Technology News

Indie Music Discovery Site fuzz.com to Shutter

Source: HypeBot
January 22, 2009

Independent music promotion and discovery site Fuzz.com is shutting down in mid-February due to “increasing operating costs and flat revenues". Sister site Blip.fm will remain open. A letter sent to users reads in part:

Sadly, we are contacting you to announce that Fuzz.com is shutting down on February 13, 2009. Between now and then you may want to take the opportunity to post your forwarding information to fellow Fuzz users. It was with a heavy heart ...

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Midem Attendance Slide 12%

Source: HypeBot
January 22, 2009

It was a difficult year for the music business as well as for the world economy; so predictions form some quarters for this year's Midem were dire. In the end, the Cannes mega-conference appears to have dodged the bullet with figures released by organizer Reed Midem showing a 12% drop in attendance to 8000 from 9100 in 2008. For those present, the effect was sometimes even positive. Getting a restaurant reservation was easy and meetings were less difficult to book. ...

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Network Neutrality Fans Hold Their Breath

Source: PC Magazine
January 22, 2009

A last-minute bid by the outgoing chief federal communications regulator to deepen a probe of Comcast Corp is fueling the hopes of those pushing for unfettered access to the Internet. The Federal Communications Commission said this week that Comcast's attempt to revise the practices it uses to manage Internet traffic unfairly favors its own voice Internet service. The last day at the FCC of Kevin Martin, the outgoing Republican chief, was Tuesday, which leaves the issue to his successor. Democratic ...

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change.gov Takes Office as White House Site

Source: PC Magazine
January 21, 2009

It's fitting--Change.gov has made a major metamorphosis. At 12:01 PM EST, as Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, the site became Whitehouse.gov. Like Change.gov before it, the newly revved White House site is expected to maintain many of the Web 2.0 user-generated elements that Obama used in his online campaigning. Whitehouse.gov will feature a “Citizen's Briefing Book," which lets users submit ideas: “The best-rated ones will rise to the top, and after the ...

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Facebook, CNN, Twitter See Inauguration Surges

Source: PC Magazine
January 21, 2009

The inauguration has prompted more than one million status updates on Facebook, the social networking site revealed Tuesday. Meanwhile, other social-networking sites and tools also reported surges. Facebook averaged over 4,000 status updates per hour Tuesday morning--a number that peaked at 8,500 updates every minute while President Barack Obama was giving his inaugural speech. “We've never reached levels like this before," a Facebook spokesman told CNN.com. “Even just yesterday, we had more users online than we've ever had before, more ...

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Google Closes Book on Print Ads

Source: PC Magazine
January 21, 2009

Days after shutting down Google Video uploads, Catalog Search, Notebook, and Jaiku, Google on Tuesday announced that it will also close its Print Ads program. “While we hoped that Print Ads would create a new revenue stream for newspapers and produce more relevant advertising for consumers, the product has not created the impact that we -- or our partners -- wanted," Spencer Spinnell, director of Google Print Ads, wrote in a blog post. “As a result, we will stop offering ...

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Soundcloud Moves Music Fast

Source: HypeBot
January 21, 2009

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The Music Industry's 800 Pound Gorilla

Source: HypeBot
January 21, 2009

Guest post by music industry consultant and Loyola professor George Howard who blogs at 9GiantSteps: I was inspired recently by a post from John Gruber about avoiding the distraction of 800 pound gorillas. Mr. Gruber's post made me realize that, for years, I've been trying to get people to stop worrying about 800 pound gorillas with respect to the music industry.

Specifically, the majors are the 800 pound gorillas for 99.999% of ...

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