Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Music

Submission + - The Value of Digital Downloads Hit Zero?

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: Despite the fact that iTunes can still hawk a tune for $0.99 the prevailing wisdom is that overall the value of a digital track is approaching zero dollars. Almost every artist gives away a track or two these days, hoping the music itself will help them rise above the white noise of obscurity as described by the likes of Michael Geist and Cory Doctorow. But a whole body of work? This week Mojo Nixon, who retired from the biz in 2004, announced his comeback. On Wednesday, October 7th the self-proclaimed psychobilly artist will release in it's entirety his new album titled Whiskey Rebellion as a free digital download on Amazon. Not only will all of those tracks be made free, but everything in the artist's 25 year oeuvre — 150 tracks in all — will be "sold" for the princely sum of $0.00. Needless to say, Nixon figures it's better to give up the digital pennies if it will serve to draw new and old fans to his concerts. ""What do I have to lose? I'll make more money off of this in the long run." Of course, all of this music has been available for free on P2P for years, so if the digital tracks aren't selling anyway why not give them away officially and save fans a letter from the RIAA.
Media

Submission + - BigChampagne Wants to Replace Nielsen

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: As the old major media continue to struggle with integrating the Net into their business, which involves figuring out how to best monetize the massive flow of their content on the Web, they also have to make their moves in the dark. Simply put, there was no way to reliably measure how their content is actually trafficked online, whether sanctioned or not. BigChampagne has now announced a beta of BC Dash that will allow customers direct live access to the online data they collect on audio and video delivery. This data pulls from a large data set drawn from both Net and terrestrial radio, iTunes, Last.fm, YouTube, retail outlets, Rhapsody, and file-sharing networks and offers a clearer picture of whose downloading or streaming what. BigChampagne CEO Eric Garland told Digital Music News "The new BC Dash is a platform for managing information in the real-time age and turning data into actionable insight". As MP3 Newswire points out this sets up BigChampagne to challenge and possibly replace Nielsen Media Research, which uses small, but statistically workable, sample cross-sections to conduct its traffic analysis on media. The Neilsen strategy has its limitations, particularly when faced with a Net media consumption that is far more diverse than at brick-and-mortar operations. BC Dash promises a more accurate reflection of a much more complicated media landscape.

Comment $25K Adds Barrier of Entry to Control net Radio (Score 5, Informative) 270

by Hodejo1 (#28631531) Attached to: Experimental Fees Settle Royalty War For Internet Radio
A big reason that traditional radio stations are in the hands of conglomerates only is because the cost of the antenna, broadcast equipment, and the scarcity of available frequency makes it extremely expensive to start a new terrestrial radio station. A Net radio station only needs a Net connection and some open source applications. The 25K means individuals are no longer able to run a free Net radio station. It will also knock out college radio stations who simultaneously stream the terrestrial broadcasts they deliver for no fee. Hobby Net radio is dead in this country. Of course, the agreement only applies to the US so overseas folk can pick up the slack...for now. A shame really and not the win Pandora calls it. It just helps the mid-sized VC-funded
Music

Submission + - iTunes Sales Dive With Tiered Pricing

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: According to several anonymous label executives who spoke with Digital Music News the shift to tiered pricing had led to an overall drop in revenues for iTunes. It seems that the 30% price hike placed on many hit tracks is unable to compensate for an even sharper reduction in sales. But what about the tracks that dropped to $0.69? As MP3 Newswire pointed out last month, the labels have mostly ignored the lowest price point. Outside of a few dozen tracks listed on the iTunes home page $0.69 tracks were impossible to find, rendering tiered pricing as nothing more than a thinly veiled price increase.
Television

Submission + - Economist on television over broadband (economist.com)

Submitted by zxjio
zxjio writes: The Economist has two articles discussing television over broadband, and the effects of DVR use:


"Cable-television companies make money by selling packages of channels. The average American household pays $700 a year for over 100 channels of cable television but watches no more than 15. Most would welcome the chance to buy only those channels they want to watch, rather than pay for expensive packages of programming they are largely not interested in. They would prefer greater variety, toosomething the internet offers in abundance. A surprising amount of video is available free from websites like Hulu and YouTube, or for a modest fee from iTunes, Netflix Watch Instantly and Amazon Video on Demand. ... Consumers new-found freedom to choose has struck fear into the hearts of the cable companies. They have been trying to slow internet televisions steady march into the living room by rolling out DOCSIS 3 at a snails pace and then stinging customers for its services. Another favourite trick has been to cap the amount of data that can be downloaded, or to charge extortionately by the megabyte. Yet the measures to suffocate internet television being taken by the cable companies may already be too late. A torrent of innovative start-ups, not seen since the dotcom mania of a decade ago, is flooding the market with technology for supplying internet television to the living room."

