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JOBS   Maven Networks: Director of Sales, New York   Oddcast: Ad Agency Sales Executives: NYC   Amazon.com: Digital Product Manager, Seattle ------------- The featured jobs are classified ads. Post them here: Classified Section.

 Media Should Remember Smaller Operations: Um, in this case, it means me...some of my plans come out in this PR Week story (reprinted on Brand Republic site), though nothing's hidden from my regular readers...
"Like any business-owner on the threshold of change, Ali is cagey about revealing his prospects. He talks about adding three or four employees and doing events on specific issues that affect his audience [I've written about it on this site before], but when it comes to potential investors, the details, understandably, aren't as forthcoming. "At this point, I have three or four offers in different stages from people I could collaborate with, whether it's strategic investment or an angel investment, that I'm looking at."
Something I want to make clear when I say this: "I have a formula; I just need to implement it." Here's my formula: keep covering the industry as best as I can, and make sure I keep my independence. Rest will follow...
This story comes as I am about to complete two years of operating this site...I launched it on June 11, 2002 (the earlier posts were added retroactively). Things have changed from then, for sure... [Jun. 9: Link] | Nanopublishing | [03:07AM]

 Saving Streaming: A very timely artice on how to save streams online..the software and other options available...read the story about TiVo moving into online audio and video recording below first...
As the story says, it could spell more trouble for content owners, or if they could figure out a way to monetize it, a huge opportunity. "With no clear-cut way of implementing file-level DRM protection, many premium content owners will most likely see these recorders as yet another roadblock on the path to secure monetization of their digital assets."
Companies profile include ZyGoDigital and Twinklesoft. [Jun. 9: Link] | Broadband | [01:48AM]

 Tivo To Launch Net Recording Service: This was a service waiting to be launched. While there have been ripping/recording software aplenty, which let you record online audio and video streams, TiVo's entry into it gives it a different meaning altogether...it seems as if it has made use of its Strangeberry acquisition earlier this year.
The new TiVo technology, which will become a standard feature in its video recorders, will allow users to download movies and music from the Internet to the hard drive on their video recorder.
A timetable for introducing the video service has not been set, nor has its price.
The latest comes concurrently with DirecTV selling its stake in TiVo.
Meanwhile, TiVo is cutting service prices on home networking and recording services for its standalone boxes as it looks to further boost subscription rates.
The NYT story goes on to describe the various IPTV efforts in works in U.S., most of which you've read about here before: Akimbo, Microsoft TV, TimeshiftTV. All of these efforts mix IPTV and DVR functionalities, the combination which is what it is: a killer app waiting to be reaped.
However, as the story points out, the main challenge facing Internet video distribution is that streaming DVD and HDTV-quality video will require data rates above 5 megabits a second. That is far beyond most D.S.L. network speeds today, which generally range from 300 kilobits to 1.5 megabits.
Related:
-- In A Strange Move, TiVo Acquires Strangeberry, Plots Broadband Course
-- TiVO: When the Network Meets the Net
-- Microsoft to Develop Broadband TV For Telcos
-- TimeshifTV Will Speak In Tongues
-- Akimbo Launches IP TV Service in U.S
-- A Profile of Akimbo's IP-TV Service
-- Ripe Time For RipeTV? [Jun. 9: Link] | Broadband | [12:12AM]

 Why Can't A Newspaper Be More Like A Blog: Two sharp pieces by Barry Parr, on how online newspapers need to evolve:
-- RSS: "Publishers don't understand that the home page is no longer the gateway to their site. Every well-designed page has enough navigation and headlines to draw you into the site."
-- Comments: "Newspapers demand registration and acceptance of advertising email as a condition for reading their news, but none use those registrations to create a community." [Jun. 9: Link] | Newspapers | [12:08AM]

 Sponsor Post: Borderless Systems: (This is once-a-day post thanking my sponsors...) ISPs and content providers are establishing new distribution partnerships that will bring a wide range of new services to consumers. Making these relationships meaningful requires integration between the content providers and their ISP partners. This integration enables centralized billing, single-sign-on and bundles of services from multiple providers. Borderless Systems provides solutions that make these integrations easier, enabling both ISPs and content providers to deploy more services with more partners at lower cost and with greater profit. [Jun. 9: Link] | [12:01AM]

