AllThingsD » digital media

The End Is Here Before the Beginning for Beyond Oblivion

Arik Hesseldahl — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:27:50 +0000

Beyond Oblivion, a New York-based music start-up is shutting down before even launching a product, having burned through some $87 million worth of funding, according to a report in the Financial Times (link goes to a story behind a paywall). Backed by investments from News Corp. (which also owns this Web site), it had sought to bundle the service with hardware and charge a flat fee, but had trouble selling recording labels on the idea.

DailyMotion Vet Joy Marcus Joins DFJ Gotham

Peter Kafka — Thu, 12 May 2011 13:22:34 +0000

Joy Marcus, who used to run U.S. operations at France’s DailyMotion, has a new gig: She’s joining DFJ Gotham as a venture partner, where she’ll concentrate on the firm’s digital media portfolio. Marcus’ resumé also includes stints at Time Warner, Barnesandnoble.com and MTV.

JP Morgan Raises $1.2 Billion For Digital Growth Fund

Scott Austin — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:00:59 +0000

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has quickly rounded up $1.2 billion for a new digital-growth fund, furthering Wall Street’s bold push to capture stakes in fast-growing private tech companies such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc.

According to a regulatory filing, J.P. Morgan’s asset management unit raised $1.22 billion for a fund called J.P. Morgan Digital Growth Fund LP. That’s about double the amount reported last week by The Wall Street Journal, which, citing anonymous sources, stated the firm planned to raise between $500 million and $750 million for a digital-media fund to invest in Internet and digital-media companies.

Darin Oduyoye, a spokesman for J.P. Morgan’s asset management unit, declined to comment. A man who answered a phone call at the number listed on the filing said we had the wrong number, and a second call went into his voicemail.

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Revision3 Adds IGN President Roy Bahat to Board

Voices — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:43:17 +0000

Web video studio Revision3 is bringing some more digital-media expertise to its board with the addition of Roy Bahat, president of gaming media company IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corp. Bahat is a Harvard grad and Rhodes Scholar who did stints with McKinsey & Company, the New York City mayor’s office and various start-ups before joining IGN in 2007.

J.P. Morgan Plans New-Media Fund

Anupreeta Das — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 23:12:17 +0000

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., riding the wave of investor interest in fast-growing, privately held technology firms such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., plans to start a fund that would invest in Internet and digital-media companies, people familiar with the matter said.

The planned investment fund, run from the New York company’s asset-management unit, is expected to raise between $500 million and $750 million, these people said. Marketing materials were sent to prospective investors starting about two weeks ago.

It isn’t clear whether J.P. Morgan plans to invest directly in target companies or buy and sell shares on behalf of clients. But the investment fund will target “late-stage” private companies, or those with an up-and-running business model, steady revenue and cash flow, according to people familiar with the situation. A J.P. Morgan spokesman declined to comment.

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PepsiCo Unveils Winners Of New Start-Up Incubator Program

Ty McMahan — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:59:35 +0000

PepsiCo Corp. (PEP) set out in June to find 10 relatively unheard of start-ups to put it on the cutting edge of digital media and social marketing.

Now the company has announced the winners of the inaugural PepsiCo10, an incubator program that matches technology, media and communications entrepreneurs with PepsiCo brands for pilot programs set to launch in the coming months. PepsiCo is working with the companies to tailor its marketing message to their technologies.

PepsiCo partnered with venture capital firm Highland Capital Partners to pick the companies from among 500 applicants.

“This could be a company-maker if you’re a young company,” Highland Senior Vice President Michael Gaiss said.

Gaiss said Highland has already met with several of the companies selected. No investments have been made, but conversations are ongoing, he said.

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IVP Closes New $750 Million Tech and Media Fund

Beth Callaghan — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:31:46 +0000

This morning, Institutional Venture Partners announced the closing of IVP XIII, a new $750 million fund that will invest in rapidly growing technology and digital media companies. IVP’s later-stage investment strategy has been successful so far; like its similarly named predecessor fund–the $600 million IVP XII–the new fund is oversubscribed, and the firm’s committed capital now totals $3 billion.

Greycroft Raises New Fund Amid Tough Industry Conditions

Pui-Wing Tam — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:59:24 +0000

The National Venture Capital Association earlier this week declared that the first quarter of this year was the slowest for venture-capital firms trying to raise money since 1993. Despite such conditions, venture-capital firm Greycroft Partners has just closed a new fund.

The firm, founded by private-equity investor Alan Patricof in 2006 to invest in digital media startups, has raised a new $130.7 million fund following a $75 million fund in 2006. Rounding up the cash for the new fund wasn’t an easy process, however.

