HP To 'Take On iTunes' With Pre-Loaded Laptop Music Download Service [Music Downloads]

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/k5Y5kUeNZYI/hp-to-take-on-itunes-with-pre+loaded-laptop-music-download-service

Hey kids! Want to know what we really, really need? Another music download service! From HP, of all people! They're pre-loading Omnifone's MusicStation service on laptops sold in Europe from today, with a month's access to the music catalog costing 10 Euros (around $14). Don't you just wish you could smack the person at HP around the chops who suggested they could take on iTunes with this hair-brained idea? [Reuters]

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Labels Sick of Ad-Supported Streaming

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/uf0SWeRIvxU/

Labels Sick of Ad Supported StreamingThe big news at MIDEM, Europe’s largest music industry conference, is that US-based labels are finished with licensing any new music sites that allow free streaming.

Spotify Managing Director Paul Brown’s announcement that his company had accrued over 250,000 paid customers seemed to be emblematic of the streaming industry’s stance at the conference. Indeed, throughout the conference, streaming services were trumpeting their efforts to promote their premium services over their ad-supported services. However, according to Warner Music Group, the revenue from the existing proportions of paid to ad-supported subscribers will not be enough. Warner Music Group Senior Vice President of Digital Business Stephen Bryan said in a speech at MIDEM that, “We believe that the ad-supported services are most important in terms of aggregating an audience that can then be converted in to a premium service. We want to do more as a music company to make the paid services as attractive as they possibly can be relative to free options. The concern on the ad-supported side is obviously to make it engaging enough to have an opportunity to up-sell. We believe we should be doing more to ensure we’re not undermining the paid service by creating a service so compelling that they don’t see enough value in taking consumers to the paid service.”

While Bryan’s remarks were clearly aimed at Spotify and Pandora, there are a host of other companies that began as ad-supported sites. Mog.com launched a subscriber service in December, Britain’s We7 will launch one on February 1st, and Last.fm has gone to a subscription-only service in all of its markets except the US, UK and Germany.

So how will Spotify make it to the United States?

Bryan has an answer for that question, “We’re focused on taking service like Spotify and We7 in to discussions with ISPs and mobile carriers that have existing billing relationships with customers.” Fortunately for Spotify, this isn’t too far away from their non-UK billing model. All of Spotify’s mobile apps require subscriptions and are often bundled with mobile service. In fact, it seems that Spotify is concerned that the positive reputation its free service has gained in the US from word of mouth will impede the service’s ability to sell subscriptions.

Despite the refrain of “Subscribers, subscribers, subscribers” being shouted from the rooftops at the conference, Brown stressed that there was still a strong revenue stream coming from the ad-based model. With a 50 million-plus worldwide user base, Brown stated that Spotify is pulling in millions of dollars of ad revenue per month.

However, if we take Brown at his word, Spotify still has a long way to go to meet the labels’ targets. On a UK userbase of about 7 million, Spotify’s 250,000 subscribers mean the service has a 4% subscriber rate. Universal Music Group said last month that Spotify would need to reach 10% to 12% subscriber rates to pay the fees that the labels want.

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Maandelijks betalen in iPhone-app Eredivisie

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/brightmagazine/~3/aBUVHnmHbdw/maandelijks-betalen-iphone-app-eredivisie

De Eredivisie heeft nu ook zijn eigen iPhone-app, maar voor kijken van filmpjes moet je per maand betalen.

De Eredivisie App (iTunes-Link) biedt sinds vrijdag filmpjes van duels, goals en interviews. Doelpunten zijn al binnen enkele minuten nadat ze zijn gescoord te bekijken.

De app zelf is gratis, maar alleen de eerste drie filmpjes zijn zonder kosten te bekijken. Daarna kost ongelimiteerd gebruik 4 euro per maand (of 9 euro per 3 maanden of 17 euro per 6 maanden). De Windows Mobile-app van de eredivisie volgt later.

Vorig jaar kreeg Eredivisie Live al een mobiele site eredivisie.mobi. Ook daarvoor moet worden betaald. Via de 'video goal alert' zijn net gemaakte doelpunten ook te bekijken per sms met een link (35 eurocent).

De mobiele dienst van de betaalzender biedt geen live stream van de voetbalwedstrijden. Live streams zijn nog voorbehouden aan abonnees van KPN's MobieleTV of Vodafone Live: respectievelijk 5 en 3,50 euro per maand.

reageer

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Moluko Brings Easy E-Commerce to FaceBook

Moluko Brings Easy E-Commerce to FaceBook

By Kim Heras on January 22, 2010


logo small Moluko Brings Easy E Commerce to FaceBookAustralian startup, Moluko, has launched its ‘Shopping Cart for FaceBook’ application allowing online retailers to easily sell products through their FaceBook fan-pages.