"Families with DVRs seem to spend 15-20% of their viewing time watching pre-recorded shows, and skip only about half of all advertisements. This means only about 5% of television is time-shifted and less than 3% of all advertisements are skipped. Mitigating that loss, people with DVRs watch more television."
Media

Submission + - SeeqPod Death Watch Begins

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: SeeqPod has been unavailable for two days now and users are wondering if this might be the end of the road for the song index. Usually, when a site is down a couple of days it turns out to be just a technical issue. But SeeqPod is reeling from the costs of defending a lawsuit filed against it by the major labels, which forced the company into bankruptcy a few weeks back.
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Pending AT&T Strike Could Slam iPhone Sales

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: Two weeks ago the contract for 90,000 AT&T employees expired and it looks like workers are ready to strike. With AT&T as their exclusive service provider life would get quite frustrating for iPhone users should things get ugly and service falter. Apple has been faring the economic downturn relatively well, but in a worse case scenario an extended strike could paralyze new iPhone sales if consumers decide to hold off until an agreement is reached. That opens up a big opportunity for competing smart phone makers. "...the strike highlights the risks that come with exclusive contracts. AT&T is pushing to renew their iPhone agreement with Apple, but if the strike happens and if it gets bad, Apple will probably rethink that move".
Music

Submission + - $0.69 Tracks MIA as iTunes Shifts Pricing

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: Steve Jobs vowed weeks ago that when iTunes shifted to a tiered price structure in April older tracks priced at $0.69 would outnumber the contemporary hits that are rising to $1.29. Today, several weeks later, iTunes made the transition. While the $1.29 tracks are immediately visible, locating cheaper tracks are proving to be an exercise in futility. With the exception of 48 songs that Apple has placed on the iTunes main page, $0.69 downloads are proving to b a scarce commodity. MP3 Newswire tried to methodically drill down to unearth more of them only to find: 1) A download like Heart's thirty-four year-old song Barracuda went up to $1.29, not down. 2) Obscure 90s Brit pop and 50's Rockabilly artists — artists most likely to benefit from a price drop — remained at $0.99. 3) Collected tracks from a cross-section of 1920s, 30s, and 40s artists all remained at $0.99. Finally, MP3 Newswire called up tracks in the public domain from an artists named Ada Jones who first recorded in 1893 on Edison cylinder technology. The price on all the century-old tracks remained at $0.99 (Since they are in the public domain the same tracks are available for free on the Archive.org). Wonder where the price savings on deeper catalog cuts went? The problem may reflect the fact that the labels themselves decide which price tier they want to pursue for a given artist and they are mostly ignoring the lower tier. Meanwhile, Amazon's UK site has decided to counter promote their service by dropping prices on select tracks to 29 pence ($0.42).
Television

Submission + - CBS Finds Many Buyers for Paid iPhone NCAA Streams

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: For the last few years the major networks and sports leagues have tried to sell online access to big sporting events only to meet with an indifferent consumer. This is why CBS and the NCAA are offering free ad-supported feeds of this year's March Madness fare on the web. Meanwhile, CBS Sports Mobile has created an application for the iPhone and iPod touch that will allow users to watch the games on these devices. What's interesting is not just that they are charging $4.99 to watch on an iPhone what someone with a laptop can view for free, but that a lot of people are actually paying it. By the start of the first round of play CBS Sports March Madness on Demand was the number one selling paid application on the Apple App Store. CBS announced that NCAA March Madness on Demand in all of its forms drew 2.7 million users during the first day of the tournament and though they have not yet broken down how many are paid iPhone users that number is probably substantial. It seems an Apple platform has again managed to succeed where others have failed, making people cough up cash for what is available for no charge elsewhere. Overall, the service itself is meeting with mixed opinions on the App Store's review section with many complaining of audio sync problems and jerky video. "To reap the full benefits CBS is going to have to correct all of these issues, preferably as the tournament commences. Customer retention is critical to CBS's long term success here". Needless to say, expect all the other networks and leagues to rush to repeat this move.
The Courts

