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Thursday, August 27, 2009

Apple Signs Off on Spotify. When Will Big Music Play Along?

spotify-logoSpotify is the best music service you’ve never used. That’s because the much-hyped streaming music company is only available for Europeans and for a select few in the U.S. who have either gotten sneak peeks or hacked their way into it. The service took one step toward wider distribution today when Apple approved its iPhone app. But that won’t help U.S. users until the big music labels agree to American distribution deals.

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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Facebook’s Zuckerberg: $10 Billion Is a “Fair” Valuation

Looking for lots of specifics about the $200 million at $10 billion valuation deal that Facebook and Digital Sky Technologies just announced? Then you have come to the wrong conference call, my friend. But for what it’s worth, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg did sound fairly upbeat and confident during his chat with reporters Tuesday morning–the way you’d expect someone who just cashed a check for a couple hundred million to sound.

The big picture: Even though Facebook’s official valuation has slid from $15 billion (November 2007, when Microsoft invested) to $10 billion, Zuckerberg is OK with that, arguing that 1) that deal was done at the peak of the market, and 2) it was never really a financial deal, but a way for Microsoft to partner up with Facebook.

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Da! Facebook Takes $200 Million From Russian Investors at $10 Billion Valuation

niko3Facebook is indeed taking money from Russian investors Digital Sky Technologies. As previously reported, the social network is selling $200 million of preferred stock at a $10 billion valuation; DST will also buy up to $100 million of common stock at a lower valuation later this year.

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Friday, May 22, 2009

Will Facebook Say “Da” to Russian Investors?

russia-with-loveHere’s the newest twist in the Facebook valuation/funding saga: Russian investors have reportedly offered to sink up to $350 million in Mark Zuckerberg’s social network–at two different valuations. The Wall Street Journal says investment group Digital Sky Technologies has offered to spend $200 million on a chunk of the company’s preferred stock at a $10 billion valuation, and is also offering to buy up to $150 million worth of the company’s common stock at a $6.5 billion valuation.

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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Facebook at 5: Remembering the Early Years, and Measuring Up Against Google

Mark Zuckberg’s company has come a long way since the Harvard dorms. But if it wants to measure up against Silicon Valley’s most successful start-up of the last 20 years, it has some work ahead of it.

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Thursday, January 8, 2009

Facebook’s Mantra: Use Facebook Connect or Don’t Connect at All

Want access to Facebook’s user base, which has now cracked 150 million? Then you’re going to need to play by Facebook’s rules.
Last week Facebook sued Power.com, a social network aggregator, because the company allowed Facebook users to plug into the site without actually visiting Facebook itself. Today, instant-messaging aggregator Meebo is unplugging itself from Facebook rather than face the same kinds of legal problems.

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Friday, January 2, 2009

Facebook’s Record Christmas and High-Traffic New Year

Good news for Mark Zuckerberg and company: More and more people are spending the holidays with their virtual friends on Facebook.

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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Facebook Bails on Project Playlist, Too

Four days after MySpace cut the legs out from under Project Playlist by disabling the music streaming service’s app, Facebook is following suit.

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About Peter

Peter Kafka has been covering media and technology since 1997, when he joined the staff of Forbes magazine. Most recently, he has been the managing editor of the tech and media Web site, Silicon Alley Insider.

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Ethics Statement

Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.

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