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March 31, 2005
Digital Music: Problems and Possibilities
Posted by at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)
Microsoft Portable Video Service
REDMOND, Wash. -- Television addicts rejoice: Now you can take more
shows on the road. Microsoft Corp. has launched a $19.95-a-year ...
Posted by roymond at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)
March 30, 2005
CSM article on the Future of Copyright
Creative work makes for slippery private property online
As the Supreme Court weighs the legality of file-sharing on the Web,
some are calling for a new kind of copyright. By Gregory M. Lamb |
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor. You might have to go
back ...
Posted by roymond at 05:50 PM | Comments (0)
On-Demand Promo Network from TV Guide
On-Demand Promo Network from TV Guide
Oddly, I think this might catch on. It's certainly the first sign of life from Gemstar-TV Guide in quite some time.
Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. (NASDAQ NMS: GMST) today announced plans to launch TV GUIDE SPOT, a new on-demand network designed to entertain consumers while helping them navigate their ever-expanding programming choices. TV GUIDE SPOT will launch to cable, tvguide.com, and TiVo customers in the 2nd quarter of 2005. The service will feature short-form, originally-produced entertainment programs that guide consumers to the most compelling fare on TV each week.
It will be a channel on Comcast and Time Warner Cable, fill Showcase spots on TiVo, and also be available online. The key will be promotion. Will Gemstar buy or barter on-air spots? integrate promotions into TV Guide Channel programming? promote heavily on the EPG? All of the above, I hope.
Posted by roymond at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)
Slate on allofmp3.com
Slate Blows "Legal" Downloading Coverage
I never thought I'd say this, but Slate's journalism standards appear to have declined since its ownership migrated away from Microsoft to the Washington Post. At least if this article is any example.
Under the headline Barely Legal, "law student and writer" Dana Mulhauser says that Russion site allofmp3.com is
the trendy, angst-free way to download copyrighted music. As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments tomorrow about the legality of Grokster, Aimster, and other file-sharing services, downloaders have been looking hopefully to Allofmp3.com as their only legitimate way to get 50 Cent for less than face value.
The article goes on to ask:
Could a scheme like Allofmp3.com be legal? Probably. Is it legal, in fact? Probably not. Will you get sued for using it? Not likely, or at least, far less likely than you would be for using Grokster or any of the other peer-to-peer networks.
Posted by roymond at 03:09 AM | Comments (0)
March 29, 2005
EFF
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Posted by roymond at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)
P2P in Supreme Court Sessions today
MGM Studios v. Grokster - Wikipedia
The Wikipedia entry has good cross-reference links concerning this case and related issues.
Posted by roymond at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2005
SUISA
The Swiss Society for the Rights of Authors of Musical Works
Posted by at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)
BMI
Broadcast Music Inc.
Posted by at 03:24 PM | Comments (0)
ASCAP vs. BMI
A POINT BY POINT COMPARISON OF ASCAP AND BMI
Posted by roymond at 02:43 PM | Comments (0)
Magnatune
Open Music Internet Record Label
Posted by roymond at 02:02 PM | Comments (0)
NMPA - HFA
National Music Publishers' Association / Harry Fox Agency, Inc.
Posted by roymond at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
Copyright & Fair Use
Stanford U.
Posted by roymond at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)
RAIN
Radio And Internet Newsletter
Posted by roymond at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)
RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
Posted by roymond at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)
CWR
Common Works Registration
Posted by roymond at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)
IFPI
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
Posted by roymond at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)
Internet Archive
Posted by roymond at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)
Internet Archive : Audio
Posted by roymond at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)
US Copyright Office
Posted by roymond at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
LOC's Thomas Database
Library Of Congress' Online Legislative Guide
Posted by roymond at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)
P2P at the Supreme Court
Entertainment: Industry Article | Reuters.com
Three men will stand before the U.S. Supreme Court March 29, arguing one of the most important copyright cases in history.
One will speak for most of the entertainment industry. The second will argue for two companies that provide peer-to-peer file-sharing software, and the third will represent the U.S. government.
Posted by roymond at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)
Video Games for Artists
"Over the last few years we saw how new artists were being broken in video games, [where] traditionally radio was the way to break artists," says Shahid Khan, Managing Director of Media and Entertainment for the business-consulting firm BearingPoint, Inc. "My belief is that the expansion is going to be around soundtracks, and that’s also going to become a significant revenue stream for music companies."