Along with the app they’ve also launched their own hopes of becoming a key player in the march towards turning the social network into the web’s top e-commerce platform.

As co-founder, Hendro Wijaya, explains, the rationale behind the creation of Moluko was quite simple:

“Prior to Moluko, businesses used Facebook Fan Pages mainly for marketing purposes. Once customers decided to buy the products they then needed to be redirected to an external website to complete the check-out processes. This gap in the funnel often confused customers and affected the retailer’s bottom line due to cancelled sales.”

Wijaya also sees another interesting use case for Moluko:

“Aside from helping businesses streamline their operations, we believe it will help small businesses eliminate the need for having their own websites. altogether. Instead, they can focus on growing their businesses solely through social networks like FaceBook. We started to see this last year and believe the trend will continue in 2010″

1 Moluko Brings Easy E Commerce to FaceBook

They aren’t the first startup to try and tackle this problem. Payvment and ShopTab provide similar services, but Wijaya believes that Moluko’s user experience is far better. He also believes that Moluko’s commitment towards innovation (they’ve already developed a list of secret features that they’re busy coding) will see them come out in front.  That having been said, Wijaya is keen to see how the service is used in the real world before deciding which of those features to release.

The current version of Moluko supports Paypal as its payment gateway with more options expected to come.

Two types of payment plans are being offered: free for displaying 6 products and $15/month for unlimited products.

Trying the service out is easy too. Just follow the simple instruction on their website and you’re away.

There’s certainly no doubt that FaceBook will be a major player in e-commerce in future. It will be interesting to see if Moluko will be able to help them get there.

App Usage to Soar in 2010 - eMarketer

App Usage to Soar in 2010

JANUARY 21, 2010

Mobile to fare better than social

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Mobile app investment should grow significantly this year, according to a report from DM2PRO and Quattro Wireless. Spending on social apps, however, will stagnate even though more marketers have already developed the applications.

Fewer than one-half of marketers created either a mobile or social app in 2009, but most plan to invest in a mobile app this year. The iPhone is the platform of choice, followed by Android.

Among those marketers who already had an app in 2009, however, Facebook was the leading platform.

Channel in Which Marketers in North America Have Used Mobile/Social Apps, December 2009 (% of respondents)

Engagement was the top reason to choose either mobile or social as an app platform, but social sites were perceived as better for many top goals, including engagement, audience targeting, sharing and branding potential, and reach. Mobile scored higher on creative control and persistence.

The top one-third of advertisers and agencies using mobile apps planned to up their investments by 75% or more. Marketers who used apps reported a growing market, client demand and increased standardization in the app world as reasons to spend more in the coming months.

Those same reasons would spur publishers and marketers to develop mobile applications. They were also interested in better tools, distribution and discoverability.

Reasons that Publishers and Marketers in North America Would Pursue Developing Mobile Apps, December 2009 (% of respondents)

Those factors will only increase in importance as apps continue to proliferate and marketers and other developers attempt to stand out from the competition. According to DM2PRO and Quattro, 15% of advertisers and agencies spent more than 60% of their app budgets on promotion in 2009, but more than one-third spent less than 5%. Promotional budgets will need to increase along with overall investment for apps to find their way to users.

Keep up on the latest digital trends. Learn more about an eMarketer Total Access subscription today.

Check out today’s other article, “Retailers Look to Upgrade Cross-Channel Capabilities.”

Spotify Already “Paying Out Well” to Record Labels s keeping you?

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/bs4Nrr7jqWI/

Music streaming service Spotify has yet to launch in the US, but in Europe the service is already reportedly offering a sustainable revenue stream to the labels it’s made licensing deals with, according to the Telegraph.

SVP of Digital for Universal Music Group International Rob Wells revealed some of the financial details of the licensing agreements it has with Spotify for the first time. In the UK and Spain, Spotify pays a per stream royalty for each track users listen to. In its other four territories (France, Sweden, Finland, and Norway), the labels instead get a cut of the revenue generated from subscriptions and advertising. “That to me equates to a sustainable business model,” said Wells.

Spotify only needs a 10-12% conversion rate of free to paid users in any given territory to give the labels a decent return. Wells also revealed that Spotify was the fourth largest digital partner in terms of revenue contribution in 2009. The top three weren’t named, but it’s likely Apple’s iTunes and Google’s YouTube are among them. Spotify has already taken over iTunes in terms of revenue contribution in its native Sweden.

The service is expected to launch in the States sometime in the first half of this year. Spotify CEO and founder Daniel Ek will be speaking at the upcoming New Music Seminar in Los Angeles, where we’ll be on the ground eager to bring you more specific details about Spotify’s plans to take leadership in the subscription music space.


