Not sure which is getting more routine now — announcements of musical artists going MP3, launches of mini-episode miniseries or old shows finding new broadband homes — but can’t resist one of each made today:
— ABBA MP3s: The entire ABBA catalog is now available on MP3 through the Napster (NSDQ: NAPS) store. The announcement comes on the heels of the hit debut of ABBA-based movie Mamma Mia. This isn’t all nostalgia; my five-year-old niece serenaded me with Super Trooper after she saw the movie — ok, she calls it Super Duper but she likes it. Will the movie translate to MP3 sales? And will people go for singles, the soundtrack — or the originals? On a note that may be too deep for pop, how many of the songs in the show would have made it without being part of albums to begin with?
— Stephen King: Scribner, Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL) and CBS (NYSE: CBS) Mobile are behind a big online and mobile push of 2-minute videos based on Just After Sunset: a new collection of Stephen King short stories. The 25 original 2-minute video episodes are being serialized over the next five weeks starting Monday and will be everywhere in streaming and paid download form through the CBS Audience Network. Paid downloads will run $0.99 for blocks of five episodes or $3.99 for a series pass. Just After Sunset will also be published as a comic book miniseries by Marvel in 2009. More details at sister site mocoNews.net.
Catfights and romance: Imagine the mashups … the first two seasons of Dynasty are on CBS.com now and the CBS Audience Network. Ditto for the first season of romantic Beauty and the Beast. When I dropped by recent CBS addition TV.com, I caught this sponsored link ad, which in its own way seems as dated as the shoulder pads in an Alexis suit: “Watch TV Online for Free. Visit Web Site Over 25,000 TV Episodes Completely free – no credit card.” Given the amount of TV online and free legally now, that sounds almost quaint.
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