Submission + - Pirate Bay Day 5 - Calling Perry Mason

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: On the old Perry Mason TV shows it was a common site to see someone burst into the crowded courtroom at a dire moment and confess aloud that they, not the defendant, killed so-and-so. In reality courts do not allow evidence to enter trial without a chance for the opposing council to view it and for a judge to rule on their admissibility. Yet, in the fifth day of the Pirate Bay trial lawyers for the prosecution again tried to sneak in surprise evidence while questioning defendants. The judge put his foot down this time telling lawyers for the state "If you have documents which you eventually plan to use, you need to hand them over now." The prosecution continues to struggle in court. In one humorous moment prosecutor Håkan Roswall tried to show how "hip" he was with technology when he questioned defendant Peter Sunde. "When did you meet [Gottfrid] for the first time IRL?" asked the Prosecutor. "We do not use the expression IRL," said Peter, "We use AFK." "IRL?" questioned the judge. "In Real Life," the Prosecutor explained to the judge. "We do not use that expression," Peter noted. "Everything is in real life. We use AFK — Away From Keyboard." "Well," said Roswall. "It seems I am a little bit out of date." The defendants are not out of the woods yet. Lawyer and technology writer Richard Koman wonders aloud if the Pirate Bay's I-dunno defense is all that much better.
The Courts

Submission + - Pirate Bay Day 3 - Defense Requests Dismissal

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: Yesterday was a big day for the Pirate Bay when half of the charges against them were dropped leaving only the lesser charges of assisting making copyrighted material available in place. TorrentFreak is following the English twitter feed of the trial in the wee hours of the night, documenting more missteps by the prosecution. "The Pirate Bay trial is moving forward rapidly and again the day in court has ended early. On the third day the prosecution presented the amended charges. The defendants all called for acquittal while Carl Lundström's lawyer scored points with the already legendary 'King Kong' defense".
The Media

Submission + - Web-only Journalists Get Pulitzer OK

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: Last year's Buzz Bissinger/Will Leitch HBO fiasco illustrates the low opinion some traditional journalists have towards their online counterparts. As far as they are concerned Web journalists aren't real journalists. After over a decade of debate, the Pulitzer Prize committee opened up the awards last December to online-only journalists for the first time; a signal to the 'Old Guard' that it's time to embrace change. But will they? As the Huffington Post points out the status quo is no longer an option. "...the Tribune Co. has just filed for bankruptcy, Gannett just laid off 2000 workers and The New York Times Co. has to borrow against its building". So far, only a handful of Web-only news organizations announced they submitted entries. "We are really excited about the opportunity to apply," said Editor Margaret Freivogel whose St Louis Beacon was launched just last year. "It shows where great journalism is being done and where the future of journalism is headed." Said Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis, which also submitted a nomination, "The distinction is disappearing. The act of publishing is changing." Other entrants include MinnPost.com, the Center for Independent Media, and ProPublica. But can an online-only news site win? "It's a meritocracy," says MP3 Newswire editor Richard Menta, a nominee in the category of distinguished commentary. "...if MP3 Newswire is to be judged it is for the words delivered on the page and not if that page is printed in ink or displayed through pixels on a screen". But as Robert Niles of the Knight Digital Media Center points out "It's one thing to invite online-only websites to submit their work, but something else to have that work judged by online veterans, as opposed to judges who spent their entire careers in print". Indeed, lingering resentments may take years to transcend. The winners will be announced April 20th.
Media

Submission + - MP3 Newswire Celebrates 10 Years

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: One of the earliest and influential digital music sites just reached a notable milestone. Back in the pre-Napster days MP3 Newswire served as one of the few sources of original commentary on digital media. Begun initially as a news aggregation site to follow the technical evolution of digital media, it quickly evolved into more. "Immediately it became apparent that the real story was not hardware and applications, but the visceral conflict between innovation and copyright holders. More important, few stories at that time dared venture in the gray areas of fair use and the rights of copyright holders. People could now do things with digital media never before possible. Who decides which of these new uses are acceptable and which are not, let alone makes statements on what is morally correct? The RIAA? The consumer?" Writers on MP3 Newswire include names /. readers are well acquainted with including Jon Newton of P2Pnet, George Ziemann of AzOz and Michael Geist. The article details how the site was started and why its founder Richard Menta was qualified to write on the subject.

Slashdot Top Deals

"What man has done, man can aspire to do." -- Jerry Pournelle, about space flight

Close