Connecting People & Knowledge - Since May 2000
   
Today's Sponsor

 

 


July 9, 2004 -- About Us | Advertise | Events | Publications | Subscribe

Main Stories
o Report: U.S. Music Album Sales Up 6.9% in First Half of 2004
o Report: For First Time, Music Not Most Popular File Download
o EU Commissioner Opens Investigation on New Media
o Microsoft Launches Pre-Orders for $499 Portable Media Center Devices
o Report: Global Broadband Subscribers to Exceed 325 Million by 2008
o Creative Technology, Soundbuzz.com Launch Online Music Stores in Asia
o FTC: Some Game Publishers Still Marketing Mature Games to Kids

 > DMW Announcements:
 --Future of Television: Next Generation - November 19, 2004

 > Featured Advertisement:
 --Billboard Digital Entertainment Conference & Awards - Nov. 4-5
 

o Briefly Noted: Comcast - VOD - San Francisco, Wraptor - Vans Warped Tour, Loudeye Technologies - PricewaterhouseCoopers
_____________________________________________

 
> Job/Event/Marketplace Classifieds:
--VP - Ignition Strategic Communications
--NMS Imaging Seeing Sales Manager
--Financial Pricing/Modeling Analyst
--Senior Accountant - Online Resources
--Wholesale Product Manager - Cavalier Telephone
--Director E-Business
--Financial Planning Analyst
--Product Manager
--PricewaterhouseCoopers' Entertainment and Media Outlook
--Executive Networking Meeting - Going International, July 20th
--Audio Conference - Homeland Security Contracting - July 27
 


o Report: U.S. Music Album Sales Up 6.9% in First Half of 2004

New York -- The U.S. music industry rebounded in the first half of 2004, with album sales of 305.7 million units up 6.9% from the 285.9 million units sold in the first half of 2003, Billboard reported, citing Nielsen SoundScan data. Universal was ranked the top distributor, with 27.1% market share, while independent labels collectively accounted for 17.5% of the market and BMG leapt over Warner to claim third place with 16.4%, bettering Warner's 14.6% share. Rounding out the distributors were Sony (12.8%) and EMI (10.7%).
http://makeashorterlink.com/?U104254C8 
http://www.soundscan.com  
_____________________________________________

o Report: For First Time, Music Not Most Popular File Download

Paris -- For the first time, video and other non-audio files have become more popular on file-sharing networks than music, the Associated Press reported, citing a study of 30 countries' downloading habits conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The report, which does not differentiate between legal and illegitimate downloads, found that music accounted for 48.6% of shared files in 2003, down from 62.5% in 2002, while video files increased from 25.2% to 27% of all downloading traffic. The "other files" category, which includes software and pornography, almost doubled in size and now accounts for nearly 25% of all downloads. The OECD report found that video accounted for 23.7% of U.S. Kazaa users' files, compared with 35.4% among German users; higher video file percentages were also reported in Belgium, England, Finland, France, Norway and Poland.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?I167213C8 
http://www.oecd.org      
____________________________________________

o EU Commissioner Opens Investigation on New Media

Brussels -- EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said this week that he would open an inquiry into whether European TV, music and sports operators were keeping their content from so-called New Media providers like mobile-phone operators and suppliers of video-on-demand. A growing number of Europe's smaller entertainment and telecommunications companies are complaining that video stores and TV networks have little interest in accommodating New Media and that they being discriminated against. An openly sympathetic Monti said that video-on-demand was being "hindered … by strong tendencies by established TV operators to protect their position to the detriment of new technologies and new players". He also said the EU would move to promote the "rapid and undisturbed development" of New Media and "act wherever we detect foreclosure of markets".
http://makeashorterlink.com/?P3BC122C8  
____________________________________________

o Microsoft Launches Pre-Orders for $499 Portable Media Center Devices

Houston -- Microsoft on Friday announced that pre-orders for the first Portable Media Center devices, which run its Windows Mobile software and can store and playback movies, TV shows, music and pictures, are now being accepted from retailer Amazon.com. Two $499, 20GB models -- the Creative Zen Portable Media Center and the Samsung YH-999 -- will be shipped in August and September. Microsoft also announced a partnership with Major League Baseball, which will make available subscription and pay-per-view content for the devices, including daily condensed and full games, highlights, bloopers and archival footage.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040709/sff030_1.html
http://www.amazon.com/portablemediacenters 
____________________________________________

