Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

To support the release of two portable media players Dell is working on launching its own online media outlet to rival iTunes, reports BusinessWeek. Utilizing the technology it acquired when it purchased wireless content delivery platform Zing, the idea is to allow content to be purchased and played on multiple devices without a computer. Dell is now in the process of attempting to strike deals with many of the same content providers that supply iTunes. (Cynopsis 8/18)

Some major media companies are having a change of heart regarding pirated video on YouTube. CBS, Universal Music, Lionsgate and Electronic Arts have stopped prodding YouTube to remove their unauthorized clips and started selling advertising against them. (Iwantmedia 8/18, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/technology/16tube.html 8/16)

NBC today rolled out the new online sci-fi series Gemini Division, available on NBC.com and Scifi.com.  The show, which consists of 52 “Webisodes,” is backed by NBC’s digital division and features movie star Rosario Dawson, who plays an NYPD vice cop investigating the murder of her boyfriend, who turns out to be a form of artificial life known as a SIM. (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=19&entry_id=29224 8/18)

Click below to watch the first 2 webisodes.

Pandora made a bold political statement today, saying they’d likely shut down rather than continue to pay exorbitant fees to play music to listeners of its massively popular service.  Radio stations pay different rates depending on how they broadcast music. Terrestrial stations (normal FM/AM stations) pay nothing, a tribute to their powerful corporate parents with limitless lobbying budgets. Satellite stations pay approximately 1.6 cents per hour per listener. By 2010, Pandora and other Internet radio stations, which have few lobbying resources, must pay 2.91 cents. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/16/perhaps-pandora-must-be-our-sacrificial-lamb 8/16)

As someone who had a former career in radio, I have to say, artists and labels are completely in the wrong on this one.  Labels wine and dine Program Directors (those who schedule the music in rotation) in hopes that their music gets aired.  Now, as the audience shifts online, they want companies to pay to play their music?  I’m sorry.  Did I miss something?  Oh that’s right, this rigidity is exactly what continues to cripple the music industry.  Terrestial radio = music promotion.  So shouldn’t it follow that online radio also = music promotion.  Music label desperation = unwieldy regulation.  If I (music label) can’t make money on it, no one will!  Sounds like a sad case of domestic abuse.  Here’s my open note to music labels: anything that helps your audience discover your artist is a good thing, especially if in this case, a direct link can be established between the song and the online store that sells the song (i.e. iTunes).  Back in the day, listeners would call incessantly to ask the name of the song I just played so that they could purchase the song later.  The direct online link poses an easier discovery method and one that should lead more often to a legitimate sale.  And one more thing, the Pandoras of the world aside, those that really feel the burn of this legislation are small independent stations like the gem that is KCRW (Santa Monica, CA station).

A new site called SportsFanLive from LA-based Sports Media Ventures takes some of the most infectious social networking components – polls, messaging, betting, and mapping – and uses them to create a hang out for die hard sports fans. The interface is entirely customizable based on what teams you like (and hate.) (Cynopsis 8/18)

AppVee rates each iPhone application based on a variety of factors depending on the type of app. For entertainment applications, for example, apps are rated on ease of use, features, frequency of use, interface and usefulness. User ratings are also collected and placed alongside the official AppVee review. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/16/great-review-site-for-iphone-apps 8/16)

Facebook launched a new ad unit combining multimedia with user commenting, notes Inside Facebook. An ad for the new Ben Stiller comedy Tropic Thunder (the weekend’s top movie) was the first to take advantage of the new format, offering users the option to launch a video trailer, view a review blurb of the movie from Rolling Stone or add and forward comments to friends. (Cynopsis 8/18)

IFC.com unveiled all 7 episodes of Pushing Twilight, the first scripted web series to come out of its Media Lab Studios division created to identify and incubate budding filmmaking talent. The show is based on a trailer submitted by Creator Steven Sprinkles and writer Stu Chait in the Red Bull After Hours contest. (Cynopsis 8/18)

Why are web series now synonymous with awful?  I couldn’t even force my way through the first episode.  At this point, I think a web series this awful seems to discredit the entire online content genre.

Nextflix told Reuters it is up and running again after last week’s distribution snafus and is promising to issue a 15% refund to the customers who were effected by the problems (estimated to be about 1/3 of its 8.4 million subscribers.) (Cynopsis 8/18)

Tinker Bell, one of Disney’s most popular classic characters, never spoke a word in the studio’s 1953 “Peter Pan” movie. But that will soon change. Tinker Bell is being recast in the hope of launching a new billion-dollar franchise aimed at young girls, with her own online community. (Iwantmedia 8/18, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008120426_tinker18.html 8/18)