Briefly NotedDigital Media Association Head Jon Potter ResignsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 12:09pm.
Washington
- Jonathan Potter has resigned as executive director of the Digital Media
Association (DiMA), a trade group representing the interests of larger
webcasters and technology firms that he founded in 1998. "I am grateful to
DiMA's member companies for allowing me to serve them -- and their innovative
technologies and services and their passionate people -- for so long and in so
many exciting ways. I hope that my next adventure is as challenging and
rewarding," said Potter. DiMA general counsel Lee Knife will serve as
interim executive director while the organization searches for a replacement.
Report: U.S. Labels Concerned on Spotify Premium ConversionsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 12:02pm.
London - The major record
labels are reportedly concerned about the percentage of U.S. users
likely to pay for ad-supported streaming music service Spotify's for-pay
premium version, the Financial Times reported. Spotify, which is available in
several European countries, had planned to launch in the U.S. in the
fall, but recently said it would delay the launch to 2010. "We think
Spotify is a great service but they're going to have to convince us they can
convert enough people from free to paid subscriptions to make it worth our
while," one label executive told FT.
YouTube Debuts Automated Closed CaptioningAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 12:01pm.
Mountain View,
Calif. - Google (NASD: GOOG) announced on
Thursday that it has combined its automatic speech recognition technology with
the YouTube close captioning system, to offer automatic captioning of YouTube
videos. The company acknowledged that the automatic captions "will not
always be perfect," but can improve accessibility and help translate
videos into other languages. YouTube also added automatic caption timing, so
that users captioning videos by hand can simply create a text file, and let
Google's automatic speech recognition sync their captions to the video.
Wall Street Journal Counts 30,000 Kindle SubscribersAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 12:00pm.
New York
- News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) The Wall Street Journal currently counts around 30,000
subscribers via Amazon's (NASD: AMZN) Kindle e-book reader, PaidContent reported, citing
comments made by Down Jones head Les Hinton on Thursday. With a subscription
fee of $15 per month, that translates to about $5.4 million in annual revenues
-- although PaidContent notes that Dow Jones's cut would be less than half that
figure.
tags: Newspapers | E-Books | News Corp. | Publishing | Amazon.com | Kindle | The Wall Street Journal |
Susan Boyle CD Breaks Amazon.com Pre-Order RecordAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 11:58am.
Seattle
- Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) said on Thursday that reality TV singing star Susan Boyle's
forthcoming album, "I Dreamed a Dream," has become the largest global
pre-order CD in the company's history. Boyle racked up millions of views on
YouTube for her performances on "Britain's Got Talent."
Movie Gallery to Test Digiboo Digital Download KiosksAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 11:57am.
Los Angeles
- Digiboo, a new digital media firm that is developing digital movie kiosks, on
Thursday announced a distribution deal with Movie Gallery, the parent company
of Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery stores. A pilot program will see Digiboo
kiosks placed in up to 100 of Movie Gallery's stores. The kiosks allow
consumers to plug in a portable flash drive, and select from 1,000 titles to
rent or purchase, which are then downloaded to the drive in under 30 seconds.
BBC to Launch All-U.K. Radio Station Streamer Next YearAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 11:55am.
London - The BBC announced on Thursday that it has partnered
with a number of U.K. radio broadcasters to launch an online radio player
application that includes streams from every licensed station in the U.K. Set
to launch early next year, the UK Radioplayer will offered live and on-demand
content from more than 400 stations. Partners in the venture include
RadioCentre, Global Radio and Guardian Media Group.
MySpace Debuts Music ChartsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 11:54am.
Los Angeles
- News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace on Thursday introduced its own MySpace Music Charts,
which will provide data on the most popular music amongst MySpace Music users.
The charts will run across all genres, and include real-time data on current
trends.
Facebook Alters Privacy PolicyAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 1:24pm.
Palo Alto,
Calif. - Facebook has instituted
a new privacy policy, following a comment period during which some 7,000 of the
service's 300 million users provided feedback on the proposed changes. The company
simplified the language of the policy, and plans to add definitions of key
terms, screen shots of important pages, and informational "learn
more" videos.
Vevo to Debut Music Video Portal on Dec. 8Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 1:23pm.