o Report: Global Broadband Subscribers to Exceed 325 Million by 2008

Boston -- Global broadband penetration is expected to exceed 325 million subscribers by 2008, while the North American marketplace will grow from 34 million at the end of this year to just under 75 million, according to a report from Massachusetts-based market research firm Yankee Group. Cable modem-based broadband is projected to trail DSL connections globally, but maintain its lead in the North American marketplace, while satellite connections will grow to 12 million and 4% market share in 2008. Strong growth in Asia-Pacific and Europe will propel broadband wireless connections to achieve 8% of the market by 2008. "Broadband access continues to be one of the largest and most profitable areas of telecommunications around the world," said Yankee Group senior analyst Lindsay Schroth. "Despite the downturn in telecom spending in the past few years, providers are expanding access networks and attracting new broadband subscribers with a variety of access technologies."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?F594254C8  
____________________________________________

o Creative Technology, Soundbuzz.com Launch Online Music Stores in Asia

Singapore -- U.S. consumer electronics firm Creative Technology and Asian online music distributor Soundbuzz.com have partnered to launch a series of online music stores in Singapore, Hong Kong and India in an attempt to create a legitimate digital music market in regions plagued by rampant piracy, Reuters reported. Milpitas, Calif.-based Creative markets portable players like the 20GB Zen Touch that are compatible with the stores, the first of which launched this week in Singapore offering 250,000 songs for $1.16 each. Soundbuzz CEO Sudhanshu Sarronwala told Reuters he expects the Singapore store to sell 300,000 to 500,000 songs annually. A second store in Hong Kong slated to launch this year is projected sell 1 million songs per year, while a store in India is expected grow to twice that sales figure within two years. Piracy and uncertainty over pricing are hampering plans to launch similar online music stores in Taiwan and China, Sarronwala told Reuters.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?I248163C8 
http://www.creative.com 
http://www.soundbuzz.com    
____________________________________________

o FTC: Some Game Publishers Still Marketing Mature Games to Kids

Washington -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week released its fourth follow-up report to Congress on the marketing of violent movies, music and video games to children. With regard to video games, the report found that a substantial part of the industry is complying with industry standards limiting ad placements for Mature (M)-rated games in popular youth-oriented media. However, the FTC found M-rated games advertised in gaming magazines popular with teens, and also that Teen (T)-rated games were advertised in media popular with pre-teens. The FTC noted that 32 companies violated ratings requirements in the first nine months of 2003, with four actually receiving fines. It also found that the industry could improve its efforts to disclose rating information by including content descriptors in TV ads and on the front of game packages. The FTC also announced the creation of a new website intended to teach parents and kids about entertainment ratings, available at a link below.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/07/mvreport.htm 
http://www.ftc.gov/ratings 

Top


 > DMW Events:

Future of Television Forum: Next Generation
November 19, 2004  |  New York City

www.televisionconference.com
Phone Registration Available Now
323-822-0936

OVERVIEW
Last year 370+ attended Future of Television Forum, which included keynotes from Mark Cuban (Chairman, HDNet / Owner, Dallas Mavericks), Joshua Sapan (President & CEO Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc.), and David Zaslav (President, NBC Cable). This year's event is scheduled for November 19, 2004 at NYU's Stern School of Business and will feature an impressive line-up of speakers and cutting-edge topics focused on the "Next Generation" of television.

REGISTRATION
Early Bird: $195 (until August 31)
Pre-Registration: $295
(until November 12)
Registration: $395 (after November 12 & at Door)
Online Registration: http://kb.digitalmediawire.com/register.php?eventid=1074

Phone: 323-822-0936


To submit speakers for or request information about exhibiting or sponsoring at the 2004 conferences, please contact Tinzar Than, VP, Marketing & Events, Digital Media Wire, Inc. at: tinzar@digitalmediawire.com.
 

