Motorola announced this week that it will acquire Singapore based Pan-Asian music distribution service Soundbuzz. The acquisition extends Motorola’s MotoMusic store in China, and brings content deal with the major labels and over 45 independent labels. Motorola’s move is an interesting twist on the music store strategy of competitors Nokia and Sony Ericsson, who have launched initially in Europe.
Filed under: GigaOm, Hulu, Mark Hachman, Om Malik, YouTube, Ziff Davis, iTunes, media
Om among many others loves the new Hulu service… …and Ziff Davis’ Mark Hachman chimes in…. not quite a adoring as Om’s review, but still positive overall. YouTube and iTunes video beware.
As for me, anything is better than the UI that NBC has been using, so Hulu is a welcome upgrade. Bring on ‘Heroes’!
Vivendi’s Universal unit appears to be set to challenge Apple’s terms for distribution of its catalog through Apple’s popular iTunes application/service just as Apple’s market importance gets a boost from the first weekend sale of over half a million iPhones.
Universal has notified Apple that it will not renew its contract with Apple, leaving its distribution relationship on an ‘at will’ basis. This is in contract to Sony BMG which recently renewed its contract for another year.
Estimates of Universal sales through iTunes place the number at approximately $200 million annually.
Read more in the New York Times article by Jeff Leeds.
Filed under: Music, Single of the Week, Snow Patrol, Song of the Week, Vega4, iTunes
Well, I was going to make Vega4’s “Life is Beautiful” Song of the Week, but then Apple went and made it the iTunes Single of the Week in the US, (which is a dubious distinction given some of the company that you keep as iTunes Single of the Week…some really atrocious tracks have appeared ). So on principle I just can’t tag Vega4 this week, but will keep an eye on the band….
Nevertheless, this is a really nice piece reminiscent of Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars” which I love, and it is definitely worth the price of the free download on iTunes. The band has a very rich sound for a standard four piece set, and uses enough creative elements to make for really interesting singles.
Check out the band at their website: Vega4
p.s. OK so this weeks choice for song of the week was previously an iTunes Single of the Week, just not this weeks….