 Could Google Change the Wireless Internet?: A speculative story on whether Google will have the same effect on wireless Internet as it has on wirelene Internet...Google has already developed technology--through its Froogle Wireless service--that changes the formatting of Web pages to make them easier to view on mobile phones. If the company gets it right, it could give people compelling reasons to use the Web when they are on the go. [Jun. 8: Link] | Google | [11:49PM]

 Online Music Piracy Falls 27%: New figures compiled by the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry, the industry association representing record labels, showed 800m illegally copied music files or tracks were available on the web, compared with 1.1bn in June last year.
On Tuesday, the IFPI said it had completed its first legal actions in Europe, with web-users agreeing to pay average compensation of several thousand euros in separate cases across Germany and Denmark.
Full details of IFPI campaign here... [Jun. 8: Link] | Music |UK/Europe | [11:39PM]

 Roger Ebert's Movie Reviews on Cells: Smart move by Chicago Sun Times..."Ebert Mobile Movie Reviews" will be available exclusively to U.S. Cellular subscribers.
Ebert's Mobile Movie Reviews helps customers search both new and old films and reviews by selecting any of its five categories: Now Playing, Great Movies, Search Movies and Rentals, Browse by Genre, and Weekly Top 10..
An oh-wow comment by Ebert: "The idea that moviegoers and movie renters can access my reviews on their mobile phones is mind-boggling," Ebert said. "I think it's great. But remember, once you get in the theater, turn off your phones." [Jun. 8: Link] | Newspapers |Wireless | [11:30PM]

 Intel Ties Up With Chinese Game Company Shanda: Intel plans to cooperate with Shanghai-based Shanda Interactive Entertainment on software development, focusing on online home entertainment systems for the China market.
The companies plan to explore how Shanda's online data networking systems could be restructured using Intel hardware, the statement said. They will operate a joint testing center at Intel's facility in Shanghai.
More details here... [Jun. 8: Link] | Broadband |Gaming | [11:18PM]

 Burgeoning Adware Segment Looks To Secure Funding Even As Scrutiny Continues: Claria's looking to the public markets via a pending initial public offering, and WhenU has secured an investment bank. Can the embattled adware sector secure funding as efforts to regulate it gain strength and legal issues mount? [Jun. 8: Link] | VC/M&A; | [11:10PM]

 So Why Did Beatles Do An About Face?: The only plausible explanation for Beatles turnround to consider selling their songs online is that they have seen Microsoft's Janus DRM capabilities, and are comfortable with the how the protection plays with their concerns about copyright and piracy...
It is portable, it is subscription based and it protects enough. For those of you wanting brush up on Janus DRM, read our dedicated DRM section....
Also, the amount of money Beatles is asking for is probably only in Microsoft's league...MSN will be launching the music store sometime later this year, and the Beatles exclusive would be a huge coup to kickstart and differentiate its service...
Remeber, MSN paid $40 million to MLB.com for exclusive rights to live video...no one else could come near... [Jun. 8: Link] | DRM |Music | [10:55PM]

 The Greatest Music Deal In History?: That's what the new Mcdonald's ad promoting its free song giveaway with Sony Connect is claiming...talk about hyperbole. The campaign started today, as did the promo in McDs...
The ad's on heavy rotation on ESPN..that's where I caught it today during every ad break...
For all the buzz on Sony-McDs deal and more on Sony Connect online music service, you can check out our dedicated company page... [Jun. 8: Link] | Music |Sony | [08:02PM]

 Siemens Invests in Controversial Xingtone: Xingtone, the LA-based controversial ringtone making software company which has created a lot of buzz in the music and wireless industry, has received its first round of institutional financing lead by Siemens Mobile Acceleration, a venture division of Siemens...
The amount was not disclosed...The firm sells a $15 software package that allows consumers to transfer songs and other digital content that they already own to their cell phones.
The ringtones-online music market disconnect, which I've written about extensively here, cannot be sustained for a long time, the company believes. "Xingtone is proof that an open market model affords a greater consumer experience making it easy for them to merge their digital and mobile lives. Content does not have to be bound to a single medium; it can follow you wherever you go," said Xingtone president and founder Brad Zutaut, in a statement.
Related:
-- The Mobile-Online Music Disconnect: What Will It Take
-- Ringtones Jump From PCs to CDs
-- Bypassing Operators, Label Signs Deals on Ringtones
-- Record label runs ring tones around wireless carriers
-- Primetones.com allows users to create ring tones from PC music [Jun. 8: Link] | Music |VC/M&A; |Wireless | [05:22PM]