Past Events | Sponsorship Materials | Partners & Clients
 

Top


> Featured Advertisement: 


www.digitalentertainmentawards.com

The Awards will include 30 market-leading categories honoring innovation, entrepreneurship and brand development in digital entertainment.  Judges are comprised of an elite group of industry executives and leaders hand picked from the digital entertainment industry, representing the creative community, major entertainment companies, academic institutions and the media. For more information,
or to submit a company for the Digital Entertainment Awards, please visit www.digitalentertainmentawards.com

Deadline for Submissions: September 15, 2004

Conference & Awards Show: November 4 and 5, 2004

AWARDS CATEGORIES
(click here for category descriptions)

AWARDS ENTRY FORM
(click here to download entry form)
 

Top


o Briefly Noted:

(Los Angeles) Cable TV operator Comcast plans to launch video-on-demand services for subscribers in San Francisco later this month, itvt newsletter reported. Additional roll-out to other Bay Area communities is planned for later this year. At launch, Comcast will offer 1,500 hours of programming per month, 80% of which will be free -- with the goal of eventually offering 4,000 hours per month.
http://www.itvt.com 
http://www.comcast.com

(Beverly Hills, Calif.) Wraptor, a unit of Free Radical Networks that is developing a multimedia format and legitimate file-sharing technology, said on Friday that it has signed a four-year agreement with the Vans Warped Tour, to create a compilation CD of unsigned artists that will also be distributed online, in the company's proprietary .wrap file format. The .wrap files will include music in addition to artist photos, lyrics, bios and tour dates, and allow users to preview the entire song before making a purchase. The free CD will be distributed on the Vans Warped Tour, as well as through the company's legal peer-to-peer software, currently scheduled for release some time this summer.
http://www.warpedtour.com 
http://www.wraptor.com

(Seattle) Loudeye Technologies, a provider of streaming song samples that recently acquired European digital music distributor OD2, announced on Friday that it has ended its relationship with its independent accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. PWC had planned to resign after completing Loudeye's books for the quarter ended June 30. Seattle-based Loudeye said the resignation "was not the result of any disagreement between PWC and Loudeye on any matter of accounting principles," and that it is "well down the path of engaging new independent auditors."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040708/sfth080_1.html 
http://www.loudeye.com 
http://www.mforma.com 
 
Top


> Classifieds -- Ad Postings

> VP - Ignition Strategic Communications

Ignition Strategic Communications is a fast-paced, fast-growing independently owned communications consulting firm with offices in Washington, D.C. and Austin, Texas. The firm has a reputation for delivering sophisticated, highly successful public relations and public affairs campaigns. Ignition seeks talented people with at least a decade of experience. Ideal candidates will have hands-on experience media relations and PR experience, management know-how and entrepreneurial expertise in growing a full-service agency. Journalism experience useful. Competitive salary and benefits. Send resumes to mediarelationsjob@hotmail.com.  No phone calls, please.
_________________

> NMS Imaging Seeing Sales Manager

Sales Professional wanted to build and mentor B2B outside sales team of 12 covering NJ-VA. Ideal candidate has proven experience with office automation equipment sales or similar. Knowledge of selling applied solutions to line-of-business with ROI and business process improvement will make the difference. Seeking excellent presenting, speaking, and people skills with energy and professionalism. Send resume and compensation requirements. employment@nmsimaging.com
_________________

> Financial Pricing/Modeling Analyst

Create and analyze complex financial models of proposals. Collaborate with sales, operations, and finance to validate model assumptions. Provide recommendations to the sales, operations, and finance staff on financial models. Continually improve the standard pricing models. Analyze statements to update assumptions of cost structure. Prepare financial forecasts and budgets. Create operational plans for new business opportunities. Assemble potential operational costs into proposals to create solutions. Send resumes to timothy.r.smith@acs-inc.com
_________________

> Senior Accountant - Online Resources

The Sr. Accountant is responsible for preparing financial statements, reconciliations, journal entries and the general ledger, as well as maintaining fixed assets schedules, assisting with the month-end close and the monthly invoicing processes and completing special projects as required. Requirements: Either a Bachelors degree in acctg. with 3-5 years of accounting exp or an Associates degree with 5 plus years of accounting exp., solid knowledge of accounting principles, skill with Excel spreadsheets and excellent verbal and written communications skills, CPA is strongly desired. Great benefits, and competitive compensation. Send resumes to shahn@orcc.com  or wnewman@orcc.com
_________________

