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Mark HefflingerIndie Label Collective Merlin Signs MySpace Music DealAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 9:00am.
 Los Angeles
- MySpace Music, the joint venture between the News Corp.-owned (NYSE: NWS) social network
and the major record labels, on Monday announced a global licensing agreement
with Merlin, which represents independent labels accounting for 10% of global
music sales. The parties did not say whether Merlin received any equity stake
in MySpace Music, although Merlin did note that they have agreed on an "indie
participation plan" for Merlin labels and artists, representing "an
opportunity to participate in and benefit from the financial growth of MySpace
Music with very minimal threshold qualifications."
tags: Marketing | Social Networking | Music | MySpace | Indie | News Corp. | Merlin | MySpace Music |
Sony to Launch Online Entertainment Store in 2010Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 11:23am.
 Tokyo
- Sony (NYSE: SNE) announced plans on Friday to launch a new online store next year that will sell books, music and movies next year, and deliver content to
networked televisions and other devices. The company did not provide many
details about the "Sony Online Service," as it is tentatively being
called, but is expected to be positioned as a competitor to Apple's iTunes
Store.
tags: Games | Video | TV | Sony | Apple | Movies | Publishing | Books | iTunes Store | Sony Online Service |
Google Book Settlement Gets Preliminary Approval; Hearing in 2010Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 11:02am.
 New York
- The judge overseeing the settlement agreement between Google (NASD: GOOG) and authors and
publishers over the direction of its massive book-scanning project has pushed a
hearing on a revised settlement back to Feb. 18, while at the same time granted
preliminary approval to the new deal. "The preliminary approval order
sends a positive initial message; this agreement promises to benefit readers
and researchers, and enhance the ability of authors and publishers to
distribute their content in digital form," Google said in a statement.
tags: Law | Lawsuits | Google | Copyright | E-Books | Publishing | Books | Authors Guild | Google Book Search |
eBay Completes Sale of Skype Unit to Investor GroupAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 9:34am.
 San Jose,
Calif. - Nearly three months
after first announcing the deal, online auction giant eBay (NASD: EBAY) said that it has
completed the sale of a majority stake in its Skype Internet telephone business
to an investment group headed by Silver Lake Partners. Under the deal, the
investor group -- which also included Joltid Limited, the Canada Pension Plan
Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz -- paid $1.9 billion and a $125
million note in exchange for a 70% stake in the unit.
tags: Deals | eBay | Acquisitions | Skype | Silver Lake Partners | Andreessen Horowitz | Canada Pension Plan Investment Board | Joltid | Janus Friis | Niklas Zennstrom |
MySpace to Acquire imeem Music Streaming ServiceAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 9:29am.
 Los Angeles
- News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace has agreed to acquire streaming music service imeem for
an undisclosed sum, although sources told CNET News.com that the deal is valued
at about $8 million. The deal reportedly includes a payment of $1 million in
cash, as well as earn outs and accounts receivable.
Dell, China Mobile to Launch Mini 3i Smartphone This MonthAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 11:42am.
Beijing, China - PC maker Dell (NASD: DELL) said on Monday that China
Mobile will be the first operator to sell its new Mini 3i smartphone, set to
launch in China
later this month. The device features a 3.5-inch multi-touch display,
3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, GPS and up to 32GB of memory. Dell said the Mini
3i is "the result of a year-long collaboration with China Mobile,"
which counts over 500 million subscribers.
MOG to Launch Music Subscription Service Next WeekAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 11:40am.
Berkeley,
Calif. - MOG, a network of
user-created music blogs that counts 10 million monthly visitors, said on
Monday that it will launch its previously announced subscription-based music
streaming service on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The unlimited streaming service, which
has secured licensing from all four major record labels, will cost $5 per month.
Nintendo Debuts Wii Pay-per-View Service in JapanAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 11:39am.
Los Angeles - Nintendo has
launched a pay-per-view programming service for its Wii video game console in Japan, Variety
reports. The "Wii's Room" service launches with 12 content partners
and around 120 titles, including episodes of "Sesame Street," which range in price
from 33 cents to $5.60 each. Partners initially include Toei, TV Asahi, NHK
Enterprises, NTV and Yoshimoto Kogyo, with Disney Japan slated to join by year's end.
