Universal, Sony Music Plan "On Air, On Sale" Policy for Singles

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London – Major record labels Universal Music and Sony (NYSE: SNE) Music
plan to begin releasing singles for sale in the U.K. on the same day they
premiere on the radio, the Guardian reports.

Typically, singles were played up
to six weeks on radio before being released commercially, but the labels’
research found that "searches or songs on Google or iTunes were peaking
two weeks before they actually became available to buy," Universal Music
CEO David Joseph told the Guardian.

"It’s out of date to think that you
can build up demand for a song by playing it for several weeks on radio in
advance," Joseph added.

Sony and Universal plan to launch the "On
Air, On Sale" policy next month.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4pgez3g
(Guardian)

Report: Kiosks Overtake In-Store Movie Rentals in Market Share

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Port Washington, N.Y. – The share of DVDs and Blu-ray disc
titles rented from Redbox (NASD: CSTR) and other standalone DVD rental kiosks overtook the
share of titles rented from retail stores for the first time ever in the U.S.
last year, according to a report from market research firm NPD Group.

During
the third quarter of 2010, Netflix (NASD: NFLX) and other subscription services accounted
for 41% of rentals, followed by kiosks with 31%, and in-store rentals at 27%.

The share of titles rented from kiosks was up 10 percentage points from a year
ago, while in-store rental share declined by 13 points.

"The rental
landscape for DVDs and BDs continues to shift, and consumers are obviously
responding positively to the perceived value and convenience of kiosks,"
said NPD analyst Russ Crupnick.

"Traditional video retailers will no doubt
experience even more competition in the coming year, as kiosks appear more
frequently in grocery store chains, mass merchandisers, and quick-serve
restaurants, and as competition intensifies from an assortment of on-demand
rental offerings."

 

Related Links:
http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_110117.html

TheWrap Acquires Hollywood Database ItsOnTheGrid.com

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles – TheWrap, an online publisher of celebrity and
entertainment industry news, has acquired entertainment industry information
database ItsOnTheGrid.com, TechCrunch reported.

Financial terms of the deal
were not disclosed.

ItsOnTheGrid offers a subscription-based database of information
on scripts and other items relevant for film development professionals.

The
information comes from a mix of industry insiders and real-time data from
public sources.

TheWrap was founded in 2008 by former New York Times journalist
Sharon Waxman, and has received venture capital from Maveron and others.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4zqscpf
(TechCrunch)

http://www.thewrap.com

http://itsonthegrid.com

FCC, DOJ Grant Conditional Approval of Comcast-NBCU Deal

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on
Tuesday voted 4-1 to grant conditional approval to the proposed $6.5 billion
deal between Comcast (NASD:  CMCSA) and NBC Universal (NYSE:  GE). The FCC said Comcast-NBCU agreed to
conditions addressing potential harm caused by the combination, which will last
for a period of seven years. They include ensuring reasonable access to its
programming for multichannel distribution and to competing online video
services, and offering standalone broadband service to non-cable TV subscribers.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Dept. of Justice also announced a settlement with Comcast
and NBC Universal, that provides conditional approval of their proposed
combination.

The Justice Dept.’s Antitrust Division and five state attorneys
general filed a civil antitrust suit today to block the joint venture, which the
settlement will address.

Under the terms, the companies agreed "to license
programming to online competitors to Comcast’s cable TV services, subject
themselves to anti-retaliation provisions and adhere to Open Internet
requirements."

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/6l4v9k5
(PDF: FCC statement)

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/January/11-at-061.html

Scribd Raises $13 Million for Social Web Publishing Service

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco – Scribd, a social publishing and document reading
site, announced on Tuesday that it has closed a $13 million third round of
venture capital financing, led by MLC Investments and SVB Capital.

Previous
backers Redpoint Ventures, Charles River Ventures and Kinsey Hills Group also
participated.

Founded in 2007, San Francisco-based Scribd is attracting 60
million monthly unique users to its site, which lets users upload and share
text documents.

The company will use the funds to grow its engineering staff
and accelerate product development, including mobile applications.

 

Related Links:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/47101019/Series-C-Press-Release

Facebook Halts Release of Addresses, Cell Numbers to Apps

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Palo Alto, Calif. – In response to feedback from users, Facebook
has temporarily disabled a change it made over the weekend that expanded the
information a user can share with third-party websites and applications to
include their physical addresses and mobile telephone numbers.