Reviews: Google, Spotify, YouTube

Tags: money, music, music streaming, record labels, riaa, spotify, subscription music

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For 5 days, 5 Journalists will only source news from Twitter and Facebook to test quality of news.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/XgmxXL6eSBs/

For 5 days, 5 Journalists will only source news from Twitter and Facebook to test quality of news.This should be interesting.

5 journalists, 5 days locked in a French farmhouse with access only to Facebook and Twitter for news.

The aim is to test the quality of news sourced from both sites, and also to reveal whether or not social networking sites pose a serious threat to old media.

With Twitter playing pivotal roles in events such as the Denver airplane crash, protests in Iran and the hurricane in Haiti, what would the quality of news and media be if only sourced from the site rather than professionals?

So how will this work?

The journalists will be handed computers that only connect to Facebook and Twitter, no other browsing is allowed and of course television, radio and newspapers are also kept out of reach. (Update: sources linked to from a tweet are apparently accessible)

Each day, the reporters from Canadian, French, Belgian and Swiss radio stations will each go on the air on their respective channels to comment on the news that they have found.

“This experiment will enable us to take a hard look at all the myths that exist about Facebook and Twitter,” said Helene Jouan, a senior editor at France Inter, one of the stations that is sending a journalist.

“Our aim is to show that there are different sources of information and to look at the legitimacy of each of these sources,” she said.

Update:

You can follow the journalists here.

Via MSN

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Why is Google Afraid of Facebook? Because Social Networking Could Soon Pass Search

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/readwriteweb/~3/JG7vlWr-p14/google_facebook_social_networking_search.php

It's often said these days that Google and Facebook are major rivals, but how could that be if one is in search and the other, social networking? Traffic analyst firm Hitwise provided one very clear clue tonight when it published new numbers for web user activity in Australia. For perhaps the first time ever, social networking sites have surpassed the traffic search engines receive, Hitwise says. There is reason to question the company's categorization of web traffic, but the trend is worth examining none the less.

Social networking climbed fast this year, and Hitwise says it just peaked over search for a few days during the communication frenzy of Christmas. Take that, Larry and Sergey - Mark and Ev are right behind you.

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The biggest problem with Hitwise's numbers is that the company appears to include YouTube in the "social networks and forums" category that is challenging search. That's a questionable categorization of (Google's) YouTube, a site that some people call the 2nd-largest search engine on the web. A person certainly can use YouTube as a social network - but we'd guess that far more people use it as a search engine. If YouTube is growing (and this analysis says it is) then search is growing. You wouldn't think search would have much room to grow, but YouTube demonstrates nicely that there can emerge new kinds of search at any time. Some people argue that real-time search is the next type that will emerge as a growth industry for the search market. Others point to social search and that kind of amalgamation could throw our search vs. social networking equation entirely!

The arguable mischaracterization of YouTube seems to throw a big monkey-wrench in Hitwise's usually fabulous market analysis, but as a general trend social network is undoubtedly growing. At 2% of web use, according again to Hitwise, YouTube is a major player - but lets think about the rise of actual social networking sites relative to search.

What would it mean if social networking over-took search in terms of sheer visits online? It would mark a sea-change on the internet. No longer would our dominant use of the web be seeking out web-pages built by HTML web-masters! Now we would all be publishing tiny little updates that perhaps only our friends and family care about. We'd be subscribing, more than we ever did by RSS, to syndicated updates from organizations of interest, large and small. It would be (perhaps will be) a very different era and, to be frank, it's going to be harder to monetize. There will be privacy battles. There will be new platforms for innovation.

It's a pretty big deal. Things will really change if current trends continue and social networking rises to the top. That's not as clear as this traffic analyst firm argues that it is, but it could happen. And that's a big reason why Google and Facebook are rivals.

Classic post: Is YouTube the Next Google?

Check out our research report The Real-Time Web and Its Future.

Discuss

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De thuiscopieheffing in breder perspectief -> Downloadheffing op je internetabonnement

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/brightmagazine/~3/pnI2sMY4dO8/downloadheffing-op-je-internetabonnement

Muziekvakbonden willen een downloadheffing op je internetaansluiting als alternatief voor een 'downloadverbod'.

Muziekvakbonden FNV Kiem/BV Pop en NTB willen een nieuwe compensatie voor muzikanten voor al het digitaal gekopieer: een downloadlicentie op internetaansluitingen. Je internetabonnement wordt dan iets duurder, maar dan moet je wel gewoon kunnen blijven downloaden. De vakbonden stellen dit voor als alternatief voor het downloadverbod dat het kabinet wil invoeren.

Vanuit muzikanten is dit te begrijpen: hoe meer men downloadt, hoe hoger de opbrengsten uit zo'n internetheffing uitvallen. Maar de platenmaatschappijen en de providers zijn hier niet voor te porren - en die zijn nu eenmaal machtiger dan de muzikanten.

