Bits & Pieces: MySpace Sold, AOL links with Slacker and Rhapsody Keeps on Keeping on
The names making music-tech news this week are a veritable who’s who of the once mighty, including MySpace, AOL and Rhapsody… News of the sale of MySpace broke yesterday, with ad network Specific Media choosing to pick up the pieces of the former social network goliath for $35 million – for those keeping score, it was purchased for $580 million in 2005 by News Corp. (who will continue to keep a small stake). And in an unexpected twist, it was also announced that Justin Timberlake has taken an ownership stake as part of the deal, and that he will be heavily involved in rejuvenating the site… On Tuesday a new partnership between AOL and Slacker was announced, with the interactive radio service set to power AOL Radio starting in September. They will replace AOL’s current partner in CBS, and the new service will expand the music offerings and give users the same pricing options as what Slacker already offers. It’s expected to more than double Slacker’s current number of listeners… Elsewhere, now seasoned music streaming service, Rhapsody, has added 100,000 new customers since its spinout from RealNetworks and Viacom last year, as revealed in a PaidContent interview this week. The increase comes mainly from its mobile app efforts, and the company will likely be looking for new investment soon, particularly with the recent interest in streaming startups.
It’s All About the Data, Baby…
Data was the topic de jour in much of the industry dialogue last week with the launch of The Ultimate Chart from BigChampagne. The chart is a new weekly list of top songs and artists based on more traditional metrics like sales and broadcast, along with newer online stats like watching, listening and fans, friends and followers on social networks. While BC is at the forefront, and has been, for online metrics, others are hard at work to capitalize on the growing importance of online data too… Check out a missive from Ethan Kaplan, who heads the Emerging Technology group within WEA, on the importance of data in building a better fan experience. And elsewhere CBS owned Last.fm continues to grow, generating a reported 30-40 million pieces of listening data every day, which it plans to integrate into the CBS network of radio, tv and online properties…
| Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »