Thursday, March 27, 2008

snapshot 3/27/08

Teens turn deaf ear to risks of MP3 players
Teenagers seem to know that loud music can damage their hearing, yet most see no reason to lower the volume on their iPods, a small study suggests.


Music Outlaws, There's a New Sheriff in Town
Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s Warner Music Group has tapped industry veteran Jim Griffin to spearhead a controversial plan to bundle a monthly fee into consumers' Internet service bills for unlimited access to music. The plan—the boldest move yet to keep the wounded entertainment industry giants afloat—is simple: Consumers will pay a monthly fee, bundled into an internet service bill in exchange for unfettered access to a database of all known music.

"Today, it has become purely voluntary to pay for music," Griffin told Portfolio.com in an exclusive sitdown this week. "If I tell you to go listen to this band, you could pay, or you might not. It's pretty much up to you. So the music business has become a big tip jar."


New AT&T Wireless service serves up music from your own PC
AT&T today announced two new music services for its consumers to directly access their library of music directly through their phones. The Make-UR-Tones service is designed to allow users to create and customize any ringtone, while Remix lets users access music from their home PC through a mobile phone. Napster Mobile will be available on more AT&T phones starting this summer, the company said.

The release of mSpot Make-UR-Tones -- available only by phone via the AT&T Media Mall -- makes AT&T the first US mobile phone carrier that allows subscribers to create and modify a ringtone from parts of a song. Ringtones can vary in length from one second up to 30 seconds. Make-UR-Tones costs $6.99 per month for three ringtones. Other customizable ringtones are available a la carte for $2.99 each. The service is available only on the Samsung SYNC, Samsung A737, Samsung A747 and Motorola V3xx, but will expand to phones from other manufacturers soon. Remix streams songs from users' Internet-connected PCs directly to phones, where they are stored in memory. The service is available now for $9.99 per month, for 75 music tracks per month. An additional 10 songs per month can be downloaded for an extra $2.99. Remix is available on the Samsung A737, Samsung SYNC, and LG SHINE phones.


Cox launches co-branded Rhapsody music service
Continuing its efforts to broaden the reach of its music service, Real on Thursday announced a deal with Cox, the third largest cable provider in the US.


New Borders Prototype is a Digital Experience
Borders Books & Music last month unveiled a new concept store highlighted by a multitude of digital experiences. The first store to feature the prototype opened on Feb. 22 in Borders' hometown of Ann Arbor, MI. The company plans to open 13 more in 2008, including a Las Vegas unit debuting in April and seven others in May.

The digital center has usurped a majority of the former music department, carrying a downsized inventory of product and a large amount of technological services. (Borders alluded to the change in its year-end financial release, reporting a decline in music sales and a plan to "reallocate floor space" accordingly.) Services in the digital center consist of:
  • Borders Digital Music, which enables shoppers to burn CDs and download music to digital music players from the chain's music library.
  • Personal Publishing, a service powered by the Lulu.com digital marketplace. Shoppers can publish their own books and register for an International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
  • Genealogy Searches. A partnership with Ancestry.com lets shoppers search that company's website from kiosks or sign up for an Ancestry.com subscription.
  • Downloadable Digital Audiobooks, which Borders claims is the first "audiobook download service in a physical retail environment." The retailer offers approximately 15,000 titles.
  • Custom Photo Books, an area where shoppers can digitally create and personalize photo albums that will be shipped to them upon completion.
  • Photo Printing, where shoppers can print photos from a digital camera.

Borders also is merchandising products related to the services, including digital cameras and photo frames, GPS devices and Sony's Reader Digital Book.


who’s really number two?
This morning I read with some surprise in USA Today that Amazon is “No. 2 in digital [music] sales since opening nearly six months ago.” Amazon’s entry into this market last year was an important milestone in the continuing irrelevance of DRM and the overly restrictive and anti-consumer policies that the music industry has foolishly wielded in this new, digital age. But let’s get one thing straight: outside of iTunes, no one sells more music digitally than eMusic, and we don’t plan on giving up that title anytime soon.


Orange Tries Ad Supported Mobile Music
European mobile operator Orange has launch an ad-supported content trial on its mobile internet platform, Orange World. In the UK 800,000 of Orange’s 15.6 million EU-wide customers can download music to their mobile handsets.

Steve Ricketts, Head of Third Party Services, Orange UK said: “We believe this ad-funded content model will drive adoption and usage of services, and deliver better value content to our customers. Whilst the trial is initially set for music we are also intending to test this across other content areas, such as games. The mobile is an incredibly personal device and our ad-funded content offer gives advertisers a great opportunity to reach a new audience”.

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