 Toshiba Puts Napster on Its Laptops: Toshiba has begun shipping Satellite laptop computers pre-installed with Napster's online music service. Napster will give a one-month free trial to all new Toshiba notebook buyers (usually costs $9.95 a month).
More details here... [Jun. 8: Link] | Music | [05:12PM]

 Will Beatles Start Selling in Online Stores?: Getting The Beatles online into the digital music stores has been talked about for a long time now, and now its seems to be moving towards reality...
Negotiators for the band have spoken with numerous online music providers, ranging from small companies to Microsoft...The Beatles' side is asking for a considerable sum in return for providing exclusive online distribution rights, perhaps for as long as a year or more. The current round of discussions are being led by the Beatles' representatives rather than the group's record label, EMI, according to this story.
This is an about turn from about 6-8 months ago, when the Beatles management had no plans of being on the online music catalog, according to this BBC story...
One idea being considered is an exclusive Beatles-branded store, which could be operated by one of the existing online music services.
Reuters: Negotiators for the Beatles have talked with several companies, with a particular emphasis on Microsoft Corp's MSN, which is expected to launch a music store later this year...some deal could be reached by September, according to this Reuters story... [Jun. 8: Link] | Music | [05:00PM]

 Yahoo Tests New Home Page: No big changes, except giving more prominence to advertising... [Jun. 8: Link] | YHOO | [04:48PM]

 Microsoft Appeals Eolas Decision: Microsoft filed a blistering brief asking the U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn a $565 million patent infringement judgment. The 174-page document, filed June 3, attacks a U.S. District Court decision that said Microsoft violated a patent, owned by the University of California and its Eolas spinoff. The patent describes how a Web browser can run plug-in application [Jun. 8: Link] | Microsoft | [04:46PM]

 TechTarget Ropes in a Whopping $70 Million in Venture Financing: Targeted tech media company TechTarget, based out of Needham, MA, has garnered a whopping $70 million in second round of venture financing...that makes it the biggest digital media venture funding over the last year, as tracked by my Digital Media Deals report...
The investors were Technology Crossover Ventures and Polaris Venture Partners, the firm that led TechTarget's $30 million first funding round in March 2001.
TechTarget will use the money to continue its growth, fund additional acquisitions, and expand its international presence. Since its launch in September 1999, TechTarget has grown from four sites targeting specific sectors of the IT marketplace to a full network of 21 targeted sites, a conference division, and a magazine publishing division.
In May, TechTarget acquired the myITforum.com web site from Altiris. Last month, TechTarget expanded its media properties beyond North America with the announcement of the launch of TechTarget China.
Since 2000, TechTarget has increased its revenues more than sevenfold and grown its customer base from 400 advertisers to 1,500, according to the statement. The company achieved profitability in Q2 2002.
Related:
-- TechTarget Acquires myITforum.com
-- TechTarget's E-Newsletters Go Controlled
-- TechTarget Announces First-Quarter Revenue Growth of 51 Percent [Jun. 8: Link] | Biz/Fin |VC/M&A; | [02:39PM]

 Windows Media 9 Moves Past the PC: Microsoft has teamed up with STMicroelectronics to develop a series of chips for consumer electronics devices that support Windows Media 9...Designed for use in devices like DVD players and set-top boxes, the new line of chips from STMicro will support Windows Media Audio 9, Windows Media Audio 9 Professional, and Windows Media Video 9, which includes support for high-definition video. [Jun. 8: Link] | Microsoft | [01:42PM]

 Softbank CEO Blasts U.S. Broadband Lag: Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of Japan's Softbank, said Tuesday he had "pity" for what he regards as the United States' slow adoption of broadband technology.
He blames the U.S. regulatory climate for stunting broadband growth, which is just now picking up [Jun. 8: Link] | Broadband | [01:38PM]

