Web radio darling Pandora has good news for its users: We’re saved! And a slightly different message for its heaviest users: Pay up. And perhaps a third message for potential investors: Want to write us a check?
Are College Humor fans also big Leonard Bernstein fans? Time to find out. And just to help folks find the clip, here’s the latest from Ricky Van Veen and company, in which they name-check Twitter, Facebook, Pandora and gaggle of the Web’s favorite brands.
Last week at the All Things D conference, Palm investor Roger McNamee made a point of touting the Pre’s supposedly female-friendly attributes — like the fact that it has a mirror on the back. No mention of the shiny surface in this first TV ad touting the new phone, but this one certainly seems geared toward the xx set. Or maybe Palm has been stung by accusations that it’s an Apple ripoff and wanted to come out with some distinctly un-Jobsian marketing.
The once-buzzy start-up isn’t on life support yet. But it sure could use some help–just like every other Web music player. I can confirm that the company has sought, and received, new terms from some of the big music labels, most notably Universal Music Group. One big label that hasn’t given imeem any concessions yet: Warner Music Group, which owns an equity stake in the company.
Common sense tells you that the CD is a vanishing artifact. Slightly more surprising: Music consumers–or at least, people who are willing to pay for music–are disappearing, too. So says the NPD Group, which estimates that 13 million Americans stopped buying music last year.
Web music site operators and the music industry have worked out the major points in a deal that will reduce the fees Web site operators will pay for music streaming rights. A final deal between the Digital Media Association, which is representing the Web sites, and SoundExchange, which collects royalties on behalf of the music labels and other copyright owners, isn’t expected until later this year. But “the hard stuff has been done,” says Pandora founder Tim Westergren, who has become the public face of Webcasters during negotiations.
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.
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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