The debut of Slacker’s Digital Audio Player has been officially delayed until January 31st, 2008. According to an email received by customers who have pre-ordered, Slacker has rescheduled the ship date of its Wi-Fi-enabled, streaming portable to 2008 “in order to deliver the best possible player.”
This is not a good sign. The player was originally supposed to bow last summer, then got pushed to Fall 2007. When that come and went, the concern issued a firm December 13th delivery date — just in time for the holidaze. Now with this important target missed, the investors have got to be asking themselves, “why did I think this was a good idea?” Customers can opt to wait it out for another six weeks or can cancel their orders.
Digital distribution isn't free
For many people who paid for print publications, including newspapers, magazines, and books, a significant part of the value was in the distribution. That DOESN'T mean people don't value the content anymore. It means that the value of having it delivered to their doorstep every morning, or having it show up in their mailbox, or carrying it with them on a plane -- in print -- has CHANGED because of the availability of digital distribution as an alternative.
The problem for people who sell printed content is that the value of the distribution and the value of the content itself was always deeply intertwined -- now it's separable. People ARE willing to pay for certain digital content, but they AREN’T willing to pay for the distribution — specifically, not the analogue distribution premium.
Will Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” Finally Debut On iTunes?
Radiohead’s management is reportedly in discussions with Apple over releasing “In Rainbows” on iTunes. Earlier both sides were at a standstill over Apple’s insistence that Radiohead’s latest release be available as a la carte downloads, and not album-only.
The British alt rockers’ EMI catalog is still not available from the world’s largest online music store because of the band’s assertion that its albums remain complete. An Apple/Radiohead deal with would require a shift in position from one of the parties. But who will blink first is unknown.
7Digital Gets Agressive With Pricing & Features. US Launch Appears Imminent
UK digital retailer 7Digital is pushing aggressive pricing as well as new features and alliances designed to challenge iTunes and other retailers. The online retailer smartly sells content in whatever format is available leaving fewer holes in its catalog, but now offering more than 70% of it'S 3.5 million track catalog DRM free. New pricing lowers some album downloads to 5 Pounds Sterling (or 10 pence per track) and single track prices are 50 pence. Both prices are far below iTunes' 79 pence pricing. 7Digital features include:
- an open, web-based service that supports the iPod and all other players
- no subscription or download required
- browse by tags, genres and labels or an enhanced search engine
- a 7digital Locker provides access to personal collections from anywhere
- EMI’s entire DRM and DRM-free catalog in MP3 at 320kbps
- new exclusive video content for download
- Pan-European roll-out of the service in Q3 2007
MovieBeam to shut down on December 15
It hasn't even been a year since MovieBeam was sold by Disney to Hollywood Video owner Movie Gallery, but the service told customers this week that it will shut its doors on December 15. Some newer customers will be eligible for a refund on the hardware. Movie Gallery spent less than $10 million buying MovieBeam, a fraction of the $50 million it was recapitalized with last year after Disney spent a reported $70 million on the project. But this service has failed to achieve any critical mass, largely due to its high cost and unique delivery method that limited its ability to expand.
Grooveshark’s Having Another 29 Cent MP3 Download Sale
Just in time for holiday giving, download resale site Grooveshark is back with another 29 cent download sale. The sale runs December 5 - 12 throughout Hannukahand on December 25th Christmas day. Lots of hit and indie music with no limits and no strings (like DRM) attached.
Muze Surpasses 7.5 Billion Audio Streams
Muze Inc., a world leader in enabling entertainment commerce, today announced that the company’s digital music samples service, MuzeTunes®, had surpassed 7.5 billion music streams for their retail, mobile, and internet services clients. These streaming samples are utilized by more than 75 clients worldwide, including Amazon, AOL, CD Universe, House of Blues, Nellymoser, and Yahoo!, and are an essential aspect of music sales and services to consumers. Streaming samples enable consumers to “try before they buy” songs, CDs and digital albums. These samples are also used to link consumers to related works and artists which enables consumers to explore music on their mobile devices or on their personal computers and raises the average transaction values for Muze clients. When MuzeTunes is combined with Muze’s other media information search and discovery products such as MuzeMusic™, Muze Essential Artists™ or the Muze Encyclopedia of Popular Music®, the impact is even greater.
Live Nation rocks the music industry
The music business may be in turmoil, but Rapino couldn't be happier. He is the CEO of Live Nation, a two-year-old spinoff of Clear Channel that generated $4.4 billion in revenue in the past 12 months by running concert tours - more than any other outfit in the world - and owns venues large and small, like the House of Blues chain. The performance business is thriving, in oft-noted contrast to the selling of CDs, which has been buffeted by everything from the advent of file sharing to the disruptive effects of Steve Jobs' iPod (see "Power 25"). For years CDs were the cash cow, and artists toured to promote their albums. Today major artists make 75% of their earnings from touring.
Nabbr Secures Third Round Funding For Music Widget Marketing
Nabbr, a distributor of music videos via widgets, has completed a third round financing led by Allen & Co., a company representative said. The amount of this and the last two fundings were not disclosed. As we reported last July, music label S-Curve Records participated in its second round. In addition to Allen & Co. and S-Curve, New York-based Nabbr has attracted a number of new backers, including: Michael Wolfson, formerly of AOL and founder/CEO of Rocket Fuel; former Paramount Pictures CEO Jonathan Dolgen, president of Phoenix Pictures Arnold Messer; PrimaryWave Music Publishing founder Larry Mestel and former President of MDC Partners Steven Berns.
No comments:
Post a Comment