09/15/2008
The launch of MySpace Music has been delayed a few days but should be this week.- They are getting closer to a new CEO with the LA Times reporting two top candidates:
- Andy Schuon - former head of programming at MTV and Infinity Broadcasting and longtime Universal Music executive
- Owen Van Natta - the chief revenue officer at Facebook
- As we reported more than a week ago Amazon is confirmed as the download provider guaranteeing deep catalog at launch - if all the tech works properly
- In a major challenge to the closed iTunes/iPod ecosystem, Amazon has created a custom application that to routes downloads directly into iTunes or the Windows Media player
- Users will be able to create, post and share as supported custom playlists of tracks from Universal, Sony BMG and WMG. Talks are ongoing with EMI and most indies are just now being offered contracts to participate in streaming.
- Sony Pictures, Toyota, McDonald's and State Farm Insurance have all signed on as major advertisers
- In a new Fortune interview co-founder Chris deWolfe predicts boldly:
"Think about MTV. Not necessarily what they are right now, but how they created pop culture in the late '80s, early '90s. I think that's what MySpace Music will do now."
COMMENTARY: If the tech works smoothly - and integration into tens of thousands of custom designed sites is no easy task - then MySpace's social music experience has at least the potential to add significantly to music sales, as well as, greatly strengthen Amazon's claim as "the" iTunes alternative.
It's also clear that MySpace is vastly improving its tools that lead to music discovery. But it remains to be seen if young fans will ever view MySpace as a place to actually pay for music - if they ever learn to pay music at all.
與MySpace合作 唱片業再創生機
2008/09/14 04:35 鍾玉玨／綜合報導
據美國《商業周刊》報導，全球三大唱片公司與社群網站MySpace合作成立的線上音樂唱片公司MySpace Music本周正式開張，全面進軍付費MP3音樂下載、手機鈴聲下載、演唱會門票販售等和音樂相關的市場，希望利用MySpace全球的會員網再造唱片業第二春。據傳新公司將由Facebook前營運長納塔掌舵。
唱片市場蕭條了數十年，業者習慣將矛頭指向盜版與網路非法下載，而今碰到嚴峻寒冬，營收嚴重縮水，不得不放下身段另謀對策。其實三大唱片公司〡環球音樂集團、Sony BMG音樂娛樂公司、華納音樂集團，決定與MySpace合資成立MySpace Music公司之前，的確見識到網路威力，因而陸續和網路零售巨擘Amazon.com以及蘋果的iTunes合作，而今更進一步結合社群網站，展現開發電子商務與網路廣告市場的旺盛企圖心。
根據合約，MySpace提供的資產包括全球一億一千八百萬會員、兩百五十多個廣告業務團隊、無遠弗界的平台（不僅可刊登新聞、廣告，亦可播放免費試聽歌曲、幕後花絮、歌手訪談等）。唱片公司則提供音樂資源。
儘管音樂下載仍是唱片公司主要收入來源，但MySpace賣的不僅是音樂，還包括手機鈴聲下載、音樂周邊商品（如Ｔ恤等）、演唱會入場券等。每賣出一樣東西，唱片公司都可抽成。目前多達五百萬名簽約與非簽約歌手或樂團活躍於MySpace，預估可為唱片公司帶來可觀收入。MySpace創辦人狄沃夫說：「我們希望唱片公司打心底認為和我們合作並無吃虧。」
但是歌手卻覺得自己被扒了一層皮，樂團New London Fire的鍵盤手狄比亞克（Jason Debiak）表示，這個合資協議對音樂人而言是一大利空。除非唱片公司願意出資培訓歌手，否則這計畫「應該丟到垃圾桶」。
唱片業者則對此計畫寄予厚望。華納音樂集團的數位策略首腦納許說，MySpace Music將有助於扭轉業界頹勢，恢復榮景。不過市場分析師維納說，這策略或許能緩和唱片界近來的損失，但也許要數年才看得到轉虧為盈。
主要廣告客戶頗看好MySpace Music的前景，紛紛加入合作行列。據悉已簽約的廠商包括麥當勞、豐田汽車等。
iTunes的Genius功能
2008/9/15
作者: Terry
上周iTunes的8.0版正式發佈，在音樂庫的操作介面和播放方面做了較大的調整，可以直接根據專輯、曲風來播放。但其中最令人矚目的還數它的Genius功能。Genius功能核心是音樂的相似性推薦，其中Genius Sidebar是根據歌手的相似性推薦對應的iTunes音樂商店的歌曲和專輯。
我在iTunes音樂庫中選中Guns N’ Roses的專輯，Genius Sidebar顯示了在iTunes商店中最暢銷的2張GNR專輯和5首我音樂庫中沒有的暢銷單曲。而在推薦欄裡顯示了Poison,Skid Row,Metallica,Alice In Chains等樂隊的單曲和專輯。推薦部分的結果與Last.fm和iLike作了直接比較，與Last.fm有近1/3接近，與iLike相距甚遠。iTunes的推薦融合必然會使其音樂商店的銷量產生相當的增量。
另一方面來講，sidebar的功能可能會對iLike的sidebar的用戶增長有一定影響，但iLike的sidebar也並非沒有優勢，社區的整合，音樂視頻的推送，以及完全透明化的推薦模式（使用者可以自行修正推薦結果）還是具有相當大的競爭力。
Genius另一項突出的功能是在於音樂播放清單的自動生成。iTunes模式使得數位音樂趨於單曲消費模式，消費者原有的音樂專輯收聽模式也逐漸被自訂的“專輯”（播放清單）所替代。iPod與iTunes相對於其它的音樂播放產品來講，較為重視音樂播放清單功能，如Shulffe模式、智慧音樂清單…。Genius的列表生成功能真的是一鍵完成，以任何一首音樂庫中的歌曲作為基準，自動生成音樂清單，試用了一下效果還算不錯，原理應該與Pandora等中的單曲推薦類似。
Apple Refreshes iPods And iTunes Adds "Genius"
2008/9/10
In preparation for the holiday sales season Apple tweaked its iPod product line:
- 160G iPod is out replaced at the top of the line with a sleeker 120G model
- a new taller and thinner Nano
- Three new IPod Touch models: an 8-gigabyte for $229; a 15G @ $299 and a 32 GB model for $399
iTunes 8 software also became available yesterday. The major addition is a Pandora like music recommendation feature dubbed Genius. Tell Genius that Over The Rhine suits your mood and it generates a playlist from your library that includes them and other similar sounding acts. See some video highlights of Steve Job;s presentation after the jump.
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