What does social networking and music have in common? Quite a lot. Consider the meteoric rise of MySpace. Music is entwined with popular culture, interests, and friends, the stuff of networking....
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Filed in archive Companies
by Marc on January 30, 2006
napster admitted to laying off 10 people, about 7% of its 153 person workforce, in response to earlier rumors about company troubles, The company tried to spin it, referring to "redundancies...
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Filed in archive People
by Marc on January 30, 2006
More on why Steve Jobs sold to Apple. Bob Cringely writes that it's liquidity for his family: "The guy had 80 percent of his wealth tied-up in Pixar. That kind of holding is very difficult...
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Filed in archive Companies
, People
by Marc on January 29, 2006
David Coursey raises an excellent question in Pixar Promises Change for Disney's Media. Now that he's the biggest stockholder in Disney, will he be able to effect change? I think the answer...
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Filed in archive Companies
by Marc on January 28, 2006
Yahoo has been an aggressive player into the digital music market with its low subscription pricing. Yahoo extends this effort with a play in the home with a wireless deal with Linksys, a home...
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Filed in archive Companies
by Marc on January 27, 2006
Emmis Communications, the 9th largest US radio network group is installing ad-insertion technology from dMarc, which Google recently bought for $1.2 billion. More on the technology: "[dMarc]...
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Filed in archive Legal
by Marc on January 27, 2006
It had to happen. Someone is stepping up to fund the defense of a consumer P2P copyright infringement lawsuit. The surprise is that it's a music company. Independent Canadian record label...
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Filed in archive Companies
by Marc on January 26, 2006
Video music pioneer MTV announced it was ready for the next century with a huge organizational change that emphasizes digital content. "The strategy revolves around building an engaging universe...
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Filed in archive Government
by Marc on January 25, 2006
Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) President and CEO Gary Shapiro testified before a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the broadcast and audio flags. The audio flag is another giveaway to the...
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Filed in archive Companies
by Marc on January 23, 2006
iMesh, the first P2P developer to offer a P2P service authorized by RIAA, announced the availability of major label music through MusicNet. MusicNet provides the largest music library in the industry...
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Filed in archive Companies
by Marc on January 23, 2006
Digital Music News reported good news, bad news for Napster. While Napster surpassed 500,000 subscribers, its financial losses continued with rumors of layoffs and a sale. From the article:...
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Edward Felten analyzes Googe's DRM (Digital Rights Management) used for its new video service. Here is an excerpt: "Last week Google introduced its video service, which lets users download...
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Filed in archive MP3 Players
by Marc on January 23, 2006
TVMyPod announced it is selling pre-loaded video iPods. Several firms already provide a similar service for music. The videos includes popular TV shows and movies. Unlike P2P downloading, the TVMyPod...
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GUEST POST The Clarion-Ledger had an article on the dangers of not monitoring what your kid's gadgets can download and view from the internet. Many of the little gizmos that kids have found under...
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Filed in archive Industry
by Marc on January 20, 2006
IFPI, the international music industry association issued its report for the state of digital music in 2005. Key findings: * There are 2 million songs online, double from last year * Mobile music...
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Filed in archive Companies
by Marc on January 19, 2006
The Orchard is one of the largest distributors of independent music. Founded in 1997, the company counts over 700,000 songs in its catalog and sells through 125 digital music stores and 200 mobile...
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Filed in archive Industry
by Marc on January 10, 2006
Digital MP3 player sales surpassed analog CD players in 2005. While digital music media sales are a tiny fraction of CD sales, the changeover in technology and format makes it clear that the future is...
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Filed in archive Industry
by Marc on January 10, 2006
2005 was a record year for digital music. At the same time P2P use continues to grow. Christmas was a fabulous week. 20 million Tracks were sold in the last week of the year, three times the previous...
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Filed in archive MP3 Players
by Marc on January 07, 2006
A new product called TraxCatcher is an MP3 player that creates mp3 files from FM radio. TraxCatcher embeds product serial numbers in the file, which could be used to track files that are shared, such...
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Filed in archive Legal
by Marc on January 05, 2006
Michael Weiss, CEO of StreamCast Networks, developer of morpheus, said that Streamcast is talking with the entertainment industry to settle their lawsuit. The Supreme Court in May 2005 created a new...
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Filed in archive MP3 Players
by Marc on January 05, 2006
MP3 player sales increased 200% in 2005 to $3 billion. Overall US consumer electronics sales are expected to total $135.4 billion in 2006, including $4.5 billlion for digital music players. The...
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Filed in archive Major Labels
by Marc on January 04, 2006
Sony BMG is paying the price for distributing damaging DRM software on their CDs. In response to state investigations and class action lawsuits Sony BMG is proposing to offer a choice for 11 million...
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Filed in archive Retail
by Marc on January 04, 2006
Motorola hopes to takes over the phone music market the way Apple won the digital music player market. Music service details and marketing PR copy from their press release are below. "Motorola...
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Filed in archive Legal
by Marc on January 04, 2006
New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is investigating the major record labels again. He issued subpoenas looking at how the labels price music for digital distribution. Apple has been...
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