New York
- Vevo, the music video joint venture between Sony Music and Universal Music
that will use technology from Google's (NASD: GOOG) YouTube, is set to launch on Dec. 8, the
company announced via its Twitter feed. The labels hope the standalone site will
help them further monetize their music videos -- which are the most-watched
content on all of YouTube.
Universal Music Licenses Ad-Supported Download Site GuveraAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 1:21pm.
New York - Universal Music Group
on Wednesday announced a deal to provide free, legal downloads to Guvera, an
Australia-based, ad-supported download site that plans to launch in the U.S. in
February. Launched in 2008, Guvera asks users to fill out demographic profiles
and brand preferences, and in turn receive free downloads accompanied by
targeted advertisements.
RealNetworks to Power Mobile Music for France's SFRAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 1:20pm.
Seattle
- RealNetworks (NASD: RNWK) announced on Wednesday that it has signed a three-year deal to
power the mobile music service for France-based mobile network operator SFR. Real
said its mobile music services are now deployed with 15 providers in 14
countries, including 11 in Europe.
Blockbuster Expands Online Game Rental Pilot to SeattleAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 1:19pm.
Dallas - Video rental chain
Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) on Wednesday announced that it will expand a pilot test of its
online game rental service to Seattle, after
launching in Cleveland
earlier this year. The $7.99 Games By Mail service is available to Blockbuster
Online movie rental subscribers, and allows unlimited monthly rentals with one
game out at time.
YouTube Direct Aims to Connect Citizens, JournalistsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 12:28pm.
San Bruno,
Calif. - Google's (NASD: GOOG) YouTube on
Tuesday introduced YouTube Direct, a new application that aims to place citizen
journalism videos in front of media organizations for potential rebroadcast. Users
can upload newsworthy videos directly to the application. YouTube said outlets
including ABC News, Huffington Post, NPR, Politico and the Washington Post are
already using the application to source news video.
Cox, NBC Universal Trial Dynamic VOD AdsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 12:27pm.
Atlanta
- Cable TV provider Cox Communications and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) on Tuesday announced a
trial of dynamic advertising on Cox's video-on-demand service. The trial will
see different ads rotated into on-demand prime-time programs including NBC's
"The Office" and USA's
"Monk." Up to four ads or promos will be served to viewers at the
beginning, as well as within the program.
PBS, NPR Stations Debut Forum Network Lecture SiteAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 12:26pm.
Boston - PBS, NPR and WGBH on Tuesday re-launched the Forum
Network, a national digital media lecture service and website that provides
free educational content featuring thinkers, scientists, policymakers, artists,
authors and community leaders. The site began as part of Boston's WGBH, but through funding from PBS,
NPR, CPB and the Lowell Institute, was re-launched as a national platform.
Mail.com Media Corp. Debuts HollywoodLife.comAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 12:24pm.
New York
- Mail.com Media Corporation (MMC) on Tuesday announced the launch of
HollywoodLife.com, a new female-focused celebrity and entertainment news
website headed by former US Weekly editor Bonnie Fuller. The site's content
will additionally be distributed by iVillage and AOL Popeater. MMC also operates
Movieline.com, which is run by the former editorial team at Defamer, and
Deadline.com, which features veteran entertainment journalist Nikki Finke.
TIME's Josh Tyrangiel Named Editor of BusinessWeekAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 12:23pm.
New York
- Bloomberg announced on Tuesday that it has hired Josh Tyrangiel to be editor
of its newly-acquired BusinessWeek magazine. Tyrangiel is currently deputy
managing editor of TIME magazine and managing editor of TIME.com.
AFTRA Accepts New Video Game ContractAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 16, 2009 - 1:23pm.
Los Angeles
- Members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) voted
2-to-1 in favor of approving a new labor contract with video game developers
and publishers, the guild said last week. The new 15-month deal includes a 2.5%
increase in pay. A similar contract with game publishers was recently rejected
by the Screen Actors Guild.
Twitter to Replace "Suggested Users" ListAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 16, 2009 - 1:21pm.
San Francisco
- Twitter will do away with its list of "suggested users," some 500
people the company picks out of its 54 million user base to promote to other Twitter
users, the Associated Press reported. "That list will be going away,"
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone told reporters. "In its stead will be
something that is more programmatically chosen, something that actually
delivers more relevant suggestions." AP notes that the list had drawn
controversy, for instance, for allegedly favoring Democrats over Republicans in
California's gubernatorial
race.
tags: Publishing | Twitter |
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