With the new format of 3D firmly taking a foothold we are now forced to watch as Hollywood re-issues a great number of classic films in 3D (regardless of whether they were ever meant to be seen that way in the first place). To help the layman understand this phenomenon, I have created a simple case-study to help explain my stance on the subject. Enjoy.
10 Most Disastrous Music Industry Deals via Digital Music News
File this one under too good not to mention. If you don't already read Digital Music News, you should. This is the brainchild of Industry pundit Paul Resnikoff. Established in 2004 (I think) this is one of the places I go for my up-to-date music industry info... Today's post (excerpted below) is just a taste of the daily fodder. Also featured daily is a Job Board for all of those looking for a gig. Overall a pretty great resource and a good excuse to re-post the following:
The 10 Most Disastrous Music Industry Deals
(1) Terra Firma's acquisition of EMI, $4.7 billion (2007)
Even Guy Hands admits he made a colossal mistake on this one. Â One of the last super-leveraged buyouts before the bust, EMI has now become a $4.7 billion-plus toxic mess for Terra Firma.
(2) CBS' acquisition of Last.fm, $280 million (2007)
Scrobbling is cool and all - and this is still a very cool site - but few would "recommend"Â this deal today. Â Amidst predictable ad monetization challenges, the company has since switched to pay-only in certain European countries, outsourced full-length videos, and bid adieu to the original founders.
(3)Â Bertelsmann's investments in Napster, $100 million (2000-onward)
In retrospect, Bertelsmann was the forward-thinking maverick. Â But in the moment, that stance created a legal sinkhole for the company, accused of facilitating widespread infringement by keeping the P2P alive. Â The in-fighting lasted years before expensive settlements torpedoed Bertelsmann with hundreds of millions in losses.
(4) MP3.com acquisition by Vivendi, $372 million (2001)
Before MySpace was even conceptualized, MP3.com was setting huge records for IPO valuations, label lawsuits, and band profiles. Â Problems quickly followed the inflated purchase, and the site was quickly dumped by Vivendi Universal in 2003.
(5) The Robbie Williams 360-Degree Deal, $160 million (2002)
Williams loves being able to walk the streets of Los Angeles without being recognized. Â EMI, which structured the pricey deal, is somehow less thrilled by that freedom.
(6) The Sony BMG Joint Venture (2004)
The 50-50 JV was like "tying two sinking rocks together," according to one executive, and this seemed like a dead weight from the beginning.  Bertelsmann walked away, and the combination was ultimately purchased by partner Sony Music Entertainment by 2008.
(7) WMG's Investment in Imeem (2009)
"We do not intend to make more digital venture capital investments," WMG chairman Edgar Bronfman told investors after suffering a $16 million write-off on Imeem in 2009.  MySpace subsequently scooped the property for well under $1 million.
(8) WMG's Purchase of Bulldog Entertainment, $16 million (2007)
Bulldog Entertainment Group was best known for coordinating tony concerts in the Hamptons. Â The company eventually cratered with estimated losses of $30 million.
(9) Any Deal Involving PlaysforSure...
This was a mistake that caused endless suffering, for music service (Yahoo Music, MTV Urge, Wal-Mart), player (Sony, SanDisk, Samsung), and consumer alike. Â In fact, even Microsoft bailed on its DRM-heavy solution with the launch of Zune.
(10)Â Best Buy's Exclusive on Chinese Democracy...
Some comebacks are better than others, and Best Buy was left carrying a truckload of Guns N' Roses CDs. Â That did little to kill the big box exclusive, however, as plenty of big-name artists have used the concept to shift serious tonnage.
For the complete article and to see others go here. Also be sure to follow them on Twitter for up to date coverage...
Autotune Is Not So Evil Now
Full disclosure: I have been a longtime hater of Autotune. For years, I have found Autotune to be repulsive... in pop music it makes up for singers' inadequacies and in rap music it creates "music" for those who have no such talent. This disdain has been only further flamed by artists like T-Pain and Lil Wayne who have built entire careers around this technology (much like Zapp and Roger did on the back of the Talk Box (which at least required the singer to be able to hold a tune)).
Well now it is apparent. There is a fine use for this technology. Enter Autotune The News (@autotunethenews on twitter). I have know about these guys for a while as their antics using news footage of congress, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and the other list of Washington talking heads have brought about the random office chuckle, but not until now did they get that deep belly laugh... and a bit of entrepreneurial respect.
They recently took a seemingly innocent newscast featuring the near-victims of a home intruder in Alabama and remixed it... furthermore they posted it on iTunes and now it is No. 34 on the download charts!!!!!! That's right folks... this tune beat Ke$ha's "Your Love is my Drug" (like that is hard since she sucks).
Well anyways, here is a tale of witty folks with a cool idea making something of it. Enjoy the videos below... watch them in order to get the full affect. Also- be sure to follow these guys on Twitter... for more great parodies through the use of technology...
iPhone 4
I Just saw this video and decided that even though I have been living under a rock and missed this when it first came out, I needed to do my job and share it with the other 6,693,254,041 people of the world who hadn't yet seen it. (Mildly NSFW due to Language) Bloody brilliant.