 Broadband Internet Use Up 42 Pct in 2004: Broadband use grew 42 percent last year as some 8.3 million homes and businesses signed up for broadband service in U.S., according to FCC. [Jun. 8: Link] | Broadband | [01:31PM]

 GarageBand.com Leaves Door Open: GarageBand.com -- a site that both hosts independent music and uses a peer-review process to identify hot bands -- is offering the Creative Commons Music Sharing License to artists who want to distribute their tunes for free... [Jun. 8: Link] | Music | [01:30PM]

 Digital Frontiers of Tommorow: Chris Schroeder, VP of strategy at The Washington Post Co, has started writing a new column on digital changes: "What are the lessons of Korea and other advanced broadband societies for the future of content and marketing? Cutting through the Google IPO-hype, is the pay-for-performance model doing to the CPM what TiVo and PVRs are doing to the 30 second spot? What is the future of branding in a progressively quick-hit transaction media? Can local and niche sites withstand Google Local?" [Jun. 8: Link] | [01:29PM]

 More Dilutions At Sportsline: Check this 8-K from Sportsline...2.56 million shares, valued at about $2.67 million, issued to NFL Enterprises... [Jun. 8: Link] | Sports | [01:22PM]

 Industry Moves: Wayne Rosso Leaves Optisoft: Wayne Rosso, former president of P2P software Grokster, is now also the former president of Spain's Optisoft.
Rosso turned Grokster into a major presence in the commercial p2p file sharing arena, leaving the company last October to run Opstisoft. One of the p2p industry's more flamboyant characters, he says he's now involved in a new p2p venture and is, "in the midst of putting it together".
Related: "Optisoft CEO Wayne Rosso on File-Sharing Frontiers" [Jun. 8: Link] | Industry Moves | [01:20PM]

 New Issue of Broadband Content Report, Out Now: The new issue of Broadband Content Report is online now...
Covered in this issue, and more:
-- Broadband Consumption Habits of Young Adults
-- Japan's NHK Lifts Lid On TV Of The Future
-- Movielink Does Not Violate Anti-Trust
-- MLB.com Launches PPV Baseball Games Online
-- Digital Media Ads Cropping Up Offline [Jun. 8: Link] | Broadband | [03:18AM]

 MSN, AOL On Different Paths: Larry Kramer, CEO of CBS MarketWatch took it upon himself to report from the exclusive D Conference...
An interesting but obvious divergence of views: Yusef Mehdi of MSN said Microsoft was committed to creating the software to connect people to people and people to the information they wanted. He said Microsoft felt it wasn't its job to create content, that it used partners to do that.
Lisa Hook, president of AOL Broadband, Premium and Platform Services, said AOL was emphasizing content along with features and functionality as key areas for growth. [Jun. 8: Link] | AOL |Microsoft | [02:56AM]

 Does The Internet Economy Need a Voice Again?: No, thank you very much. That internet economy voice, which born-again now-online-only pubs like RedHerring and The Industry Standard have been trying to revive, is a futile effort...their time has come and gone. Now is the time for smaller, more nimble niche publications...
Why am I writing about this now? I saw this story in Mercury News today, and also read this short piece by Om Malik on Gadget magazine bubble.
One thing really tickled me: Matt McAlister, VP an InfoWorld and the guy behind The Standard revival effort, says this: "There is a buzz in the market and no one is really dedicated to telling the story about what is happening on the Internet." No one is dedicated because it does not make sense anymore: Internet is not one monolithic entity anymore...
Both of these point to one thing: the internet/connected economy voice is not these revival attempts, but aggregation/analysis sites like mine, Gizmodo, and most important aggregation efforts of all: the RSS newsreaders which allow users to put together their own voice, and whatever voice they want to hear. So wake up, and smell the feed... [Jun. 8: Link] | [02:30AM]

 Charlie Chaplin To Hit Cells: Charlie Chaplin's family-run business that holds the rights to the comedic icon has signed an agreement to create interactive games for mobile phones...The deal is part of a wider plan by Bubbles Inc., which holds the rights to Chaplin's image, to capitalize on the comedian's fame. Montreal-based Krypton Imagination, a licensing agency formed expressly to do Chaplin licensing deals, is working with Dhruva Interactive, a games company based in India.
The debut line of mobile phone games produced by Dhruva will be available beginning in October 2004. [Jun. 8: Link] | Wireless | [02:26AM]

