Breaking Digital Marketing News

uSocial Lets You Buy Twitter-Followers

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 7:57am.

Australia - How is this for an innovative social media marketing idea? An Australian marketing company called  uSocial is offering a paid service that finds followers for users of the micro-blogging service Twitter. Is it cheating? You decide.

Gannett To Lay Off 1,400, Digital Units Safe

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 6:47am.
New York - Newspaper publisher Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI), owner of USA Today and dozens other newspapers, plans to cut 1,400 jobs in the next few weeks, as a result of decreased advertising revenue.

Hype Machine Outs Bands it Thinks Manipulated Charts

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 1, 2009 - 9:22am.
Los Angeles - Hype Machine, an aggregator of music based on coverage and buzz generated on blogs, has made changes to its chart of popular songs after it found allege manipulation of some of the placements. The company found that multiple fake accounts had been created whose only actions were to favorite a single band's songs, upping their ranking. Hype Machine also went as far as to name the bands "who (or their managers, promoters, interns, determined fans, there is no way to ultimately know) we believe have attempted to manipulate the charts on the Hype Machine."

Simage Gets $1.4 Million for Custom Digital TV in Bars

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 30, 2009 - 4:33am.
Chicago - Simage, the operator of a digital ad and programming network for bars and restaurants, has raised $1.4 million in angel funding, from investors including Horizon Investment Partners, Victory Records founder Tony Brummel, and individual angels.

Internet Marketing Firm ClickFuel Lands $2.5 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 26, 2009 - 7:01am.
Boston - ClickFuel, a provider of Internet marketing services to small and mid-sized businesses, has raised $2.5 million in its first round of funding, led by Baird Venture Partners.

EA Merges Bioware, Mythic Studios; Inks Dr. Pepper Promo Deal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 25, 2009 - 12:37pm.
Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) is consolidating its Bioware and Mythic game development studios into a single unit that develops massively multiplayer titles, but both studios will keep their existing names. Mythic co-founder Mark Jacobs will leave the company; the new group will be headed by Bioware co-founder Ray Muzyka, while Mythic's other co-founder, Rob Denton, will be general manager at Mythic. EA on Thursday also announced a new multimillion-dollar marketing deal with soft drink maker Dr. Pepper. Under the agreement, special codes found on more than 500 million Dr. Pepper products will unlock exclusive content and levels on select EA titles, including The Sims 3.

Report: Yahoo Planning Major Rebranding

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 25, 2009 - 8:53am.
Sunnyvale, Calif. - Looking to reshape its image, Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) is at work on a major rebranding campaign that may be tied to the expected launch of its redesigned home page this fall, All Things D reported.
tags: Marketing | Yahoo |

ReverbNation Offers Artists Cash in 'Sponsored Songs' Promotion

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 24, 2009 - 12:03pm.
New York - ReverbNation, a provider of online music marketing services, on Wednesday announced a new Sponsored Songs program that will provide up to 1,000 artists the opportunity to earn money when their songs are downloaded by fans. Each song will incorporate "a small section of branded messaging within the digital cover art," with the artist paid 50 cents for each qualified download. The songs will also be "tracked as they are passed from fan to fan allowing the brand sponsor to capture ongoing value as the music is shared virally."

The Echo Nest Debuts Fanalytics Music Marketing Platform

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 24, 2009 - 12:01pm.
Somerville, Mass. - The Echo Nest, the provider of a "music intelligence" platform, on Wednesday announced the launch of its Fanalytics platform, which "applies patented Web crawling, machine learning and semantic Web technology to help artists and labels better understand, locate and build their online fan base." Initial customers include Universal's Interscope Records, Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group, Sony's RCA, and indie distributor The Orchard.

AOL Music Integrates StubHub Ticket Marketplace

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 24, 2009 - 12:00pm.
San Francisco - StubHub, the secondary ticket marketplace owned by eBay, announced that it has partnered with Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) AOL Music, which will integrate its Fan to Fan marketplace into AOL Music to offer users instant access to tickets. The deal will enable AOL Music users to buy or sell concert tickets from almost every page of the site.

