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MSN Video to Offer Free Live Webcast of New Orleans Jazz Festival

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 28, 2006 - 8:54am.
Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft has announced that its MSN Video unit will provide an exclusive live webcast and on-demand video highlights from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. In addition to performances, MSN will offer artist photos, interviews, feature stories, playlists and other content. Beginning on April 30, MSN Video will webcast performances from artists including Bruce Springsteen, Herbie Hancock, Elvis Costello, Keb' Mo' and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. MSN plans to donate all advertising proceeds from the show to New Orleans Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
tags: Video | MSN | Offer | Free | Webcast | Orleans Jazz |

NBC Debuts New TV Show with Free First Episode on iTunes

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 3:19am.
New York - NBC this week premiered its new prime time legal drama "Conviction" on Apple's iTunes Store, offering a free download of the series' hour-long pilot episode. The pilot will remain available until the show's network television premiere on March 3; future episodes will be sold on iTunes for $1.99 each on the day after they first air on television. "We believe we have a youthful and energetic cast that should appeal to a new audience increasingly comfortable with this downloadable format as a viewing option, and we want to reach out to these viewers," NBC Entertainment Group CEO Jeff Zucker told The Hollywood Reporter.
tags: TV | NBC | Show | Free | Episode | iTune | Debuts |

Wolfgang's Vault Offering Free Streams of Vintage Bill Graham Concerts

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 13, 2006 - 10:41am.
Nashville - A 75-song playlist of live performances, recorded at San Francisco's Fillmore and other venues by the late promoter Bill Graham, has been made available for free streaming online, Billboard reported on Monday. The 128kbps vintage recordings, from artists including Bob Dylan, Santana and Jefferson Airplane, are available from Wolfgang's Vault, a site set up by entrepreneur Bill Sagan -- who purchased a treasure trove of nearly 8,000 audio and video recordings for $5 million following Graham's death in 1991. Sagan is also looking to release CDs and DVDs of Bill Graham Presents concerts by the end of the year.
tags: Offer | Free | Stream | Concert | Wolfgang's Vault |

BBC News Offers Free, Remixable Video Clips to U.K. Users

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 3, 2006 - 8:01am.
London - BBC News announced that it has opened up its online video archive to U.K. Internet users, who are free to download clips and re-use them at their leisure. The Open News Archive will contain clips including BBC footage of the 1966 England World Cup team, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The video will be offered under the Creative Archive License, which allows users to freely edit and remix the video for their own purposes. "This trial is an important step in allowing us to share with our audiences the extraordinary news archive which the BBC has recorded over the years," said BBC News director Helen Boaden. "We look forward to getting their reaction."
tags: U.K | Free | Video Clips | BBC News | Remixable |

Study: More Than One-Third of Mobile Game Downloads Are Free

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 27, 2005 - 7:21am.
San Francisco - About two-thirds (64%) of all mobile games downloaded last quarter cost money, while the remaining one-third was free, according to a new study by San Francisco-based Telephia. The company said that puzzle and strategy mobile games have the highest percentage of free downloads (48%), while consumers paid an average of $4.29 to download action and adventure games, the most of any category. "At this early stage of the game, publishers are employing different strategies with pricing and promotional incentives to learn what will gain the most traction with consumers and deliver the best revenue performance outcome," said Kanishka Agarwal, Telephia's vice president of new products.
tags: Downloads | Free | Mobile Game | Study |

AOL to Offer Exclusive Video, Music Content for Free

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 14, 2005 - 9:42am.
Dulles, Va. -- Looking for a way to boost its advertising revenue, America Online plans to make the bulk of its subscription music and video offerings available for free, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. The Internet company, which has seen its subscriber base dwindle with the rise of broadband access, plans to go live with a new test version of its AOL.com portal on June 21, and formally launch it next month amidst a blitz of online, radio and print advertising. Subscribers will still have exclusive access to some content, including sections for kids and teens, and other features such as e-mail security, parental controls, software and support. With internal studies showing that AOL's exclusive content wasn't having a major effect on its ability to retain subscribers, "the company decided to make that available to a wider audience for free in hopes of gaining more online real estate to sell to advertisers," the AP reported. AOL's revenue dropped 3% in the first quarter, and its subscriber base -- once approaching 27 million -- has now fallen below 22 million.
tags: Video | AOL | Free | Musics |

Report: 44% of Users Want Free Video for Cell Phones; Only 19% Will Pay

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 19, 2005 - 7:25am.
New York -- Forty-four percent of online consumers are interested in viewing free video on their cell phones, but only 19% say they are willing to pay for it, according to a new survey by market research firm JupiterResearch. The firm said that the lack of network coverage, high prices for both handsets and service and limited access to real time content will dampen consumer interest in the near future. "Although consumer interest in mobile video is strong, the cell phone will remain a voice-centric device in the near term," said Julie Ask, research director at JupiterResearch. Only 4% of consumers cited the ability to watch video as a priority feature for them when purchasing their next handset.
tags: Video | Reports | Cell Phones | Free | Pay |

RealNetworks Updates Rhapsody With Free, Unlimited, Portable Versions

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 26, 2005 - 7:10am.
Seattle -- RealNetworks on Tuesday launched a new three-tiered version of its Rhapsody digital music service, offering a free version alongside new portable and unlimited options. "Rhapsody 25" lets users listen to, and share 25 tracks each month for free. For $9.99 per month, Rhapsody Unlimited lets users download and access an unlimited number of tracks from Real's library of one million songs -- as long as they remain subscribers -- or else pay an additional $0.89 per song and $8.99 per album for permanent downloads. The Rhapsody To Go service, which includes all features of the Unlimited tier, adds the ability to transfer an unlimited number of tracks to supported MP3 players for $14.99 per month.
tags: RealNetworks | Rhapsody | Free | Unlimited | Portable Versions |

Danish Library Service Offering Free Music Downloads to Patrons

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 31, 2003 - 4:20am.
Copenhagen -- The Copenhagen Post reported on Friday on a new nationwide Danish library service that lets patrons browse and download songs from a 700-track catalog -- including major label artists -- for free. The site, nicknamed "Project Nemus," requires prospective users to register and download a proprietary music player that expires each song download after 30 days, making them unplayable. A limited version of the service has been offered since November 2002 by the Danish Library Service, which said around 900 patrons had used it before its recent nationwide launch.
tags: Downloads | Free | Musics | Danish Library | Patrons |