 Sponsor Post: thePlatform: (This is once-a-day post thanking my sponsors...) From broadcast, to broadband, thePlatform media publishing system makes publishing digital media easy, fast, and cost-effective. Companies including Bank of America, CNBC, Comcast, Microsoft, and Primedia use thePlatform to publish consumer and enterprise portals, secure digital media subscriptions and pay-per-view, insert dynamic streaming advertising, and much more.
With thePlatform you can quickly and easily create custom workflow, automate business processes, and seamlessly integrate your own IT systems using cutting edge web-services APIs – all in hours or days, not weeks or months. [Jun. 8: Link] | [02:20AM]

 Microsoft Likely to Win Stay of European Ruling: Microsoft is expected to win an immediate temporary stay of European regulators' order that the company sell a version of its Windows operating system without Media Player software included...
Such a request for a temporary injunction is often honored in antitrust cases, and at the very least, it would give Microsoft several months before it would have to comply with the European antitrust order. [Jun. 8: Link] | Microsoft |UK/Europe | [02:14AM]

 Time For Flash Video?: As I've written before, Flash may just surprise you with its versatility, and you get past the WMP vs Real vc QT debate etc...
The news: Macromedia has tied up with streaming media company Speedera Networks to deliver video clips in Flash format. More info on Flash Video here.
Speedera is a global content delivery provider that connects to more than 1,000 carrier backbones in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
Some more details here...
Related:
-- Managing Content In A Flash
-- Flash Comes Out Of The Shadows
-- Should Microsoft Buy Macromedia? [Jun. 8: Link] | Broadband | [02:06AM]

 Movielink Moves Into Anime: Movielink, the online movie service which is now trying to position itself as the "broadband video-on-demand service", has acquired the right to carry all 52 episodes of the Speed Racer anime classic TV series.
The Speed Racer episodes offered on Movielink will be packaged together and rented as 1 ½ to two-hour segments. [Jun. 8: Link] | Broadband |Movies | [12:30AM]

 IPC Launches Online Version of Design Title Wallpaper: The hip Brit design mag Wallpaper has launched its website...
The publishing group has promised that the Wallpaper.com site will "complement rather than duplicate the magazine" and act as an extension to its print product. [Jun. 8: Link] | Magazines | [12:20AM]

 Naxos Signs Up With Loudeye: Naxos, one of the biggest indie classicial music labels in the world, has signed up a deal with Loudeye...Naxos's classical music catalog of more than 55,000 tracks will be added to Loudeye's IndieSource program and made available for digital download through Loudeye’s music distribution partners.
Also read, "Classical label turns to Internet streaming" [Jun. 8: Link] | Music | [12:00AM]

 Deutsche Bank Media Conference: You may want to check out the webcasts at the Deutsche Bank Media Conference, going on right now in NYC...
There was in an interesting panel on "Impact of Technology on Media", focusing on impact of tech on TV, advent of DVRs etc...definitely one to listen into... [Jun. 7: Link] | [10:37PM]

 Interesting Jobs At Jobs Blog: Couple of interesting jobs at the jobs blog today:
-- Sony Pictures Entertainment: Director / Principal Engineer, Antipiracy, LA: The company's looking to reduce digital piracy of movies...
-- Sony Connect: Director of Marketing, LA: For sure, it needs heavy marketing... [Jun. 7: Link] | [09:55PM]

 MSNBC.com's Print Ad in Newsweek: As a semi-regular feature, I posted some print ads in Rolling Stone magazine promoting digital media services last week...
This week, the latest issue of Newsweek print mag (Newsweek website is hosted on MSNBC.com) has this ad promoting the free video on MSNBC.com. The site launched a new version in December last year, and has focused heavily on online video which is launched in conjunction with MSN...
Related: Digital Media Ads Cropping Up Offline

[Jun. 7: Link] | [09:23PM]

 eBook Retail Sales in Q1: eBook units sold for the first quarter 2004 were up 46% and eBook revenues were up 28% over the same quarter in 2003. [Jun. 7: Link] | [07:09PM]

