Court Sides With Pink Floyd in Dispute With EMI Over Bundling

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London
– Pink Floyd has won its case before the U.K. High Court against record label
EMI, over a breach of contract concerning the sale of its albums as individual
song downloads, the BBC reported. The judge in the case said EMI’s contract
with the band did not entitle the label to sell individual tracks without the
band’s permission — but EMI was not immediately ordered to stop selling single
track downloads of the band’s songs, and it’s unclear whether that will be part
of a final ruling.

EMI maintained that it would not have to cease selling individual
Pink Floyd tracks at digital retailers.

"Today’s judgment does not require
EMI to cease making Pink Floyd’s catalog available as single track downloads. EMI
continues to sell Pink Floyd’s music digitally and in other formats," the
label said.

The Court also levied an initial $60,000 fine against EMI.

The
case, which is ongoing, will also address Pink Floyd’s claims over the
accounting of digital royalties.

 

Related Links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8561963.stm

http://snipurl.com/urzc9
(DMW previous coverage)

Evri Acquires Semantic Search Firm Radar Networks

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Seattle
– Evri, the provider of a search engine that filters the real-time Web for news
and conversations, announced on Thursday that it has acquired Radar Networks,
the developer of semantic search engine Twine.com.

Financial terms of the
transaction were not disclosed.

Seattle-based Evri counts over 2.5 million
real-time topical streams across thousands of categories, and its service is
used by publishers including Hearst Entertainment and the Times of London.

Founded in 2003, Radar Networks has to date raised at least $24 million in
venture capital, from backers including Vulcan Capital, Fuse Capital and DFJ.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uryni

http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/11/evri-acquires-radar-networks

http://www.twine.com/about-radar

Social Applications Developer LivingSocial Nabs $25 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington
– LivingSocial, the developer of several popular social networking tools and a
new social commerce service, said on Thursday that it has raised $25 million in
its second round of funding, led by U.S. Venture Partners.

In addition, Grotech
Ventures and Steve Case’s Revolution also contributed to the round.

The company
said that it will use the funds to launch LivingSocial Deals — its new group
buying program that offers at least 50% off each day at various local
restaurants and attractions — in Chicago, Denver, Raleigh Durham and San Diego.

The service, which debuted in D.C.
last August, now operates in 13 markets.

Users sign up to receive daily emails
or iPhone notifications featuring one offer a day. When someone purchases the
deal, they receive a unique link to share, and if three other people buy the
deal using the link, their deal is free.

LivingSocial also is the
creator of popular Facebook applications "Visual Bookshelf" and
"Pick Your Five."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ury32

https://livingsocial.com

Chomp Lands $2 Million for iPhone App Recommendations

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Chomp, a provider of reviews and recommendations of applications for Apple’s
iPhone, has raised $2 million in new funding, VentureBeat reported.

Investors
included Bluerun Ventures, Brian Pokorny and David Lee.

San Francisco-based
Chomp has attracted 300,000 users who have posted 1.5 million reviews since the
service launched two months ago.

Chomp lets users post simple
"like/dislike" ratings of iPhone applications, along with a
60-character review, and creates recommendations based on past preferences.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/urxo9
(VentureBeat)

http://chomp.com

Betaworks Gets $20 Million to Fund Online Start-ups

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – Betaworks, a holding company that invests in and
helps develop online start-ups, has raised $20 million in new funding, led by
Intel Capital and RRE Ventures, GigaOM reported.

Other investors included
Softbank, Founders Collective, DJF Growth, AOL Ventures and The New York Times Co.

New York-based Betaworks has invested in a number of
companies that utilize the Twitter publishing platform, including Summize,
which was acquired by Twitter in 2008.

Other Twitter-related investments include Bit.ly,
Tweetdeck, Chartbeat and Twitterfeed; entertainment-related investments include
Songkick, OMGPOP and Hot Potato.

Betaworks co-founder John Borthwick told
GigaOM that the company will use the funds to be more aggressive in investing
in start-ups, as well as to do more follow-on investments.

 

Related Links:
http://gigaom.com/2010/03/11/betaworks-raises-20-mm-from-intel-others

http://betaworks.com

Facial Animation Firm Image Metrics Raises $8 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Santa Monica,
Calif. – Image Metrics, a
provider of facial animation software and services for the entertainment
industry, announced on Thursday that it has raised $8 million in a private
placement of its shares.

The company also said it completed an exchange offer
with International Cellular Accessories, which resulted in its becoming a
subsidiary of ICLA and a publicly-traded company.

Founded in 2000, Santa
Monica, Calif.-based Image Metrics’ animation technologies have been utilized
in movies including "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," and video
games like "Grand Theft Auto" and "Assassin’s Creed II."

The company reported revenues of $4 million and a net loss of $6.8 million for
fiscal 2009.

Image Metrics plans to use the new funds to expand sales and
marketing efforts, and to explore opportunities in new markets like virtual
worlds and social networks.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/urx7t

http://www.image-metrics.com

Viral Music Video Makers OK Go Part Ways With EMI

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London
– OK Go, the band that made the Rube Goldberg machine music video and recently
had a public tiff with record label EMI over the ability for fans to embed said
video, has asked and been let out of its contract with EMI’s Capitol Records. The
band will now re-release its new album "Of The Color of Blue Sky" on
its own label, Paracadute Records. Singer Damian Kulash tells New York Magazine
that EMI was not funding the level of promotion the band desired, noting,
"The issue is that they just don’t have any money" — referring to
EMI’s public financing struggles.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/urcmv
(Billboard)

http://snipurl.com/urcje
(New York Magazine)

Report: Apple iTunes LP Format Not Gaining Traction

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles
– Apple’s (NASD: AAPL) iTunes LP format, which adds lyrics, cover art, videos, animation and
other extras to a digital album, has disappointed labels that have experimented
with it over the past six months since its launch, GigaOM reports. Music
industry sources told GigaOM the format is not much generating consumer recognition,
and only 29 iTunes LPs are currently on sale — including a dozen available at
launch. Some are balking at the up to $60,000 extra it can cost to produce an
iTunes LP, which can eclipse overall sales for many albums.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/urczj
(GigaOM)

http://www.apple.com/itunes/whats-new/#itunes-lp

MySpace Revamps Games Site, Offers iPhone Gaming App

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– News Corp.’s (NYSE: NWS) online social network MySpace on Wednesday announced the launch of its new MySpace
Games site, aimed at improving users’ gaming experiences. Unveiled at the Game
Developers Conference in San Francisco,
the site features new tools and functionality for both users and developers.
The company said that nearly one-third of its users play games on the site, and
it hopes to increase this figure to 50%. Along with the revamped site, MySpace
announced a MySpace Neon application for the iPhone that will let users access
their MySpace games on the smartphone.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/urelp

http://myspace.com/games

Electronic Arts to Bring In-Game Ad Sales In-House

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Video game publisher Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) plans to take its in-game ad sales
in-house, ending current relationships with in-game ad networks Massive and IGA
Worldwide this year, Mediaweek reported. Starting this summer, with the release
of "Madden NFL 11," EA’s own sales team will sell in-game ads. The
company held its first "upfront" in New York this week for advertisers. It’s
unclear how much of a blow EA’s move will be to Microsoft’s Massive or IGA
Worldwide, which have to date been able to tout EA’s popular games when selling
ads on their respective networks.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/urd59
(Mediaweek)

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