snapshot 6/20/07

Getty Images extends empire into music, buys Pump for $42M
http://venturebeat.com/2007/06/20/getty-images-extends-empire-into-music-buys-pump-for-42m/
Getty Images has acquired Pump Audio, of company that has built up a catalog of 100,000 songs from musicians not signed with traditional labels, for $42 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Getty, of Seattle, Wa., says it is the largest provider of still and moving images. Earlier this year, it bought MediaVast for $200 million, which added more images to Getty’s huge archive. Its acquisition of Pump, based in New York’s Hudson Valley, extends its reach into other forms of digital media at a time when the industry is in midst of massive change caused by Internet distribution.

The deal also shows how licensed music continues to hold considerable value. The digital media industry is hot for investors. Just last year, three investors — Greycroft Partners LP, Village Ventures and High Peaks Venture Partners — invested an undisclosed amount of cash into Pump, and presumably the rapid sale gives them a quick profit, though this hasn’t been confirmed.


Fuzz Does The Right Thing
http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=39547307
a new online music startup combining label, promotion, online distribution and interaction features—has popped up to try and implement some changes. With a manifesto that boasts "doing right by people who create and who love music," the new venture's site offers an artist-friendly online community where bands can promote and sell their music and interact with fans, while fans in turn can submit reviews and blogs about the artists they discover. Also announced are future plans to feature the sale of artist merchandise and concert tickets.


The Record Industry's Decline
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/15137581/the_record_industrys_decline
Despite the industry's woes, people are listening to at least as much music as ever. Consumers have bought more than 100 million iPods since their November 2001 introduction, and the touring business is thriving, earning a record $437 million last year. And according to research organization NPD Group, listenership to recorded music -- whether from CDs, downloads, video games, satellite radio, terrestrial radio, online streams or other sources -- has increased since 2002. The problem the business faces is how to turn that interest into money. "How is it that the people that make the product of music are going bankrupt, while the use of the product is skyrocketing?" asks the Firm's Kwatinetz. "The model is wrong."


Huge Growth Occurs In Online Video Use And It's Not All User-Generated Videos
http://sev.prnewswire.com/advertising/20070618/NEM14518062007-1.html
The results of a national online Magid Media Futures(TM) survey conducted the last week in March of 2007 have just been released, documenting the huge growth in popularity for Americans to view video online over the Internet. Daily usage of online video rose by 56 percent over the last year. In 2006, 9 percent of 12- to 64-year-old Americans who used the Internet reported using online video daily -- every day. Today, in 2007, this number has risen to 14 percent of Americans 12 to 64 years old.

Weekly usage of online video has also risen over the last year. Now, a majority of online Americans 12 to 64 are using online video once a week or more. In 2006 this number was 44 percent, and now it is 52 percent -- for a growth rate of 18 percent. Even more remarkable is the amount of online video use among young Americans. Among young adult males 18 to 24, 35 percent report using online video at least once a day, and 80 percent report watching online video at least once a week.


SnoCap Powers Ad Supported Streaming On imeem Social Network
http://hypebot.typepad.com/hypebot/2007/06/snocap_powers_a.html
Social networking site imeem today launched an initiative powered by SNOCAP to compensate artists through an ad-supported revenue share when their music is streamed on the service. Imeem’s active user base is 16 million and the new program is open to any artist or content owner who would like to join.


Sony not killing Connect after all, just Connect jobs
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/20/sony-not-killing-connect-after-all-just-connect-jobs/
Those rumors of Connect's demise were apparently greatly exaggerated -- Sony today confirmed that while the company is in fact trimming some 20 jobs at the fledging download service, it intends to keep the servers running. The company is still planning on shifting resources and attention to the Playstation Network, however, so we'll see how long this stay of execution lasts for Connect -- Sony Reader downloads alone aren't going to keep it alive, after all.


Get rid of iTunes Plus "watermarking"
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/06/20/get-rid-of-itunes-plus-watermarking/
If you want to remove that "watermarking," Playlist Magazine has a solution: TUAW favorite audio editor Fission ($32) from Rogue Amoeba "can strip out the identifying information in an iTunes Plus track without changing the file's audio." Basically, you just open the file then resave it as AAC (Original Format, Lossless) and the non-original format identifying information is not saved.