Source: http://blog.compete.com/2011/07/21/the-new-music-landscape/

It’s no secret that the music industry has undergone massive changes over the last ten to fifteen years. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, total US music sales have dropped an average of 8% each year since 1999, from $14.6 billion to just over $6 billion. Having heard this, you probably wouldn’t expect that in the first half of 2011, US sales are up by 1%. Okay, so it’s just 1%. But consider that in the first half of 2010, sales were down 11% year-over-year.

So what’s responsible for reversing this trend? Ever-increasing broadband speed has enabled mass media consumption on the web, paving the way for music discovery services like Pandora, Last.fm, Grooveshark and iLike. Because of these services, the average person can now find and listen to a more diverse body of music than ever before – and it’s catching on. Unique visitors to radio category websites has increased by nearly 19% since last year, with Pandora leading the pack at 11,824,629 in June 2011 – that’s 81% yearly growth.

Over the last few years, Pandora has made decisions to support growth of their user base and help them stay ahead of the competition, even if just barely at times. In 2008, the Pandora app became one of the most consistently downloaded apps in the Apple store. By 2010, Pandora was present on more than 200 connected consumer electronic devices ranging from smart-phones to TVs to Blue-ray players. It was in 2010 that Pandora began to break away from the other music discovery services and would attract more than double the unique visitors of Last.fm, traditionally Pandora’s toughest competitor, by year-end.

In February 2011, Pandora officially filed with the SEC for a $100M IPO, piquing even more interest in the service in the months leading up to their pricing announcement on June 15^th. The company’s future may not be as bright though, as innovative alternatives to radio-style listening like Spotify, Music Beta by Google and Apple’s iCloud are beginning to gain traction. While these services are very different than Pandora – and from each other – there is no doubt that they pose a threat to the current music landscape. You can be sure we’re keeping an eye on it.

So, have you tried Spotify? Music Beta? iCloud? What do you think? Are you ready to abandon Pandora?

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5816167/netflix-for-theaters-moviepass-lets-you-watch-unlimited-movies-in-theaters

How’s this sound: A movie subscription that lets you watch unlimited movies in theaters for 50 bucks a month. It’s like Netflix but for the real, real life. Would that be something you’re interested in?

Called MoviePass, it’s a service that’ll let users use a smartphone app to handle all their movie bookings. For 50 bucks a month (additional $3 for each IMAX or 3D), users of MoviePass will get unlimited access to any movie playing in participating theaters. If you’re not that psycho about watching movies, they also have a ‘lite’ package of 4 movies for 30 bucks. Either way, they’re rolling out a private beta in San Francisco right now that includes 21 different theaters and hopes to expand to other US cities throughout the summer. The goal is to put MoviePass in 40% of the theaters across the US.

I know people who—rain or shine, $15 bucks for a ticket or higher, popcorn or no popcorn—just have to watch movies in the theater. This is going to be perfect for them. Would you guys use this? [MoviePass via Wired]

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/08/saas-field-service-software-servicemax-raises-14m-from-mayfield-salesforce-and-others/

Startup ServiceMax, a company that develops SaaS field service software, has raised $14 million in new funding led by Mayfield Fund with Trinity Ventures, Emergence Capital and Salesforce.com also
participating in the round. To date, the company has raised $26 million.

As field service software, ServiceMax essentially helps manage other company’s equipment at their sites. ServiceMax software automates workforce optimization, advanced scheduling and dispatch, parts logistics, inventory and depot repair, and installed base entitlements. ServiceMax is being used currently by 150 different customers including DuPont. And the company reports 380 percent year-over-year growth in first quarter 2011.

Built on top of Salesforce.com’s Force.com platform, ServiceMax has gained considerable support from Salesforce. The technology giant participated on both of ServiceMax’s funding rounds and the startup features an app on Salesforce Chatter’s app marketplace ChatterExchange.

ServiceMax also recently released an iPad app that gives service agents a mobile solution.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/01/microsoft-turns-to-crowdsourcing-service-to-swat-away-patent-tro/

We’ve seen the havoc that patent trolls can wreak on tech companies and Microsoft clearly wants no part of it. That’s why Ballmer & Co. have joined forces with Article One Partners — a New York-based research firm that crowdsources scientific expertise to figure out whether or not patented ideas or inventions are as innovative as they claim, based on prior art. By subscribing to Article One’s new Litigation Avoidance service, Redmond hopes “to reduce risk and reduce potential litigation cost” brought by nonpracticing entities (NPEs) — companies that collect thousands of patents, in the hopes that one may lay a golden egg. No word on how much the service will actually cost, but we’re guessing it’ll be worth at least a few legal headaches. Full presser after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft turns to crowdsourcing service to swat away patent trolls

Microsoft turns to crowdsourcing service to swat away patent trolls originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 05:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-netflix-cable-subscribers-2011-5

Netflix now has more subscribers than any U.S. cable or satellite provider, and it’s the only one really growing.

Netflix finished Q1 with 22.80 million subscribers, just squeaking past Comcast, the biggest cable provider, which had 22.76 million subscribers. The big difference is their growth: Netflix added almost 9 million subscribers over the last year, while Comcast lost about 700,000 video subs.

This isn’t to say that the cable companies should immediately be freaking out about Netflix — it’s still more of a complementary service to cable than a replacement.

But that could change, especially as Netflix continues to grow, and can start writing bigger checks to content companies — the sorts of checks that they could only get from the Comcasts of the world just a few years ago.

