Search Results for: growing up on the internet

KOCH Entertainment is pleased to announce several new media deals: iTunes, Liquid.com, Audio Lunchbox, Emusic, Music Match, BuyMusic.com and MusicNow (formerly FullAudio). iTunes has launched the new KOCH Entertainment deal with 2Pac’s Nu-Mixx klazzics. Apple’s revolutionary, second generation iTunes Music Store now offers Windows users the same online music store that Mac users love – with the same music catalog, the same personal use rights and the same 99 cents- per-song pricing. An astounding 14 million songs have been purchased and downloaded since the original iTunes Music Store launch in April, solidifying iTunes position as the number one download music… Read more »

Digital tracks are outselling physical singles by a growing margin, a sign that consumers increasingly are embracing the brave new world of Internet downloading. Digital download sales outpaced physical singles 857,000 to 170,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures for the week ending Oct. 26. That’s slightly more than a 5-to-1 ratio. Sean Ryan, VP of music services at RealNetworks, says that the rise of digital track sales carries a “symbolic significance,” illustrating the music industry’s shift to online delivery options. He also says it indicates a real opportunity for the music business: “Selling individual songs as an offline strategy wasn’t… Read more »

Blamed by shareholders for AOL Time Warner’s sharp fall in fortunes, Steve Case said he will step down as chairman of the conglomerate he helped create – a marriage of old and new media first hailed as revolutionary but now struggling for a future. Case’s departure means the company’s leadership will be without any of the key architects of the blockbuster merger of America Online and Time Warner in 2001. The company said Sunday he would step down in May. In a brief statement, Case said he had concluded AOL Time Warner was better off without him as chairman. “Some… Read more »

Vivendi Universal said third-quarter revenues for Vivendi Universal, excluding its utilities unit Vivendi Environnement, grew by 1 percent to $7.4 billion, despite revenue declines in its publishing and music divisions. The report, released Monday, comes as the media, entertainment and utilities conglomerate faces continuing pressure to improve its balance sheet and convince investors that its business is sound. For the three months ending Sept. 30, Vivendi’s Canal Plus subscription television group showed some improvement, with revenue growing 4 percent to nearly $1.2 billion in the third quarter. But Vivendi’s Universal Music Group saw revenues fall 9 percent to 1.3 billion… Read more »

Rapper Eminem walked off with four MTV Video Music Awards on Thursday, including one for Video of the Year, in a show bookended by rousing performances by Bruce Springsteen and a rare appearance by heavy metal rockers Guns N’ Roses. Eminem, who also won awards for Best Male Video, Best Rap Video and Best Direction, said of the “moonman” statuette that was MTV’s symbol in its early days, “I’m taking this home for rap – period.” His video “Without Me” won Video of the Year honors. The rapper won four MTV awards in 1999 and 2000. The mood at the… Read more »

U.S. lawmakers have asked Attorney General John Ashcroft to go after Internet users who download unauthorized songs and other copyrighted material, raising the possibility of jail time for digital-music fans. In a July 25 letter released late Thursday, some 19 lawmakers from both sides of the aisle asked Ashcroft to prosecute “peer-to-peer” networks like Kazaa and Morpheus and the users who swap digital songs, video clips and other files without permission from artists or their record labels. The Justice Department should also devote more resources to policing online copyrights, the lawmakers said in their letter. “Such an effort is increasingly… Read more »

In addition to audio and video files, peer-to-peer Web sites may be sharing the problems of increased legal liabilities and bandwidth drains for businesses allowing employee access to these types of sites from corporate networks. Websense Inc., the worldwide leader of employee Internet management (EIM) solutions, reports that the number of peer-to-peer file sharing and file transfer Web sites has spiked more than 535 percent in the last 12 months, now totaling nearly 38,000 Web pages. In fact, 30 percent of products listed on CNET’s “Most Popular” software download list are P2P applications. While most P2P applications and MP3 files… Read more »

Recording Industry Association of America President and CEO Hilary Rosen recently testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on international and domestic intellectual property theft. The subject of music piracy has been top on Rosen’s agenda since the advent of Napster in late 1999, and the emergence of post-Napster progeny since the RIAA successfully shut down the peer-to-peer music exchange in July last year. Targeting her testimony to the foreign relations audience she was addressing, Rosen said, “In Russia, China, and Brazil alone-the world’s three leading pirate marketplaces-the music industry loses more than $1 billion per year.” Rosen added… Read more »

MusicNet has made several additions to its executive management team including technology pioneer and entrepreneur Ganapathy “Krish” Krishnan, Ph.D., as SVP of products/technology and chief technology officer. Alan McGlade, president and CEO of MusicNet, also named Shashi Karan as VP of finance and David Halprin as director of product management to MusicNet’s growing executive team. Ganapathy “Krish” Krishnan, Ph.D. will be responsible for managing product development and technical operations for MusicNet and directing the MusicNet platform into future evolutions of the service offering. Before joining MusicNet, Dr. Krishnan was a founding member, CTO and EVP of Network Commerce, Inc., where… Read more »

The tension is palpable at Universal Studios as USA Networks CEO Barry Diller considers merging his media empire with the studio’s Vivendi Universal parent. “All we know for sure is that Barry Diller is going to be a helluva lot richer a week from now,” said one senior studio executive who was about to attend the Universal Christmas Party. Vivendi Universal, seeking an elusive U.S. distribution outlet for its array of television and film assets, said on Tuesday it was in talks to buy the entertainment assets of USA, which is about 40%-owned by the French company. Whatever Diller does,… Read more »