Posted by roymond at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)
P2P to the Supreme
Supreme Showdown for P2P's Future: The entertainment industry goes head-to-head against file-sharing services at the Supreme Court this week. Some fear the Grokster case could have a devastating effect on development of new technologies.Wired News
Posted by roymond at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)
DMCRA
Thanks to Signal-to-Noise for this item, which escaped my attention last week. It’s an important piece of the legislatice struggle over copyright and free markets currently transpiring in Washington. Congressman Rick Boucher has reintroduced a bill he floasted last term, the Digital Media Consumers Rights Act (DMCRA), which revises portions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998—one of the most onctroversial and troublemse media-related laws of the past 10 years. Here is the bill itself (Web format, not PDF).
Posted by roymond at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)
Indie Bit Torrent Releases
Decembrists Release Video Via Bit Torrent
Wired points out that rock band the Decembrists have circumvented the MTV bottleneck by releasing a full-length video, shot for 6,000 dollars at a high school, on Bit Torrent. Some of their fans got the ball rolling by hosting the Torrent tracker. Traffic must be pretty good: my download of the 73MB file shot to over 360kB in seconds. That’s the beauty of Bit Torrent, as opposed to client-server interactions; the more traffic, the faster the transaction. The video is called Sixteen Military Wives, and the download page is here. It’s a lightweight condemnation of U.S. foreign policy.
Posted by roymond at 08:53 AM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2005
OddioOverplay
An engaging site that present net labels with tons of professionally produced indie music.
Posted by roymond at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)
Pew Internet Study on File Sharing
About 36 million Americans-or 27% of internet users-say they download either music or video files and about half of them have found ways outside of traditional peer-to-peer networks or paid online services to swap their files.
Posted by roymond at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2005
ASCAP
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
Posted by roymond at 07:03 PM | Comments (0)
A-infos Radio Project
Posted by roymond at 07:02 PM | Comments (0)
NPR Music
Posted by roymond at 07:00 PM | Comments (0)
Tivo Win
TiVo Wins Deal with Comcast, Stock Rises
NEW YORK (Reuters) - TiVo Inc. TIVO.O on Tuesday won a contract to supply its digital video recording system to No. 1 cable television operator Comcast Corp.CMCSA.O, in a deal that could dramatically boost TiVo's distribution.
Posted by roymond at 06:46 PM | Comments (0)
Copyright Wrangling
Great paper by Michael A. Einhorn and Bill Rosenblatt
Michael A. Einhorn is the author of Media, Technology, and Copyright: Integrating Law and Economics(2004) and senior adviser to an international consulting firm. Bill Rosenblatt is president of GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies, managing editor of the newsletter DRM Watch and author of Digital Rights Management: Business and Technology (2001).
Posted by roymond at 05:46 PM | Comments (0)
Another Forecast for Music
Wired: P2P: Music's Death Knell or Boon?
as usual... great coverage by Wired. Nice quote by Ted Cohen:
"We're at an inflection point here where we have a real chance to
change the way the music business works," said Ted Cohen, senior VP of
digital development and distribution for EMI Music. "We're interested
in making sure everyone survives. I think this will be an interesting
year and a turning point."
Posted by roymond at 05:45 PM | Comments (0)
CD Sales
Only 2.8 CDs per year / per person... (US)??
From the FRUKT newletter: "BPI figures show that people in the UK buy on average 3.2 CDs each
every year. The other top countries are;
Some pretty relevant numbers, imho. Clearly, CDs are not getting a whole lot of people excited anymore. If we could get 90% of people in the 'rich nations' to spend a very low flat fee on music, every year, that would be a huge sea change. Is this where Napster To Go is heading?
More on the above stats here
Posted by roymond at 05:43 PM | Comments (0)
BitTorent for Indie Distribution
How bands use bitTorrent for videos
From the Future of Music, Media & Entertainment blog...
in wired
Posted by roymond at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)
Telcos Go After Video
Video in the Telco Triple Play
Video in the Telco Triple Play
As mature as it is, the broadcast TV market is set to undergo yet another cycle of innovation, some of which may prove more disruptive than sustaining, with competition likely to reign-in from telecoms behemoths, new video on demand entrants, and end users themselves.
Across the globe, numerous telcos are involved in broadcasting TV and video across xDSL or fiber. As cable operators send video across proprietary networks, telcos are exploring various ways to meet their customers’ media demands, from push TV to pull video on demand (VoD), to proprietary set-top-boxes (STBs) and PCs.
Posted by roymond at 04:35 PM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2005
Terrestrial Radio vs Satellite
Terrestrial Broadcasters Band Together
Interesting story relates the idea that terrestrial broadcasters might use the new
high-definition (HD) digital broadcasting format to create national channels that could be rolled out by consortiums of stations. HD radios are in scant demand as pricing has kept them from mass appeal. But prices will drop this year.