 Jobs Says Apple Won't Raise iTunes Prices (sub. req.): Steve Jobs has squashed rumors of price increase for Apple iTunes music service...he spoke today at the oh-so-posh D conference..."We don't think the consumer wants to pay more than 99 cents." [Jun. 7: Link] | Apple |Music | [06:57PM]

 Knight Ridder Invests $2 Mil. in CityXpress: CityXpress, a provider of technology for online newspaper auctions, has obtained a $2 million equity investment from Knight Ridder.
The corporation also announced that Lee Enterprises, a long-time investor in CityXpress, has converted its remaining loans and interest to common shares of the company. [Jun. 7: Link] | Newspapers |VC/M&A; | [06:51PM]

 Apple Unveils Wireless Station to Stream Music: Apple has unveiled a mobile wireless base station that lets users play digital music from their iTunes music libraries on to a computer over home stereo systems.
The device, called AirPort Express, allows digital music to be beamed to a home stereo, and it is a portable wireless base station that uses the 802.11g standard. It can be used in hotel rooms with broadband connections or for setting up instant wireless networks.
AirPort Express costs $129 and will be available in July. [Jun. 7: Link] | Apple |Music | [06:31PM]

 Trade Magazines' Influence Wanes: A new report by media merchant bank Veronis Suhler Stevenson chronicles the rise of the communications industry as an economic force. But the report also shows the waning influence of trade publications.
The report is bullish on Internet, trade shows, database services... [Jun. 7: Link] | Biz/Fin | [05:55PM]

 Industry Moves: Forbes.com Promotes CTO To VP Operations: Forbes.com has promoted Michael Smith from CTO to VP and GM of operations. He will continue to oversee all production, audience development and ad serving for the site... [Jun. 7: Link] | Industry Moves | [05:37PM]

 RealNetworks Divests Its Non-Profit Consulting Business: RealNetworks is divesting and spinning out its non-profit consulting business RealImpact...LUX Media 501, a technology consulting firm also working with non-profits, will assume operations of RealImpact.
Some history: Steve Mack and Halley Bock, two founders of Lux media, used to work for RNWK's media lab team. They left to start Lux Media, and in March, bought out RealImpact from their former employers.
RealImpact clients such as AFL-CIO, Amnesty International USA, Earth Justice, ACLU, The Humane Society of the US, Independent Media Institute (AlterNet.org) and PAWS will now rely upon LUX Media 501 for their website and streaming media needs. [Jun. 7: Link] | RNWK |VC/M&A; | [02:36PM]

 Thomson Puts Business Magazines on Block; Focus on Online Info: B2B info provider Thomson Corp. is putting a collection of 54 business publications, including American Banker and Investment Dealers' Digest, up for sale, as part of an ongoing strategy to transform itself from a print publisher to an electronic information provider.
Thomson has again retained investment bank Morgan Stanley to seek potential buyers for the unit, which is called Thomson Media. A person with knowledge of the industry said the magazines could sell for north of $200 million. Thomson Media had revenue of about $170 million in 2003. [Jun. 7: Link] | Biz/Fin | [02:21PM]

 BBC's Olympic Bet: (reg. req.) Will the BBC's Olympic webcasts revolutionise the way we watch sport on TV? And can they tempt us to buy broadband?
Andrew Thompson, BBC's head of development, new media and sports news, believes that this summer will represent a watershed for the way major events are covered. [Jun. 7: Link] | BBCi |Broadband |Digital Olympics |Sports | [02:07PM]

 Why ITV Has No Future: Marketing expert Al Ries has written a provocative essay and has this rather sweeping statement: "Interactive TV has no future because it's based on a flawed concept called convergence."
"Convergence is fundamentally a flawed concept, but it's even worse when you try to put an active medium (the Internet) together with a passive medium (television.)" [Jun. 7: Link] | [01:55PM]

 Eyeblaster Debuts New Video-Based Ad Product: Rich media provider Eyeblaster has launched a new video-based advertising solution for video content streams. Eyeblaster's VideoClip Module (VCM) is positioned as a format that can offer additional ad inventory for publishers, and presents advertisers with a TV spot-like buy with interactivity to boot.
News.com: Several Web publishers, including About.com and iFilm.com have signed on...In addition to About.com and iFilm, CondeNast's online arm CondeNet and World Wrestling Entertainment are testing the software, which was released Monday. [Jun. 7: Link] | Advertising | [01:46PM]