Don’t miss: Our exclusive interview with Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO

For the latest tech news, visit SAI: Silicon Alley Insider. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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See Also:

• CHART OF THE DAY: Netflix Is Eating Up More Of North America’s Bandwidth Than Any Other Company
• Blip.TV Stops Neglecting Its Website, Rolls Out A Nice New One
• CHART OF THE DAY: Here’s What Google And AOL Are Good At And The Rest Of The Industry Stinks At

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-netflixs-growing-popularity-in-context-2011-5

Here’s an interesting look at Netflix’s growing popularity from Canaccord Genuity analyst, Heath Terry.

He shows uniques to Netflix have been growing at an impressive rate in the last few quarters. Impressively, they’re above Hulu which is primarily a free service.

As uniques grow, it follows that subscribers are growing. Terry estimates that subscriber a 70% increase in subscribers for Q2 2011 as compared to the same period a year ago based on looking at the data.

Follow the Chart Of The Day on Twitter: @chartoftheday

For the latest tech news, visit SAI: Silicon Alley Insider. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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See Also:

• Google Brings Big Hollywood Movies To YouTube
• CHART OF THE DAY: Amazon’s Exploding Headcount In Context
• CHART OF THE DAY: How People Actually Use iPads

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/12/what-stalled-negotiations-between-google-and-the-music-industry/

It’s no secret that negotiations between Google and the recording industry haven’t been going very well. Perhaps even less surprising are the reasons behind the stalemate. According to the Hollywood Reporter, discussions between the two parties have sputtered thanks to three usual suspects: money, file-sharing and concerns over competition. During licensing talks, Google agreed to pay upfront advances to all participating labels, but the major players wanted bigger guarantees. That prompted the indie contingent to ask for similar money, unleashing a snowball of stakes-raising. The two sides also failed to agree on how to handle pirated music, with the industry demanding that Google not only ban illegally downloaded files from users’ lockers, but that it erase P2P sites from its search results, as well.

Hovering above all this bargaining was a thick cloud of destabilizing uncertainty. Some execs welcomed the idea of a new iTunes competitor, while others were less enthusiastic, amid concerns that Google Music wouldn’t deliver new revenue streams. The ultimate question, of course, is how negotiations will proceed now that Google’s already launched the service. The labels were warned that Tuesday’s I/O announcement was coming, but the search giant didn’t do much to mend fences when it effectively blamed the record execs for holding up negotiations. It’s hard to say whether Google’s bravado will help or hurt matters, but according to a source from a major label, “People are pissed.”

What stalled negotiations between Google and the music industry? (Hint: money) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 16:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://kotaku.com/#!5791565/sued-ps3-hacker-says-hell-never-buy-a-sony-product-again

After a court order was issued preventing rapper-turned-hacker George Hotz from ever hacking Sony products again, Hotz is now boycotting the electronics giant’s wares.

As previously posted, Hotz agreed to, basically, never mess around with another Sony product ever again. He’s barred from “unauthorized access to any Sony product under the law”, and will be in deep trouble if he violates a Sony product’s terms of service, “whether or not Hotz has accepted such agreement or terms of use”.

If he’s found to have breached those stipulations, he’s liable to face a $10,000 fine per violation, up to a maximum “cap” of $250,000.

In the wake of this, Hotz is taking part in a Sony boycott. “I am joining the SONY boycott,” Hotz blogged earlier this week. “I will never purchase another SONY product.”

“I encourage you to do the same,” he added. “And if you bought something SONY recently, return it.”

If Hotz was buying Sony products to hack and tinker with, it doesn’t make much sense for him to purchase them. But it’s like he’s rolling over, taking his toys and going home. Not everyone likes what Sony did to Hotz, sure, but then again, not everyone tries to hack Sony products. Some people like to play video games on them.

Even with the order issue settled, Hotz doesn’t seem like he’s ready to let it go. In one of his most recent posts, titled “A New Topic”, Hotz continues to rail on Sony. He now says the focus of the blog will be the Other OS lawsuit. His next post details his appearance in the mainstream media. Go figure.

But why should anyone care what Hotz thinks about this Other OS case? He caved, gave in, agreed he wouldn’t hack Sony products again. Sure, he didn’t get sued for a gajillion dollars, but Sony “won”. Hotz did not.

Writes Hotz, “Basically if Sony does bad things, you better not call them out, or they’ll attempt to make your life hell.”

geohot got sued [Official Site] [Pic]

In days of old, advertisers had to buy TV airtime, magazine placements, or radio spots to send their ads out to reach customers. Usually one of the largest chunks of cost is the media placement, followed by “creative” development and content creation.

What if there was a way to cut out most or all of the media cost?  And what if we could also substantially reduce the cost of “creative development” and “content creation?”  Look at the JetBlue example below.  On Twitter, JetBlue has nearly 600,000 followers.  Each of these followers has basically “opted in” to receive their updates, often multiple times a day (“costless media”). There is no “media cost” for getting these messages out. Compare this to what it would cost to air a TV ad that reaches 600,000 viewers (assuming all the viewers wanted to receive the ad, and were sitting there in front of the TV watching the ad when it was aired).

Also, the cost of content is nearly zero too. JetBlue has their customer service people (and fans) help create content by tweeting. These tweets range from customer service (“twitter customer service”) , to service notices (e.g. dense fog in NYC area airports causing delays, etc.), to tips from frequent travelers. This type of content is more “real,” valuable, and trusted than an advertisement. And there is no cost of “creative development” because the content does not need to be dressed up into a glossy ad for TV or print — it’s just 140 characters of text at a time. It’s more effective AND lower cost?!  Imagine that!

Finally, notice in the “bio” area on the upper right of the screen shot that it reports who is currently on duty — “Morgan and Lindsey” — this gives the normally faceless customer service system a name and a face and perhaps even a personality.  JetBlue’s twitter is a great example of social marketing done awesome!