> Wholesale Product Manager - Cavalier Telephone

Candidate should have deep understanding of the Carrier market including traditional circuit based transport/switched providers and VO/IP backbone providers. Experience in FCC Type I special access circuit pricing and Carrier/Cap provider pricing structures. Require: 5 plus years marketing and strategic development mgmt exp. targeted at the Wholesale/Carrier local, national, and international marketplace. 4-Year Business/Marketing degree, MBA. Technical certifications in telecom systems a plus. Great benefits, rewarding compensation program, medical and dental, 401K. Please email resumes and salary requirements to humres@cavtel.com
_________________

> Director E-Business

Immediate opening for a Director, eBusiness to direct, manage and be accountable for the Company's eBusiness P&L. Key Responsibilities: Manages eBusiness P&L, Build eBusiness through stages including small order transition, customer integrations, customized extranets and organic growth. Require: Degree or equivalent experience in Business, Marketing, or related field of study. 7 to 10 yrs of related exp. in eBusiness, Min 5 yrs of mgmt exp reqd. Proven leadership abilities. Land base to e-commerce experience, launching stand alone second commerce. Send inquiries to melon.yeshoalul@gtsi.com
_________________

> Financial Planning Analyst

This position will provide in-house support to the CFO and CEO for financial analysis, actuarial studies and financial forecasting, support premium rate studies, reserve valuations, reinsurance administration and financial projections and ensure that all documentation complies with Company policy and professional standards. Responsibilities: working with the CFO, prepare financial modeling and forecasts. Conduct financial analysis projects and special statistical studies as needed to support projection; support the Consulting Actuary. Please send resume to kstephens@hirestrategy.com  or visit http://www.hirestrategy.com/quicklinks/hire198.asp
_________________

> Product Manager

This Product Manager position will be responsible for specifying the requirements and overseeing development of new trusted data exchange applications on an innovative infrastructure for carrier-class deployment in the mobile environment. Require: Exp. in mobile carrier application product development, exp. in User Interface development and evaluation, 5yrs software engineering and development background reqd, knowledge of carrier billing and class of service, Ability to manage product development program reqd, Excellent writing and presentation skills required, Must be able to travel. Please send resumes to amy.ashker@epok.net
_________________

> PricewaterhouseCoopers' Entertainment and Media Outlook

Purchase the book every entertainment and media executive must have. The PricewaterhouseCoopers' Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2003-2007 analyzes key trends and forecasts spending in the U.S. and Canada across 14 industry segments, including a Global Overview that forecasts spending and analyzes trends worldwide (also sold separately). More Information
_________________
 
> Executive Networking Meeting - Going International, July 20th

Going International too late can cause you to miss the boat on great opportunities - are your competitors already making headway in some of these markets? Perhaps without your knowledge? But going International too early can also cause a company to lose focus if it's not ready to do so yet. If you're already executing on an International strategy, this session will help you make sure you get the most out of it. And if you haven't yet defined an International strategy, this session will help you shape it. http://www.netsea.org/events_info.shtml
_________________

> Audio Conference - Homeland Security Contracting - July 27

Spending on homeland security is growing at an unprecedented pace at state, local and federal levels. During its first year, the Department of Homeland Security signed over 18,500 contracts for goods and services from US companies of all sizes. Join the Institute of Management and Administration (IOMA) and our panel of contracting experts in this 90-minute audio telephone conference to find out how proper marketing and product strategy can make all the difference in your DHS bid. Click the link below for information and to register: http://www.homeland-directory.com/contracting.html

Top


About Us
Digital Media Wire, Inc. is a news organization, publisher and events company serving the digital media industry since May 2000. Our daily newsletter delivers original briefings on business, legal and financial developments shaping digital media and read by over 30,000 executives and professionals. To subscribe for free, please click here.

Digital Media Wire, Inc. is part of the Tech Wire Media Group, an international network of publications that includes Digital Media Law Report, Potomac Tech Wire, New England Tech Wire, Southeast Tech Wire, Bay Area Tech Wire, Tri-state Tech Wire and European Tech Wire. The network reaches more than 70,000 individuals from over 70 countries each business day.

Advertising & Sponsorship
Publications, Events & Information


Executive & Editorial Team
Chief Executive Officer: Ned Sherman
VP, Marketing & Events: Tinzar Than
Editor: Mark Hefflinger

Contact Us
Questions, Comments & Suggestions
News Tips & Press Releases

Unsubscribe

Top


Copyright 2004 Digital Media Wire, Inc. All Rights Reserved.