The Orchard Teams With Music Intelligence Solutions

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 23, 2009 - 11:38am.
New York - The Orchard, a digital distributor and marketer of independent music, said on Tuesday that it has partnered with Music Intelligence Solutions, provider of the Hit Song Science prediction technology. Under the deal MIS's uPlaya digital music and discovery service will license The Orchard's catalog for use in new artist promotional applications for Web and mobile. The Orchard will also distribute music predicted to be popular by the company's Hit Song Science and Music Universe services.

FTC to Issue Guidelines on Blogger Disclosures, Compensation

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2009 - 10:58am.
Washington - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plans to issue new guidelines for bloggers who accept products, monetary compensation or other gifts in return for writing about the providers of said gifts, the Associated Press reported.

Social Media Payment Platform oneTXT Gets $2 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2009 - 8:14am.
New York - Social media payment platform oneTXT said on Monday that it has closed a $2 million first round of financing, led by Metamorphic Ventures.

YCD Multimedia Lands $12 Million for In-Store Digital Network

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2009 - 6:48am.
New York - YCD Multimedia, a provider of in-store digital media systems for retailers, announced on Monday that it has raised $12 million in new financing, led by Pitango Venture Capital and Arts Alliance Digital.

Guest Column: Why Facebook Will Fail

Authored by dmw on June 17, 2009 - 10:44am.

Last reports I saw had Facebook at over 200 million active worldwide unique users (and growing) and an estimated $200m-plus in annual revenue in 2008. Pretty kooky to claim it'll be a failure, eh? Let me start by saying that social networking itself is a utility that is not routinely differentiated by any particular protectable intellectual property. It's a utility that demonstrates a better way for the online and mobile web audience at-large to connect with each other. But it's also a utility that ultimately threatens to be its own worst enemy.

Waterproof Headphones Firm H2O Audio Signs Michael Phelps

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2009 - 12:58pm.
San Diego - H2O Audio, a manufacturer of waterproof headphones and accessories for MP3 players and other consumer electronics, announced on Tuesday that it has signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with 16-time Olympic medalist swimmer Michael Phelps. Phelps' imagery and voice will be integrated into select product packaging, advertisements and displays at retailers including Apple Stores, Best Buy and Target, as well as online.

Live Nation to Offer $24.99 Lawn Seats on Wednesday

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 15, 2009 - 11:54am.
Los Angeles - Further expanding its "no convenience fees" summer concert ticket sales promotion, Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) said on Monday that it will offer "all-in" $24.99 lawn seat tickets to events at all of its amphitheaters on Wednesday. The website-only promotion will apply to Live Nation-ticketed amphitheaters, and users will pay "no additional fees of any kind" over the listed $24.99 price point.

Clear Channel to Offer Artist-Programmed Web Radio Stations

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 12, 2009 - 8:31am.
New York - Clear Channel Radio has partnered with artist management firm Front Line to launch a new series of artist-programmed Internet radio stations, Billboard reported.

Trent Reznor to Ditch Social Networks; Complains "Idiots Rule"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 11, 2009 - 12:24pm.
Los Angeles - Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, who abandoned the major label system and has been testing various online distribution models, has announced that he will be "tuning out" of social networking sites. After delving into social networks as a means of giving fans more access to his personal life, including a Twitter account where he spoke of his personal life, Reznor said he "will be tuning out of the social networking sites because at the end of the day it's now doing more harm than good in the bigger picture and the experiment seems to have yielded a result. Idiots rule."

Walmart.com, In-Store TV to Feature Jonas Brothers Concert

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 9, 2009 - 12:23pm.
Brisbane, Calif. - Retail giant Walmart (NYSE: WMT) on Tuesday posted an exclusive concert from Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Jonas Brothers, in addition to behind-the-scenes interviews, on Walmart.com. The promotion will also see the video shown in Walmart stores through Walmart TV beginning on June 15, a day before the release of the group's new album.