snapshot 7/9/07

Live Earth Internet streaming sets record: MSN
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070707/wr_nm/concert_media_dc_1;_ylt=AhZHp26ydbOCJJvqdDVXFlZkM3wV
The Live Earth global pop concerts on Saturday broke a record for an online entertainment show by generating more than 9 million Internet streams, Microsoft Corp. Web portal MSN said.

Control Room, producer of Live Earth and Live 8, said it found that the on-demand streams in the days after the Live 8 had the most impact, especially after clips were passed around by e-mail. Live 8 was streamed by users more than 100 million times in the six weeks following the shows.

Live Earth is predicted to be three times bigger with organizers expecting more than 80 percent of the viewership will be on-demand in the days after the event.


MTV service seeks revenue from fan remixes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070707/wr_nm/mtv_dc;_ylt=AsFgESDiWnbyZFlxrJrfrPr_VbIF
In a nod to the ever-evolving world of Web 2.0, MTV is turning to a new source for cutting-edge music videos -- fans. The company in June quietly introduced its free Video Remixer service, which enables users to create their own version of select videos using clips from the original video, archived MTV footage, photos and other media. MTV then airs the top-rated submissions.

MTV joins a growing cadre of video services that give users increased creative control over an artist's vision, among them Eyespot, Gotuit and, soon, Sony Music Box. Their goal is twofold: Provide labels and artists with a new promotional tool and increase revenue potential for ad-supported online music videos. The strategy for both relies on raising the value of videos online.


iRiver Clix Rhapsody Review
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/feature/iriver-clix-rhapsody-review-276079.php
Despite these setbacks, we'd highly recommend the $189.99 clix Rhapsody player. A $12.99 monthly fee is the price of an album, and we guarantee you'll be downloading hundreds of dollars of music within the first day with recommendations that are far more than a gimmick. The clix is a great piece of hardware by itself. Its OLED display is bright and colorful, its menus are intuitive and its Rhapsody integration within UI is extremely fluid. (Why the volume buttons are mapped backwards, we'll never know.) We're just hoping that the middle management software gets an update soon


Piper: Mac OS X-based iPods by January
http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/07/09/mac.os.x.ipods.by.january/
Changes to the iPod may soon bring it in line with the iPhone, while avoiding cannibalized sales, according to a new outlook report. Analysts at the research firm Piper Jaffray suggest that as expected, the next generation of iPods will be based on the iPhone's touchscreen interface; while there will likely be no Internet or phone services, future iPods are expected to be based on Mac OS X, though whether or not users will be able to install software on them has not been raised as a question.


SPRINT TAKES LEAD AS 1ST SPONSOR OF FILE-SHARE SONG
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07082007/business/sprint_takes_lead_as_1st_sponsor_of_file_share_song_business_peter_lauria.htm
Sprint has signed on as the first company to underwrite a song to be distributed on file-sharing networks, agreeing to embed its logo on copies of tracks from Atlantic Records hip-hop artist Plies, sources told The Post.
The move represents another example of the music industry's evolving view of peer-to-peer networks as a potential new source of revenue instead of the bane of its existence.

According to sources familiar with the deal, Media Defender will push 16 million Plies song files embedded with the Sprint logo onto peer-to-peer networks over a three-month period in return for a "substantial six-figure" fee to be divided between Media Defender, Atlantic Records, Plies and his publishing company.


Smells like indie spirit
http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,2121219,00.html
In the Eighties you knew where you stood with indie music but, twenty years later, 'indie' means major-label, mainstream guitar bands like Snow Patrol and Coldplay. But there are welcome signs of a return to the genre's DIY roots.

Ian agrees: 'At the end of the day, the only indie that works is indie that isn't based on fashions and hairstyles and profit and being cool. If that's the way anybody's indie project is heading, it will fail.' The logical conclusion of this is that if indie continues to get commercialised, it'll only end up annoying people - which will in turn only encourage the original indie spirit to reload and refire. So maybe indie will never really die? Ian drains his lager and grins. 'Indie as it used to be won't ever die,' he says. 'Because indie will always work when it's just about the passion.'