Posted by roymond at 05:00 PM
3G Cellular Radio
Yet Another Form of Digital Radio: 3G Cellular
Orbitcast alerts us to the Next Next (Next) Big Thing: Radio over third-generation cellular (3G) data networks.
Virgin Radio is “broadcasting” two stations for free that
anyone with the right cellular phone can listen to by downloading a small application. The capable audience is nearly
15 million.
This is just the beginning, too, as hybrid cell phones that handle 3G and Wi-Fi will allow opportunistic networking in which if you’re streaming radio—or audio or video or downloading a file—a handset will switch from cellular to a cheaper or better or faster signal as it’s available.
3G is a worldwide phenomenon, although a little muted in the U.S. where a scarcity of spectrum has led to late deployments and initially high pricing. In South Korea, Japan, and parts of Europe, 3G is widely available, fast, and not terribly expensive. (In Europe, Wi-Fi is incredibly expensive, so 3G is a cost-effective alternative in many cases.)
Posted by roymond at 02:54 PM
Interview with Napster CEO
The Engadget Interview: Chris Gorog, CEO of Napster
Posted by at 11:48 AM
Entertainment Value Chain?
Entertainment Industry Economics: A Guide for Financial Analysis
This book is as hardcore as it gets -- real gold for the inquisitive mind. Highly recommended!!
"The entertainment industry is one of the largest sectors of the United
States economy and fast becoming one of the most prominent globally as
well. In this newly revised book, Harold L. Vogel examines the business
economics of the major entertainment enterprises: movies, television
and cable programming, music, broadcasting, casino wagering and
gambling, sports, publishing, performing arts, theme parks, and toys.
This edition incorporates a full chapter on the Internet, covering the
web's operational features, revenue sources, and the net's role as an
agent of change. Other expanded features include sections on industrial
structure, asset valuation methods, and comparative price trends. The
result is a comprehensive, up-to-date reference guide on the economics,
financing, production, and marketing of entertainment in the US and
overseas. Investors, business executives, accountants, lawyers, arts
administrators, and general readers will find that the book offers an
invaluable guide to how entertainment industries operate"
Posted by at 11:25 AM
Ongoing discussion on Online Music Services
Renting versus owning music - take 3
The debate on Napster To Go versus ITunes goes on and on, with many people wondering if a RENTING music model (a la Netflix for movies) will prevail, or a Buy Per Track model (ITunes). The debates are useful but not quite getting down to the bottom of things yet. A quick 2 points on this:
1) It's not either or (never is). Rather, I think users will rent for a cheap monthly fee that has them covered (see music like water), PLUS they will download individual tracks, and still buy CDs and DVDs. However, the difference is that with a SUBSCRIPTION model I can get a lot more people into buying music, at all - rather than 40% of people leaving the stores without buying, how about covering 80% of all consumers with a cheap flat-rate music subscription. This is where Napster wants to go, I'd say.
2) Guess what: you don't really OWN your tracks on ITunes, either -- there IS DRM on these tracks, and your rights to 'own' CAN be revoked --- it just feels like you own it since most people won't get near the limits that Apple's DRM (Fairplay) imposes on them. Fact is, though - we are just renting here, as well. Why else would people try to crack it?
Posted by at 11:17 AM
HD Radio in Detroit and the U.S.
HD Radio in Detroit and the U.S.
Posted by at 11:03 AM
March 18, 2005
Registered BEME with NewsIsFree This
Registered BEME with NewsIsFree
This allows me (us) to blog from newsfeed on NewsIsFree, which then automatically posts them to BEME. Isn't that a hoot?
Posted by roymond at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2005
Digital Media Project
Home page of the Digital Media Project, of which BE is a member. There's a wealth of information about the digital media space here.
Posted by roymond at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2005
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a Web-based free content encyclopedia that is openly edited
Posted by roymond at 01:37 PM | Comments (0)
NARIP - Record Distribution in the Digital Age
I attended this session put on by the National Association of Record Industry Professionals last November, and while I don't agree with their views all the time, there's some interesting stuff being said.
Posted by roymond at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)
Media Companies Map of NYC
A curious little map showing locations of prominent media companies in NYC.
Posted by roymond at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2005
Music Biz year-end review in MusicDish
Alston goes off on this article in the MusicDish Industry e-Journal, bringing clarity, context and business implications to all.
First of all, it says:
Clear Channel has removed service fees from its ticket prices and drastically reduced parking prices at many of its venues.
Now, does this really mean I'm still going to dole out $120 for a Madonna ticket when a yearly subscription to the Lutheran church of my choice will cover not only a number of amateur organ recitals, but free wine to boot?
Or should we point out that Madonna will provide a more moving spiritual experience minus the wine?
Posted by roymond at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)