Friday, July 6, 2007

snapshot 7/6/07

Social Networking, Online Video Are Top Digital Trends
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20070706/tc_cmp/200900518;_ylt=AsiDNdLW3naQg7HiQ77itFFkM3wV
Online video and social networking are outpacing other digital media behaviors, according to a study released Thursday. The survey, conducted in November and December 2006 among a random sample of 6,553 adults around the world, found that online video activities have replaced music as the driver of digital media's growth.

Thirty-six percent of U.S. Internet users watched a TV show or other video streaming online at the end of 2006, up from 28% at the end of 2005, and three-quarters had done so in the 30 days before polling.


iTunes Albums Basement Bargains at $6.99 or Less
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/dealzmodo/itunes-albums-basement-bargains-at-699-or-less-275581.php
http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/07/06/next.big.thing.on.itunes/
In case you didn't notice, there is an album sale on iTunes. Our own Wilson Rothman snatched Brandi Carlile's The Story for $6.99 three weeks ago, so it's hardly news, but just in case you were too busy reading iPhone stories all this time, you can get some cheap stuff there. In the words of Tom Waits: "Step right up! Everyone's a winner, bargains galore!" And yes, you can bet Tom won't be included there. iTunes is sale pricing albums at $5.99 to $6.99 under the "Next Big Thing" banner


MSN bets big on Live Earth
http://www.last100.com/2007/07/06/msn-bets-big-on-live-earth/
When Al Gore’s series of Live Earth concerts kick off tomorrow, all eyes (on the net at least) will be on MSN. In partnership with Control Room, Microsoft has secured the exclusive Internet streaming rights in 24 countries, and is predicted to pull in 500 million visitors to their dedicated Live Earth site.


Lagging Country Sales Show Industry In Transition
http://musicrow.com/section/AS030/1/ARN007499
Country music sales for the first half of 2007 have fallen 29.6% behind last year (in spite of, and including, a 33% increase in country digital album downloads). Interestingly, while digital album sales account for about 10% of the all genre numbers, in country they represent only 5% of the totals.


Mp3 the Easy Way; INDIE MUSIC RETAIL GAINS MOMENTUM ONLINE
http://www.contentagenda.com/articleXml/LN636769134.html?nid=3038
All hell is breaking loose in online digital music sales. On the main stage: Last month Amazon.com announced its intention to enter the fray at the end of the year, challenging iTunes' hegemony in the market. More recently, after much hand-wringing anticipation, Apple debuted iTunes Plus, a service that sells high-resolution, restriction-free downloads-which launched in collaboration with EMI (home to Pink Floyd, the Beastie Boys, and a few different Snoop incarnations). EMI became the first major to offer Digital Rights Management (DRM)-free digital files. That world, ahem, already exists, both at eMusic.com, where for 10 bucks a month you can download DRM-free MP3s; and in the so-called "digital underground," where online indie shops and labels are thriving amid the seeming chaos.

The future of online digital retail-no longer the domain of a handful of power brokers-is most clear in these little shops. The Web equivalents of the High Fidelity-style record merchants, the best of these businesses sift through the digital dust to find the diamonds. They offer amazing sound samples, dish out worthy opinions, and toss in weekly charts to keep you in step with the rest of your subculture. While Universal's henchmen are holed up in conference rooms with their lawyers, the mom-and-pops are claiming a big chunk of the green that's in play now that the CD economy has collapsed. Take your time, Sony. We can party without you.


Christmas In July: Who You Gonna Call?
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i5cd11e0c6fc24e906ab6df1d647aa8d5
Based on by the hype surrounding the newly released iPhone from Apple, the rest of the more traditional mobile phone manufacturers are expected to take a decidedly high-end, multimedia approach to their products this holiday season.

While adding music playback capabilities to phones in all price tiers will remain an important initiative for the mobile music space to evolve, competition with the iPhone will focus the discussion on so-called "smartphones"-traditionally phones that double as a personal digital assistant but now taking on the aspects of an entertainment device.

"The definition of what is a smartphone and what's not is rapidly changing," observes JupiterMedia analyst Michael Gartenberg, who says to expect sexier, more feature-laden devices down the pike that make cameraphones seem like tools for Luddites.


Popularity crunch: Lala's free streaming goes dark, will return
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070703-the-day-the-music-died-lalas-free-streaming-goes-dark-will-return.html
John Kuch, who handles PR duties at Lala, said in an e-mail that "labels have been contacting us to get up and running on lala.com. Many of our unique, forward-looking features have generated significant consumer excitement but have also generated an overwhelming load on our systems. To avoid falling short of consumer expectations, we're holding off on upgrading and returning some aspects of our offering until we can provide a fuller catalog that meets the demand of consumers and includes music from a broader cross section of the industry."


Samsung teams with MusicNet for subscription-based music service
http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/05/samsung-teams-with-musicnet-for-subscription-based-music-service/
Samsung certainly has an on-again / off-again history with regard to online music services, but the MusicNet-based system that was most recently announced is finally going live in the UK, France, and Germany. Built to work seamlessly with the firm's K3, K5, and T9 media players, users will soon be able to access and purchase digital music through the Samsung Media Studio application. Notably, previously released DAPs (such as the Z5) that were dubbed PlaysForSure devices are also compatible with the new platform. The service will provide a duo of ways to pay, the first of which will demand €14.99 ($20) for the subscription-based flavor if you reside in Germany or France, while the Brits will pony up £10.25 ($21). For those digging the per-song approach, you'll be looking at €1.15 ($1.57) or £0.79 ($1.60) depending on your homeland. Currently, it seems that the SamsungPlay website is still in limbo, but we're sure it'll have its act together before too long.


Revenge of the record labels: Is it Apple’s turn to knuckle-under?
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Berlind/?p=608&tag=nl.e622
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has had a knack for getting entire industries to knuckle under to his demands. It was just over a year ago that the four major record labels — all of whom wanted more control over the pricing of downloaded songs from their artists — knuckled under to Jobs’ one price (99 cents) fits all policy.

Emboldened by a record label rebellion, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and the usurped Amazon (the latter of which is clearly gearing up to take on the iTMS) might have the collective muscle to bring Jobs, Apple, and the iTMS down to earth — a competitive prospect that can only yield positive results for consumers who deserve to have record labels, music stores, and device manufacturers battling hard for their money.

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