“Both Amazon and Google are negotiating with American publishers to develop ‘search within the book’ programmes. Google already has a deal with several top libraries from around the world, including the Bodleian, to digitise out of copyright texts. Inevitably, some publishers and the Society of Authors are getting quite excited about this innovation.” But one … Continue reading “Another Death-Of-Publishing Scenario”
“In the search for online customers, entertainment companies are aggressively pursuing college students, who cannot remember life before the internet. This generation works off laptops more than it watches television, plugs into high-speed university networks, uses the web for homework and headlines — and on average carries around more than 1,000 songs on a hard … Continue reading “Big Music, Movies Courting College Students W/ New Download Services”
“The rush is on to deliver music and video to mobile phones, with wireless providers and device makers jockeying for position to grab their share of the payday, all parties mindful of the surprising billions being spent on musical ringtones. At the same time, the media companies who produce the entertainment, which also includes video … Continue reading “Who Will Control Phone Entertainment?”
Music sales were down again slightly in 2004, but there’s hope for the industry. “Hit by piracy, Internet song swappers and saturated markets, music sales fell in 2004 by one percent to $32.1 billion. But 2005 will make up for the damage with a one percent increase, said research group Informa. Over the next six … Continue reading “Music Sales Dip One Percent In 2004”
There’s a basic problem with collecting and selling digital art. “As Napster and KaZaA have taught us, once creative works have been digitized, controlling their distribution becomes problematic. In video art, for instance, there is a trading site with everything from Matthew Barney to Nam June Paik available for bartering. Once files start floating around … Continue reading “Owning Digital Art, Collecting A Problem”
The new download chart measuring music downloaded on the net debuts in the UK. “The countdown, broadcast on BBC Radio 1, is an attempt to take account of the thousands of tracks that are bought legally from online sites such as iTunes and Napster. But if supporters of online music were hoping it would herald … Continue reading “Official Download Chart Debuts”
It won’t be long before music charts that only count CD sales will be obsolete. Napster has announced it is starting a top downloads chart to rank music popularity. “The Napster Online Music Chart will count down the top 20 tunes based on sales as well as songs that have been streamed (listened to online … Continue reading “New: Top Of The (Download) Charts”
“OD2, the [UK-based] music download service co-founded by Peter Gabriel, was sold to a US rival yesterday as competition intensifies in the online music market. Digital media firm Loudeye will pay $38.2m (£20.9m) in cash and stock for OD2… The deal follows a surge in activity in the European online music market, with the European … Continue reading “Wasn’t Digital Downloading Ruining The Recording Industry?”
A new study on music downloading reports that “an estimated 6 million people have stopped downloading copyrighted music from the Internet over fears that they may sued by the recording industry, but the overall number of Americans who download music is rising with the popularity of iTunes, Napster and other legitimate online music services.”
It’s official: downloading pay-per-song tracks is the new darling of the music world. “Pay-per-song is now a legitimate industry promoted by some of the best brains in modern technology and entertainment, from Apple to Napster to Dell. With prices starting low and falling lower, legally downloading your own songs and mixing them to use the … Continue reading “The Chorus Grows – Singing Praises Of Pay-Per-Song”