De kans dat de politiek meegaat in het verhaal van de muziekvakbonden is ook niet zo groot. De commissie-Gerkens over auteursrecht stelde vorig jaar voor dat een downloadverbod er pas moet komen als het legale online aanbod voldoende is ontwikkeld. Dat is nu in Nederland nog niet zo. Maar zodra dat wel zo is, moet de thuiskopieheffing worden afgebouwd, aldus de commissie.

De downloadlicentie op internetaansluitingen zou juist weer een nieuwe heffing betekenen. Precies wat veel politieke partijen niet willen.

De musici zagen hun vergoeding uit de thuiskopieheffing flink dalen de laatste jaren. De heffing geldt nu alleen voor lege cd's en dvd's en die worden door de opkomst van usb-sticks, harddisks, mp3-spelers en mobieltjes nu eenmaal steeds minder gekocht.

Uitbreiding van de thuiskopieheffing naar andere vormen van digitale opslag is al meermaals uitgesteld. Justitieminister Hirsch Ballin lijkt de uitkomst van het Brussels overleg af te wachten en de Europese gesprekken tussen rechtenorganisaties en fabrikanten zijn juist weer gestrand.

De downloadheffing is volgens de muziekvakbonden ook nodig omdat Nederlanders het meest up- en downloaden van alle Europeanen. Citaat uit het vijfpuntenplan van de bonden: "Wij stellen voor een bescheiden internetvergoeding te vragen per aansluiting in ruil voor een algemene toestemming voor privégebruik. De consument wordt uit de criminele hoek gehaald en de rechthebbenden krijgen betaald. Hierdoor
ontstaat naar onze overtuiging tevens beter zicht op het grote commerciële illegaal gebruik van rechten, waartegen blijvend hard moet worden opgetreden. Ook internet-providers dienen hierbij op hun (morele) verantwoordelijkheden te worden aangesproken."

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Youtube’s Service Pack 1?

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/xkADIfdncK4/

Youtubes Service Pack 1?Youtube has rolled out a series of upgrades to their video player, including HTML5 support, improved video resolution controls, an opt-in feature for a new streamlined “Watch” page, a music discovery service and a movie rental service.

The upgrades, which further expand the utility of the site, come on the back of the announcement that Youtube would begin streaming live sports, starting with the Indian Premier League Cricket season.

The improved video resolution controls have been integrated into the player, replacing the old HQ or HD button. Depending on the video, resolutions up to 1080p are selectable options, although much of the HD content has a maximum resolution of 720p. Most content, however, is still only available at a maximum resolution of 480p; if you’re looking for an HD Pants on the Ground fix, you’ll still have a hard time finding it.

Youtube is also rolling out a beta version of their site that uses HTML5.

The advantage of having Youtube use HTML5 is, as Youtube put it, “HTML5 includes support for video and audio playback. This means that users with an HTML5 compatible browser, and support for the proper audio and video codecs can watch a video without needing to download a browser plugin.”

It’s painfully obvious, however, that the HTML5 site is a beta, and an early one at that. Video playback is slow and stutters every few seconds. Hopefully, though, the site will continue to develop and quality will improve.

More intriguing to most users (and to studios) is the new video rental feature. At the moment, only a few titles are available, but the company is expected to slowly increase their available offerings. Given the reports last year that Youtube was in talks with major studios, this isn’t a huge shock. Now that video rentals have been introduced, it will be interesting to see if Youtube becomes the “Netflix-killer” that some analysts thought it could be.

The music discovery service takes advantage of Youtube’s extensive music label connections to deliver music videos of artists similar to the searched artist. It also allows you to create, save and share video playlists with your friends (via email).

The biggest part of this update, however, is the sleek new theme. It cuts out all of the very un-Google clutter present in the current Youtube “Watch” page, trimming out the rating system, consolidating the clumsy sharing tools into sleeker buttons and removing lots of extraneous text. It’s definitely a step forward, and although it feels slightly different, everything seems to fall immediately to hand. It’s new, and yet somehow feels familiar.

Taken individually, these site upgrades are all useful tweaks. However, when you look at them in conjunction with each other, these upgrades constitute a major refocusing and broadening of the site.

By introducing live sports, improving the availability of HD content, adding music playlist generators and introducing movie rentals, Youtube’s clearly trying to move into markets traditionally dominated by cable and satellite-based content. In short, Youtube’s trying to make the case that you don’t need cable anymore. In conjunction with the new theme and the use of HTML5, both supposed to make the site lighter and easier to use, these developments are aimed at making Youtube more big-screen friendly. It’s almost as if Youtube sees this upgrade as a sort of Service Pack for the site, upgrading functionality without becoming unfamiliar.

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