Some Hot New Portable Music Players Just In Time For Christmas
http://www.ourdigitalmusic.com/some-hot-new-portable-music-players-just-in-time-for-christmas/

• Microsoft’s Zune player has yet to hit its stride.so you can expect the computer giant to throw lots of cash and new features at consumers to get them to interested. Zune utilizes wireless technology (WiFi) to share and download songs and rumors have Microsoft enhancing those capabilites and perhaps adding wireless gaming and maybe a phone.
• Slacker is a newcomer that plans to deliver customized radio streams to a portable device via both sattelite and wi-fi. Think of its a personalize XM or Sirius satelite radio. Pretty cool if they can pull it off. The device will also store and play your personal music collection.
• Apple’s iPod always keeps their plans to secret but we’re sure they’ll unveil something cool. And by Christmas lines for iPhone will have calmed down and some of the bugs worked out making this a good time to look seriously at this cool media phone.
• The Wi-Fi-enabled Sansa Connect allows users to stream radio and download subscription music from the Yahoo Music Unlimited service directly to the device. A Rhapsody enabled device is likely up next.
  

All Shook Up, Right Down to the Musical Core
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/business/yourmoney/08frenzy.html?ex=1341547200&en=4b96316a1abeb610&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
So omnipotent is the Apple digital music machine that just the possibility of one of its main suppliers holding back some of its music from Apple’s iTunes music store is enough to make headlines and send shock waves.

Certainly there is no shortage of pretenders to the throne. Although they have struggled to gain traction, the digital music outlets of retail giants like Wal-Mart Stores or Best Buy compete aggressively and can’t be counted out.


Buzznet Hits The Road
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/07/06/buzznet-hits-the-road/
Music focused social networking destination Buzznet, a service that we noted May 24 as being the biggest social network many may never have heard of, is taking their message and brand on the road. Buzznet has hired 21 year-old blogger Audrey Kitching, “a fashion trendsetter, model and e-scene queen” as a traveling reporter to cover the 9 week, 45 city Vans Warped Tour 2007.

Kitching will send video and written dispatches that will include backstage interviews with bands and live discussions with the fans. Kitching will be traveling in a custom Buzznet PT cruiser (see photo), giving Buzznet exposure to millions of music fans and fellow highway travelers; although I’d note looking at the car that it may also blind fellow highway travelers as well.


Netflix Settop Box
http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/index.php?action=expand,12324
We've heard talk of a Netflix set-top box before, and while those "end of the year" rumors (as in 2006) didn't exactly pan out, it looks like the company is still keen on the idea, at least according to an individual who claims to have participated in a recent focus group on the subject. Supposedly, Netflix demoed two different boxes that stream content from the company's "Watch Now" service via an Ethernet or wireless connection, each of which were apparently still in rough prototype form. The only difference between the boxes, it seems, is added Component and HDMI connections on the $100 "Enhanced" model, as opposed to just Composite and S-Video on the standard $50 model, although there isn't any actual HD content (at the moment) to stream to either of 'em.


Online Music: 90+ Essential Music and Audio Websites
http://mashable.com/2007/07/06/online-music/
Online music has always been popular, and now social networks, peer recommendations and personalized radio stations are helping fans find bands faster than ever before. Here are more than 90 sites for musicians, fans, and everyone who enjoys music.


Companies vie for edge in the home movie-viewing industry
http://www.contentagenda.com/articleXml/LN637470544.html?nid=3038
Industry giant Blockbuster is locked in fierce combat with Netflix for online DVD dominance. Movie Gallery plans to unveil its own Internet service, and Redbox is rolling out hundreds of video rental machines in McDonald's and supermarkets across the United States.


Real Adds Lyrics to Rhapsody
http://www.betanews.com/article/Real_Adds_Lyrics_to_Rhapsody/1183999107
Following in the footsteps of Yahoo, RealNetworks on Monday added searchable lyrics to Rhapsody Online, the Web-based version of the company's subscription music service. Customers can view legal lyrics and listen to songs for free on demand.