 Apple iTunes Europe Launch Set For June 15: Apple Computer will announce next week its long-awaited European version of the iTunes online music store, according to this Reuters report. This is the second major music service to enter Europe from U.S.: Napster launched last month, and Sony Connect is launching this month.
The Apple announcement will be made on June 15...it has kept the specifics of its plans in Europe a closely guarded secret. The company is expected to detail next week which countries it will serve and with how many songs. [Jun. 7: Link] | Apple |Music |UK/Europe | [01:01PM]

 Trade Companies To Block Google and Other Search Engines?: It is an idea floated by International Data Group CEO Pat Kenealy, no less. He gave a speech recently at American Business Media conference, and also talked about Google's effect on trade media companies and magazine industry...
In the latest issue of Media Business magazine (it is available as a PDF and rather cumbersome to download, as the whole magazine in split into two PDFs...the Google story is broken in the middle), a story discusses the Google conundrum for magazine publishers...and quotes Kenealy on his speech at the ABM conference: "Kenealy has floated the idea that American Business Media member companies should agree to block Google and other search engines from crawling their sites. Together, these business media companies could develop their own search algorithm, or they might cut a more favorable revenue-sharing deal with an existing search engine, he said." IDG is famous for its rather regressive linking policies: read this: "IDG Prepares Case Against Deep Linkers"; this: "IDG Prevents Competitor from Linking to Its Sites"; this: "Deep Linking: Some Thoughts"
Here's the crux of the matter: "Is Google friend or foe?" Bill McGorry, exec VP-licensing and electronics group at Reed Business Information, summed up the ambivalence that many b2B media executives feel toward search engines when he coined a new word: "Google is probably a 'froe.' … My opinion is that they're probably more friend than foe." [Jun. 7: Link] | Biz/Fin |Google | [03:59AM]

 Falling Hollywood Trades Revenues?: Found this interesting nugget in the latest Media Business magazine's June Issue...download here...section two...
Can anyone tell me why Hollywood Reporter and Daily variety's ad revenues are fallig so rapidly? Is it because the news they provide is being scooped by numerous Web pubs?

[Jun. 7: Link] | Magazines | [03:58AM]

 Money-Back Guarantee on Online Advertising?: (page 18, Media Business magazine's June Issue...download here...section two): Forbes.com has been offering a money-back guarantee on on its online advertising, saying that it will outperform WSJ (print) anyday...
Advertisers that want to take the challenge must spend at least $150,000 on Forbes.com and run similar messaging in online and print executions at equivalent spending levels over similar time frames. Research company Insight- Express is conducting the ad effectiveness research. So far, no advertiser has signed up to take the challenge.
TechTarget is another publisher that offers a guarantee to advertisers. Its TargetROI program, launched in 2001, offers guaranteed leads to advertisers through banner ads, newsletters, Webcasts and other online marketing programs.
I'm happy that online media sites are offering these guarantees, but it is foolish of Forbes.com to go against WSJ...I would rather stick with TechTarget's approach...
Related: Forbes.com Taunts WSJ [Jun. 7: Link] | Advertising | [03:37AM]

 The B-to-B Audience of the Future: (Links to a PDF report): American Business Media held a panel discussion on this topic, and Readex did a survey on this...
Lists how readership of B2B media is changing, with profound impact due to Web. Worst hit: Magazines, what else...
The chart below tells it all:

[Jun. 7: Link] | Biz/Fin |Magazines | [03:03AM]

 Sponsor Post: Entriq: (This is once-a-day post thanking my sponsors...) Entriq develops and manages online pay media infrastructure. Our goal is to provide enabling technology for protecting and monetizing your content. We've been doing that successfully for more than 20 years in broadcast, cable and satellite. Now we're doing it for broadband. See why media clients such as MTV Networks and Prince's NPG Music Club rely on Entriq for their online distribution of valuable content. Security, Billing, and Customer Care are at the core of all of Entriq's products and services.
Check out Entriq's white paper or contact us at sales@entriq.com. [Jun. 7: Link] | [03:00AM]

