a recent announcement by Yahoo Music, who teamed with Gracenote to offer a similar feature. Rhapsody will offer authorized lyrics and other meta data such as albums covers, release dates, and additional credits. When lyrics are available for a particular song, Rhapsody will showcase the content with a Powered by LyricFind tag helping to brand the company for broader recognition.


What Sells In Consumer Electronics Today Is High-Definition – With One Exception
http://www.avrev.com/news/0507/03.hdsells060.shtml
The music industry has yet to embrace significantly anything HD and it is the number one reason why they are sucking wind in the sales department. Downloads are a three-billion-dollar-per-year business and are likely to grow, but to call a 256 kHz download “high resolution,” as Apple has with their EMI, deal is beyond insulting to consumers. In my eyes, it’s borderline consumer abuse. Much like the 1/2 resolution (of a DVD) video downloads that Apple sells for $13 and calls “HD,” their new high-resolution music downloads are only a fraction as good as a 25-year-old compact disc. Imagine trying to sell a Honeymooner’s disc set or Casablanca with one-fourth of the resolution of the master.

Why couldn’t the music business jump into the HD format game (please pick one format for all four majors – please), release their titles in high-res stereo and then re-release the titles in surround sound as a version two offering? Add in HD video performances from the artists on the discs and watch schmucks like me line up to buy the same records all over again.


More Details Emerge on Paul McCartney Digital Plans
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/051607mccartney/view
More details emerged Wednesday on an upcoming digitization play by Paul McCartney. As reported earlier, McCartney has already positioned digital pre-orders for his upcoming release, Memory Almost Full, on iTunes. Fans can grab the lead single and reserve a copy of the digital album, complete with bonus materials, a model that iTunes has spun with other releases. Memory is being carried by Hear Music, the stepped-up label initiative being driven by Starbucks.

For the rest of the catalog, a collection spanning roughly 25 releases, new information continues to bubble. The catalog, controlled by EMI-owned Capitol Records, will be released in the near-term, though specifics dates remain unclear. Meanwhile, iTunes will not carry the remaining catalog as an exclusive, despite information from Apple suggesting otherwise. Instead, iTunes and a number of other digital music stores will grab access simultaneously, according to competitors and EMI.


Live Nation Delivers Concert Video Footage, Mines Archives
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/051607live/view
Concert giant Live Nation is now offering a broad collection of performance footage online, part of a larger internet-based strategy. The launch, called Live Nation TV, features shows from a large number of venues, including the more intimate House of Blues. Hundreds of performance clips and artist interviews are part of the offering, a repository that will grow over time. "The Live Nation Studios division has already recorded hundreds of shows in our venues and with the acquisition of House of Blues last year, we gained access to thousands of additional hours of live concert footage and interviews, all of which we hope to bring to live music fans with the help of the artist," said Bryan Perez, president of Live Nation's Global Digital Division. The action will be housed on LiveNation.com, a destination that already offers concert listings, ticketing opportunities, and premium upgrade plays.


A look inside Spiralfrog's free major label download service
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/05/17/a-look-inside-spiralfrogs-free-major-label-download-service/
SpiralFrog's Canadian only beta just opened this week, after months of speculation as to what the service -- originally announced last August -- might look and act like. The long and short of it is; The service works as advertised, it doesn't include audio advertisements as many originally speculated and, they have a significant catalog on offer. There are some serious catches involved though so, read on for the full review and a screenshot tour of the first true "free and legal" music download service offering up major label tunes.

Sure, they might attract a cash strapped teeny-bopper market who are willing to spend free time downloading songs painstakingly one-by-one; entering the captcha for each tune and returning every 30 days to re-activate their libraries but, on the whole SpiralFrog offers very little in the way of convenience, community or value added enhancement to the music experience.


DRM's Demise Accelerates
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2007/05/drms_demise_accelerates.html
One of the recording industry's core beliefs is disintegrating almost overnight. Not everybody in the business believed this idea in the first place, though. People at many independent labels and smaller music-download sites have long thought otherwise--as I was reminded in some interviews yesterday, most of which didn't make the column.