Monday, July 28, 2008

snapshot 7/28/08

Label merges software to build Fanbase
Fans of Atlantic Records acts like T.I., Shinedown and Simple Plan need only start up their computer to connect with their favorite artist, via Fanbase, a new application created by the label, Billboard has learned. The software uses Adobe AIR runtime technology to engage fans directly on their desktop: No Googling, repetitive clicking or downloading required. The so-called RIA -- rich Internet application -- merges an imeem music player, video content from YouTube and Brightcove, and a Meebo chat feature, plus up-to-date info on tour dates and new releases, into a single window.


Yahoo To Reimburse Customers Of DRM-Protected Music
Yahoo on Friday said it would reimburse customers who bought music that can no longer be easily played as a result of the Web portal shutting down its online music store. "You'll be compensated for whatever you paid for the music," Davis told InformationWeek. "We haven't said exactly what we will do, but we will take care of our customers."

The company planned to reimburse customers on a case-by-case basis, and has posted an FAQ page that includes a "contact customer care" button at the bottom for former Yahoo Music Store customers. Davis said customers could be reimbursed in several ways, including getting back the money they paid for the music or receiving MP3 versions without DRM technology, which means they can be imported into any music playing software.


Universal looks to bundled subscription service for the future
Universal believes that a bundled broadband plus music subscription package in the UK is an “inevitability”, after signing a deal with Sky to launch an innovative subscription plus download music service.

Universal Music Group International senior vice president of digital Rob Wells is unequivocal n believing his company has an enduring model. He states, “Universal believes that subscription is the future of music consumption.”


Five ways to make digital music sing
Crave checks in with an audiophile about the best options for a high-quality listening experience in the Digital Age.


Napster 2.0's sad song
Today, Napster, headquartered in Los Angeles, has only 760,000 subscribers who pay about $13 a month to listen to its library of 6 million songs. The company has never been profitable. Napster lost $16 million in its most recent fiscal year ending in March on what it described in a press release as "record revenues" of $127.5 million. Wall Street has pretty much given up. Napster's stock price has fallen 69% to $1.44 in the 3 1/2 years since its re-launch.


RAWRIP Pays 100% Download Royalty
RAWRIP, a new ad-supported music site and distribution service is paying indie artists 100% of royalties earned from downloaded tracks. Fans can stream music free and store songs in personal music libraries.
Beyond the site, artists can also sell their tracks via a 'Raw Store' widget that pays 100% from sales on websites, blogs, MySpace, Facebook, etc. 'The Rippler' is a proprietary exploration engine that analyzes each track by a number of characteristics that are indexed and cross-referenced with RAWRIP's catalogue of over 1 million songs.


Say So Long to an Old Companion: Cassette Tapes
While the cassette was dumped long ago by the music industry, it has lived on among publishers of audio books. Many people prefer cassettes because they make it easy to pick up in the same place where the listener left off, or to rewind in case a certain sentence is missed. For Hachette, however, demand had slowed so much that it released its last book on cassette in June, with “Sail,” a novel by James Patterson and Howard Roughan.

The funeral at Hachette — an office party in the audio-book department — mirrored the broader demise of cassettes, which gave vinyl a run for its money before being eclipsed by the compact disc.

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