Though plastic sales may be waning, value may remain in ascribing physical characteristics to virtual content. But do “digital album signing” and “second-hand MP3s” add up to real innovation? Read more at paidContent »
iLike was once the most popular music application of Facebook, with close to 10 million active users generating 1.5 billion page views per month. On Tuesday, it finally shut down. Its demise proves once again that online music is a tough business to be in. Read more »
Personalized algorithms and social recommendations are great for a lot of things. But when it comes to getting news, these technologies can create an echo chamber, where our existing beliefs are reflected back to us. Uberpaper, a new site from Dmitry Shapiro, wants to combat that. Read more »
As Turntable.fm has shown, a new era of social music may be upon us, one that is less about scaling wide, but more about going deep. The third era of social music is about immersion as sites add more immediacy and intimacy to the experience. Read more »
Speculation arose this past week that News Corp.-owned MySpace Music is considering moving to a paid model, as the cost of free streaming is making its current model unsustainable. News Corp. digital chief Jon Miller expressed some interest in such a move in an onstage interview […] Read more »
Twitter is a remarkably flexible application -– an efficient news service, a way to keep up with friends, a replacement for RSS feeds, a resource for links worth sharing, a broadcast medium and two-way method of social interaction (if not quite a social network). But I’m […] Read more »
It’s been a busy September for the digital music business. Steve Jobs reappeared onstage to introduce the iTunes LP format and a series of new iPods. Anticipation grew around European streaming music service Spotify, which is due to arrive on U.S. shores in the coming months. […] Read more »
So I need your help, dear readers. I’ve taken a new position at my big-boy job, and it’s throwing me back into the world of coding. As with the majority of businesses, ours runs on Dell PCs, but my new lead wants to change that (at […] Read more »
With a recession raging and the advertising market in a slump, the social networks have to figure out business models — fast. For MySpace it could mean capturing the music niche. Others will find their niches. Facebook will leverage its Facebook Connect. Regardless, one thing is for sure, the era of general purpose, broad social networking is coming to a close. Read more »
The Intel Classroom notebook certainly qualifies as a netbook due to the small size and relatively low price. The Classroom is aimed squarely at the education field, young children in particular, as the name implies. Laptop Magazine reports that Intel will be showing a convertible Classroom […] Read more »
MySpace Music has inked a deal with digital music distributor the Independent Online Distribution Alliance that doubles to around 2 million the number of independent label tracks offered on the site. Read more »
Chris DeWolfe, CEO of MySpace, who has been on a whirlwind tour promoting MySpace Music, his new joint venture with record labels, says that the new service isn’t competitive with Apple and iTunes. “I think it is a complimentary product to what Apple provides,” DeWolfe said […] Read more »