Voices

Four Weird Things the Internet Is Doing to Our Understanding of Television

People seem really intent these days on fusing television with the Internet. On one level this makes no sense.

Vevo, Big Music’s New Video Site, Peeks Out From Behind the Curtain

Vevo, the “Hulu for Music” site featuring videos from three of the big music labels, is supposed to officially go live tonight, and there’s a big party in New York to kick things off. But if you’re not going to that and want to see the site now, you can get a peek.
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Voices

Susan Boyle Album Tops Amazon Pre-Orders

A month ahead of its release, Susan Boyle’s album has more advance orders on Amazon.com than any CD in the retailer’s history, it said. The Sony album, titled “I Dreamed a Dream,” goes on sale on Nov. 23. Ms. Boyle sang the song by the same name on “Britain’s Got Talent,” and the video of her unexpectedly strong performance made her a world-wide phenomenon after it landed on video-sharing sites like YouTube.

Guitar Hero's Dan Rosensweig Speaks!

Yesterday, BoomTown did a tour of the Mountain View, Calif., HQ of Guitar Hero, which is poised for a series of launches, including the fifth version of Guitar Hero and new music games Band Hero and DJ Hero. While there, I interviewed CEO Dan Rosensweig, the well-known Silicon Valley exec who was once COO of Yahoo and who took over the high-profile division of Activision Blizzard in May in what was a bit of a surprise move into the music gaming industry. Here’s a video of an interview I did with him about it all.
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Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff: How to Make Money While Music Becomes “Demonetized”

As a longtime music executive and talent manager, Irving Azoff has had to find a way to work with everyone from inebriated rock stars to David Geffen. But he’s never had to placate Washington, D.C. before. But that’s what Azoff needs to do in order to pull off the deal of a lifetime: A merger between his Ticketmaster Entertainment, which dominates the ticketing business, and Live Nation, which dominates the live concert business. When Azoff isn’t busy trying to convince people that the merger doesn’t violate antitrust regulations, or running his ticketing company, he manages the careers of everyone from the Eagles to Christina Aguilera. Note the one thing in the music business he doesn’t spend time on: Selling recorded music.
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Will eBay Dump StubHub, Too?

The online ticket resale business–what most people would call legalized scalping–seems like a pretty decent market. But Ticketmaster may be getting out of it in order to mollify regulators, and an analyst predicts Ebay may do the same to please Wall Street.
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Ticketmaster Makes Up With Bruce Springsteen–And His Fans

Remember the great Ticketmaster/Bruce Springsteen controversy of 2009? The one where fans of the Boss said they got screwed by the ticketing company everyone loves to hate? The one that prompted Springsteen himself to complain about Ticketmaster and its proposed acquisition of concert giant Live Nation? It’s over!
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Bruce, Britney, Beyoncé Staying on YouTube: Sony Music Re-Signs

YouTube and Sony Music Entertainment have signed a deal that will keep the music label’s videos and music on the site. The contract accomplishes what YouTube and Warner Music Group have been unable to do–figure out a way to keep the label’s music on the world’s biggest video site while sharing revenue with both sides.

The Boss Says No: Bruce Springsteen Already Campaigning Against Ticketmaster-Live Nation Deal

The Ticketmaster-Live Nation deal isn’t official yet, but it’s already garnering plenty of opponents. The real question: Who’s going to come out in favor of a deal that helps one of the country’s most disliked companies?