While Facebook
said the expansion of personal information sharing would let users, for
example, "sign up for up-to-the-minute alerts on special deals directly to
your mobile phone," some had speculated that rogue applications could
potentially be developed to cull users’ addresses and mobile numbers.

In its
statement announcing suspension of the move, the company said it will also
"make changes to help ensure you only share this information when you
intend to do so," adding that it plans to re-enable the feature "in
the next few weeks."

 

Related Links:
http://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/447

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-20028746-83.html

Nokia to Shutter Unlimited Music Service in 27 Countries

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Espoo, Finland – Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has announced that it will
discontinue a service that bundled digital music downloads with new phone
purchases in 27 countries.

Initially branded "Comes With Music" when
it launched in 2008, the Ovi Music Unlimited service has been supported by the
major labels buy failed to gain traction with consumers in Europe.

The company cited
digital rights management (DRM) restrictions, limiting
how songs could be moved between devices, as part of its reason to curtail the
service.

"The markets clearly want a DRM-free music service," a Nokia
spokesman told Reuters.

Nokia will continue to offer the service in China,
India and Indonesia — where consumers may still purchase 12-month
subscriptions — as well as in Brazil, Turkey and South Africa, where six-month
subscriptions will be offered.

The company will also continue to sell a la
carte digital song downloads via its Ovi Music Store in 38 countries.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4vbz27n
(Nokia blog)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70G1YE20110117

Goldman Restricts Facebook Offering to Foreign Investors

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – After offering the opportunity for its wealthy
U.S. client base to invest in Facebook, Goldman Sachs has rescinded that offer,
opting to restrict the offering to foreign investors so it can avoid breaching
U.S. securities laws, The Wall Street Journal reported. In connection with a
$500 million investment deal that gave Facebook a $50 billion valuation,
Goldman said it would raise an additional $1.5 billion for Facebook by courting
its client base for investments.

Last week, reports emerged that the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) was investigating Goldman’s Facebook investment
opportunity — which was reportedly already oversubscribed.

Goldman said in a
statement that it had "concluded the level of media attention might not be
consistent with the proper completion of a U.S. private placement under U.S.
law," which prohibits advertising or promotion of such private placements.

The rescinding of its Facebook investment offer could reportedly "damage
Goldman’s ties to some of its most lucrative [U.S.] clients," The Journal
reports.

However, The Journal also noted that had the SEC deemed the deal
improper, it could have forced Goldman to repurchase all the shares it sold, or
force Facebook to immediately begin reporting financial results in its public
filings.

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/5uhxuc2
(WSJ)

http://tinyurl.com/26tlecb
(DMW previous coverage)

Documentary Films Site SnagFilms Scores $10 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington – SnagFilms, the documentary film site founded by
former AOL vice chairman Ted Leonsis, said on Tuesday it has raised $10 million
in a new round of funding aimed at expanding its distribution of independent
films across digital platforms and devices.

New investors New Enterprise
Associates (NEA) and Comcast Interactive Capital (CIC) joined previous backers
Leonsis and Steve Case, the co-founder and former chairman and CEO of AOL.

Leonsis said his
"profitable" company didn’t need to raise more capital, but saw
"overwhelming strategic value" in involving NEA and CIC, the
investment arm of Comcast.

SnagFilms plans to use a portion of the funds to,
for the first time, distribute fictional independent releases, and has hired
Bingham Ray, the former president of United Artists, October Films and Kimmel
Entertainment, to help lead that area.

In addition, the company plans to expand
its 15-year-old indieWIRE unit, a Web source of news, reviews and analysis of
independent film.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/6hmam5e

http://www.snagfilms.com

 

Kajeet Secures $18.1 Million for Kids Cell Phone Service

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Bethesda, Md. – Kajeet, the developer of a pay-as-you-go
cell phone service for kids, has raised $18.1 million in a mixed offering,
according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The
offering consisted of both equity and notes involving four investors.

Founded
in 2003, Kajeet offers online tools that help parents control when their
children use their phone and who they communicate with, as well as a GPS
locator function that tells them where the phone currently resides.

The company
in 2008 landed $10 million debt financing from BlueCrest Capital Finance, and
previously had raised nearly $64 million in venture capital funding.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4qznsvu

http://www.kajeet.com  

1...1,0581,0591,060...1,458Page 1,059 of 1,458