Roku TV Set-top Service Adds 10 New Content PartnersAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 11:38am.
Saratoga,
Calif. - Roku, a maker of
network-connected TV set-top boxes, said on Monday that it has added content
from ten new partners to its "Channel Store," including Blip.tv,
Facebook, Flickr, Pandora and Revision3. The set-top also offers television
access to streaming content from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand and MLB.TV.
Smashwords to Distribute E-books on Amazon Kindle StoreAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 11:37am.
Los Gatos,
Calif. - Smashwords, a publisher
and distributor of independently-published e-books, announced on Monday that it
will supply its catalog to Amazon.com's (NASD: AMZN) Kindle Store. Smashwords says it will
pay authors and publishers 42.5% of the digital list price set by the author
for e-book sales through Amazon. The company, which distributes over 4,800
titles from 2,200 authors and 80 small publishers, also recently signed
distribution deals with Barnes & Noble and Sony.
Facebook, Zynga Face Class Action Suit Over Offer-based AdsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 11:35am.
Sacramento,
Calif. - A class action suit has
been filed against Facebook and social network gaming firm Zynga, over
"offer-based" advertisements that allegedly resulted in users being
billed for unwanted services, Valleywag reported.
Mobile TV Chipmaker Telegent to Raise Up to $250M in IPOAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 11:14am.
Sunnyvale,
Calif. - Telegent Systems, a developer
of semiconductors that enable mobile TV services, on Monday filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $250 million in its
initial public offering (IPO).
Apple to Launch iPhone in South Korea This WeekAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 10:16am.
Seoul, South Korea - Apple (NASD: AAPL) will launch the iPhone in South
Korea later this week with local carrier KT Corp, which is already accepting
pre-orders for the smartphone, the Associated Press reported.
Report: Million Spotify Streams Earn Lady Gaga Just $167Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 10:03am.
Los Angeles - Despite racking
up more than a million streams in Sweden during a five month period
on ad-supported streaming service Spotify, artist Lady Gaga's song "Poker
Face" generated a songwriting royalty payment of just $167 from Swedish performing
rights society STIM, TorrentFreak reported, citing the local Swedish outlet
Expressen.
Study: Online Video Ads Less Effective on Social NetworksAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 9:36am.
Los Angeles
- Online video advertising is more effective on content sites and within email
than it is when place on social networking and video game-related sites,
according to a report from Eyeblaster, a provider of third-party online ad
distribution.
AOL to Unveil New Logo Following Next Month's SpinoffAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 8:42am.
New York
- Hoping to reinvigorate its business, AOL said that it plans to alter its logo
beginning Dec. 10, the day after the completion of its scheduled spinoff from
parent Time Warner (NYSE: TWX).
Google Acquires Customized Ad Technology Firm TeracentAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 8:28am.
Mountain View,
Calif. - Google (NASD: GOOG) announced on
Monday that it has acquired Teracent, a developer of online display advertising
customized by machine-learning algorithms.
Twitter Introduces Geo-tagging FeatureAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 11:46am.
San Francisco
- Twitter on Friday announced the launch of a new geo-tagging feature for its
API, which will allow users of third-party applications like Seesmic, Birdfeed and Twindroid
to opt-in to include their location information when they tweet. "The added
information provides valuable context when reading your friends tweets and
allows you to better focus in on local conversations," the company wrote
on its blog.
tags: Publishing | Twitter |
EPIX to Premiere Pilot of First Original Series in 2010Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 11:44am.
New York - EPIX, the pay-TV
and online video joint venture from Viacom (NYSE: NWS), Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate, announced on
Friday that actor Sam Shepard will star in Lionsgate's "Tough Trade,"
the first original series pilot destined for the EPIX service. Production on
the pilot, which is slated to debut on EPIX in 2010, begins next month.
IFC Inks Deal to Distribute Indie Films on NetflixAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 11:42am.
New York
- IFC Entertainment has signed a deal with online DVD rental service Netflix (NASD: NFLX),
to distribute 53 independent films on the service, Variety reports. The deal
includes "The Thin Blue Line," "Return of the Secaucus
Seven" and "Following." IFC's
catalog is also available via iTunes, Blockbuster and Amazon.
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