 Broadcatching: The RSS-ification Of TV News: A taste of what the RSS-ification of TV news will be like...
Also read this followup... [Jun. 7: Link] | RSS Etc. | [02:51AM]

 Think of it as Radio Simply Sydicated: A case for re-inventing radio using RSS...in effect, an RSS-fortified interactive model, for radio-on-demand. [Jun. 7: Link] | RSS Etc. | [02:43AM]

 Music Videos On Demand To Work?: Music videos on demand are generating hectic activity in the market: AOL and Time Warner Digital Cable recently joined forces for My MC. Music-video channel Fuse is developing its Fuse On-Demand video service for digital cable or satellite TV.
And now Gotuit Media has teamed with Universal Music Group for a trial run of Gotuit Music OnDemand..some more details here... [Jun. 7: Link] | Music | [02:29AM]

 TimeshifTV Will Speak In Tongues: TimeshifTV, a broadband content startup service, is targeting immigrants in U.S. with languages other than English. The subscription-based service initially will be offered as a set-top box that uses the Internet to deliver the viewer's choice of programming, on demand.
The parent company Broadband Networks is an IPTV company based in Los Gatos, CA...
The service seems to be similar to what startup Akimbo launched recently in U.S.
Related:
-- Akimbo Launches IP TV Service in U.S
-- A Profile of Akimbo's IP-TV Service
-- Ripe Time For RipeTV? [Jun. 7: Link] | Broadband | [02:00AM]

 Jane's CEO Angry At Current Publishing Trends: It's a sentiment you'll increasingly hear in the incumbent B2B industry executives over the next few years, as structural changes to their marketplace will displace some of these information companies, replaced by smaller and more nimble Internet players...
For instance, witness this: Jane's Information Group CEO Alfred Rolington spoke at the NEPA conference Sunday, and railed against how Internet has devalued information. He apparently analyzed "the publishing trend of short-term self-fulfillment and argue that it is morally abject and short-term, as are the publishing economics behind it". Morally abject? Really?
The point he makes about politicians makes sense, but is the Internet to blame for this? [Jun. 7: Link] | Biz/Fin | [01:30AM]

 Print Driving Online Subs: Rex Hammock points to an interesting experiment by online basketball subscription news site, Hoopsworld.com, which is launching a print magazine..which. of course, has been done before by other online sites with little success. But this time, there's a twist: the magazine, called Swish, will be free to users who subscribe to the main online site at Hoopsworld...
It is what it is: a value add to get online subscribers...a smart strategy rather than the usual other way around with most magazine: they ask to subscribe for the print, and online is free to those paying print subscribers...
It'll be interesting to see Hoopsworld's pitch to advertisers for Swish...what kind of premiums would the rate card command? [Jun. 6: Link] | Magazines | [10:25PM]

 Information Arbitrage: Differential markets and how to profit from it... [Jun. 6: Link] | [10:15PM]

 Wanna-Have Content Sells...When It Gets Personal: The last line is the crux: "People will pay for wanna-have content when they can feel it as their own, either because it is tangible and downloadable or because it is stamped with the user's identity." [Jun. 6: Link] | Analysis | [10:13PM]

 Tencent Technology To Use US$199M IPO Gains For Buys: Tencent Technology, the operator of QQ, China's largest IM platform, is planning to use the majority of the proceeds of its $199 million IPO on making strategic acquisitions...65% of the IPO's proceeds would go toward making strategic acquisitions - value-added services probably in the e-commerce or music fields.
Tencent IPO comes as shares in Tencent peer, Internet firm TOM Online have traded below their IPO price since they listed in the middle of March. [Jun. 6: Link] | VC/M&A; | [10:11PM]

 Biometric Media Player: Established biometric vendor Veritouch has teamed up with Swedish design company to produce iVue: a wireless media player that allows content producers to lock down media files with biometric security. Veritouch announced that it had demonstrated the device to the RIAA and MPAA. [Jun. 6: Link] | DRM |Music | [10:08PM]

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Winner: European Online Journalism Award 2003, for the best news weblog of the year.
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Winner: Find/SVP's Best of Business Web Award for 2003, for coverage of the B2B info industry, and the converging business and consumer info market.
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