snapshot 6/4/08

Yahoo signs ad deals with Wal-Mart and CBS
EW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc., which is under pressure from Carl Icahn and other shareholders, on Wednesday announced a series of advertising deals with companies ranging from Wal-Mart Stores Inc to CBS Corp. The multiyear Wal-Mart deal makes Yahoo the primary marketing and sales channel for Walmart.com's display and video advertising. Yahoo also becomes the exclusive portal to resell the site's display inventory.


Rare Marley and Hendrix performances sold online
Vintage concert performances by such acts as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix will soon join the nearly 500 recordings already available for download purchase at the music and memorabilia site Wolfgang's Vault. The additions were made possible through a deal between Universal Music Group (UMG) and Wolfgang's Vault founder Bill Sagan. The recordings include live performances by UMG artists culled from thousands of concerts produced by late promoter Bill Graham, along with gems from other catalogs and archives dating back decades.


Last.fm Spreads To Major Sites
Last.fm has announced "In A Box" a new initiative that gives partners sites access to the company's personalized streaming radio services without leaving the host sites. "Last.fm In a Box" will be available via Bebo, Billboard.com, Break Media, CBS Television Stations, CBS Affiliates, eMusic, Frengo, Gigya, iGoogle, Live Nation, Meebo, MP3.com, Netvibes, Ning, Pageflakes, Photobucket, Piczo, Six Apart, Stardoll, WAYN.com and WordPress.com.

The service is dubbed "Last.fm in a Box" because... it is a complete and easy to implement "soundtrack for the Web" experience for users featuring millions of tracks from Last.fm’s catalog.


Universal Music Keeps Investing; Uber Stake Surfaces
Major labels are continuing to invest in emerging digital companies, part of a broader diversification strategy. Over the weekend, sources pointed Digital Music News to a Universal Music Group stake in Uber (uber.com), a startup that allows users to instantly create multimedia websites and blogs.

The Uber investment follows news of a Universal stake in Buzznet, the music-focused social network that recently purchased blogs Stereogum and Idolator. Specific percentages and valuations have not been disclosed on either bet, though at least one executive pointed to modest stakes. That suggests a more experimental approach, one that may also include a content distribution and promotion strategy.



FanDoodle Pays Fans To Sell Music
FanDoodle.com enables fans to distribute downloads for artists and labels and get paid for it. Unlike the Burnlounge pyramid scheme, which I understand finally went out of business, FanDoodle is straight forward and artist friendly.

Once music has been uploaded, fans place banner code or text links in their emails, websites, MySpace or Facebook pages, blogs, or forums. When someone purchases a download, the fan keeps 20%. While the ability to distribute downloads is not new, the ability to... instantly distribute them in partnership with their fans is. Potentially, an artist or label can sell music through thousands of distribution points rather than just a handful. It's $9.95 for set-up and artists receive 60% of sales. Fans and FanDoodle split the remaining 40%. Not a bargain but comparable to what most indie acts receive after iTunes and a distributor take their cut.