snapshot 7/23/07

Netflix cuts prices of two more rental plans
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070723/wr_nm/netflix_pricecut_dc_1
Netflix Inc. cut monthly subscriptions for two of its most popular plans by $1 on Sunday, a day ahead of a quarterly earnings report that will show whether rival Blockbuster Inc has further dented the online DVD rental company's growth. Netflix now has cut prices on its four most popular plans this year, bringing them in line with the prices of Blockbuster By Mail plans.


XM, Sirius to offer low cost, a-la-carte options
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070723/tc_nm/xm_sirius_dc;_ylt=AiXneDQwymtO8tQ0u9cvSeRT.3QA
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. said on Monday they would offer a subscription package priced 46 percent below current levels, and would also let customers buy packages of their favorite channels, after their proposed merger. The planned "a la carte" programming would be available beginning within one year following the merger, which the companies hope to complete later this year.


New Products: ITunes Latino Sees Greater Sales In The (Gift) Cards
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/magazine/current/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003614975
Now, Apple may have to add the word "tu tarjeta," as it rolls out its initial foreign language gift cards in the U.S. this week. Beginning July 23, Tarjeta iTunes will be available in denominations of $15, $25 and $50, and will be good towards any purchase at on- and offline iTunes Stores. est Buy and Target will be the first to offer the cards with Wal-Mart and Safeway coming soon; iTunes is already the third-largest seller of music behind Wal-Mart and Best Buy respectively, per The NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y. It outsells Amazon, Target, Coconuts and others.


Microsoft Zune 2.0 hitting stores before holiday season, Zune 1.0 hits 1 million mark
http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/07/21/microsoft-zune-20-hitting-stores-before-holiday-season-zune-10-hits-1-million-mark/
With the Zune reaching it's goal of 1 million units sold this week, Microsoft plans to take its digital audio player to the next step by introducing Zune 2.0 and other models. t appears that Microsoft will expand the Zune family with new styles, sizes, and price points. Future Zune products will feature podcasting support and expanded video support. The Zune will also move into other geographic markets when Microsoft feels it has an appealing product to offer those demographics.

Perhaps most importantly of all, the representative mentioned that Microsoft will build on the wireless support. Maybe we'll finally have the freedom of synching our digital audio players via wi-fi. The product is essentially a music playing SD card that will plug into any SD slot. The second part of the player is what makes the SD card usable as a digital audio player. That part is a type of sleeve that'll allow the user to control the music and plug in headphones for putting that music playing goodness to work. The player can't be turned on or off as it is always in the same state.


Interview - Sony Ericsson: "Digital audio players won't exist in two years"
http://techdigest.tv/2007/07/interview_sony.html
But Victor Fredell, Sony Ericsson's content acquisition manager for music, is still adamant in his prediction. "I won't go as far as saying that the digital audio player as dead, but I will definitely say that it won't exist in two years," he says. "Not in the way that we have it today, anyway."

In our interview, Fredell explains why mobile users prefer sideloading to buying songs over the air, how Sony Ericsson is putting more emphasis on music applications for its Walkman phones, and how Web 2.0 and music-sharing fit into the future of mobile music. Oh, and obviously, he does have an opinion on the iPhone too...


US-Based Album Sales Experience Mild Improvement
http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/072207sales
US-based album sales experienced mild gains in July, according to information from Nielsen Soundscan. The company reported a 15.1 percent drop during the first half of this year, a year-over-year deficit that has now moved to 14.6 percent. For the week ending July 15th, cumulative album sales topped 246.9 million, well below a year-ago total of 288.9 million. Weekly sales surpassed 8.3 million, a near-5 percent drop from the first week of the month.

Measured against the comparable, year-ago week, album sales missed the mark by 10.8 percent, though digital single sales continued to climb. According to the figures, cumulative a-la-carte downloads totaled roughly 447.2 million, up 48.3 percent from year-ago aggregates. Meanwhile, CD-specific sales remained highly problematic, sinking a near-19 percent below cumulative figures from last year.


Barbie Gets Another Accessory: An MP3 Player and More Stuff on Her Web Site
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/business/media/23webtoys.html?ex=1342843200&en=e6fa8c42c485285e&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
A new doll hitting retail shelves this week is familiar in many ways — she’s got outfits galore — but she also has some unusual features: this Barbie, who is smaller and less shapely than her standard namesake, functions as an MP3 music player. The new doll is a roundabout way of charging for online content. Instead of asking young Web surfers to punch in their parents’ credit card numbers, BarbieGirls.com and other sites are sending customers to a real-world toy store first. Some of these sites (like the Barbie one) can be used in a limited way without purchasing merchandise — the better to whet young appetites — but others, like the popular Webkinz site, are of little or no use without a store-bought product or two (or three, or a dozen).


EXCLUSIVE: Rhapsody Clarifies DRM Position. Promises August Announcement.
http://hypebot.typepad.com/hypebot/2007/07/exclusive-rhaps.html
Matt Graves the Director of Music PR at Rhapsody/RealNetworks responded:
"The answer, at least for Rhapsody, is that this is the calm before the storm. As you're hopefully aware, this is an issue we've pushed privately with the labels since last fall, and Rob Glaser took that discussion public at MIDEMNet. Since then, we've continued to speak with the labels about ways to transition to the DRM-free model for purchases.Look for news from us on that front in August.”


Apple patent for charger DRM
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/07/21/apple-patent-for-charger-drm/
According to the New Scientist, Apple has filed for a patent on a new security measure for mobile devices. Basically, it involves locking a mobile device to a particular charging cable so that if it's stolen, it won't recharge when plugged into another cable.


Interview with LimeWire staff
http://thelistenerd.wordpress.com/2007/07/20/interview-with-limewire-staff/
1) LimeWire’s creating a store to sell legit downloads to open some time this year, and will separate buyable content from p2p stuff “similar to how Google keeps sponsored links separate.”