Ian Sigalow, a partner at Greycroft, says the firm started raising money more than a year ago in March 2009. In total, the firm had 160 first meetings with potential investors and dealt with many months where no investors committed, he says. “The first quarter of 2009 was miserable,” Mr. Sigalow says, recalling the deep-freeze that followed the stock market meltdown in late 2008. “It was cold. (Some investors) were saying why would we invest in a new fund?”

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Does This Mean We Can Expect a Live Nation "iTunes Convenience Fee"?

John Paczkowski — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:10:08 +0000

This year, Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, will put on some 22,000 live shows–each one attended by carping about the asinine “convenience” and “courtesy” charges the company likes to tack on to ticket purchases. Funny, isn’t it, how quickly a $28 show can become a $50 one?

But much as concertgoers might loathe the idea of giving Live Nation (LYV) even more of their money, they may soon do so. Because beginning today, the company is offering exclusive audio and video recordings of some of its events through Apple (AAPL) iTunes. Prices start at $7.99, which seems astonishingly reasonable for live recordings of this quality. More so when you factor in Live Nation’s involvement.

Not an original idea, by any means; Metallica, Primus, The Pixies, Phish and others have been peddling soundboard recordings of their shows through their official sites for years now. But this is the first time, I think, that we’re seeing the live side of the music business really leverage iTunes and its massive installed base.

And, let’s face it, this is a great idea, indeed. I saw two live shows in the past few months and happily paid $10 and $14 for soundboard recordings of each. But I had to spend some time seeking them out, creating a new customer profile, etc. It would have been much nicer to just fire up iTunes and buy them both with one click.

Bloomberg Announces New York Media Stimulus Plans

Andrew LaVallee — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:32:28 +0000

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans Tuesday for a research lab, digital-media apprenticeships, a technology-equipment bond program and other initiatives designed to create 8,000 media jobs in New York over the next 10 years.

“There are lots of great cities out there,” he said at a press conference at the local headquarters of IAC (IACI). “We’ve got to make sure people understand there’s a reason to grow, locate, stay in New York City.”

Among the proposed projects are NYC Media Lab, a facility that will coordinate research being done by universities and businesses, and Jumpstart New Media, a training program that places mid-level traditional-media workers into new-media companies for 10-week internships.

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MySpace | A Place for Layoffs, Redux

John Paczkowski — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:00:19 +0000

MySpace has extended its war on bloat overseas. This morning the company announced plans to close at least four of its offices outside the U.S. in a bid to reduce costs. Some 300 of the company’s 450 international employees will lose their jobs as a result.

“It was clear that internationally, just as in the US, MySpace’s staffing had become too big and cumbersome to be sustainable in current market conditions,” said MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta. “Today’s proposed changes are designed to transform and refine our international growth strategy.” Operations in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden and Spain are “under review,” he added, and face possible closure.

The cuts follow a 30 percent reduction in headcount in the states last week and the hastening erosion of MySpace’s position in the social-networking market. MySpace lost the title of world’s most popular social network to rival Facebook last year and was overtaken by it in the U.S. last month as well.

MySpace | A Place for Layoffs, Redux

John Paczkowski — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:00:19 +0000

"Unsupported Third-Party Digital Media Players." Hmm, Wonder Who That Could Pre…

John Paczkowski — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:13:43 +0000

Palm’s Pre is the first non-Apple device to successfully link with iTunes in years. And it may be the last. On Tuesday, Apple issued an advisory warning that it does not support iTunes integration with third-party digital media players.

Apple is aware that some third-parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players.

Translation: The Pre won’t be syncing with iTunes for long.

Now, Palm isn’t explicitly named in the advisory, but it’s clear that this is a broad shot across its bow. And it’s not like we didn’t see it coming. Did anyone really think that Apple (AAPL) would permit the Pre to sync with iTunes by masquerading as an iPod?

Funny. Asked last month at D7 if Apple might take issue with the Pre’s iTunes integration, Palm investor Roger McNamee said, “I don’t think so. They are practically a monopolist and this is what consumers want. Consumers own all this media. I find it hard to believe that Apple will get bent out of shape.” (see video below)

Well, believe it. That said, Palm (PALM) seems unfazed by Apple’s implied threat. Reached for comment, the company said Cupertino will only harm consumers if it disables iTunes integration with the Pre. “Palm’s media sync works with the current version of iTunes,” Palm spokesperson Lynn Fox told me. “If Apple chooses to disable media sync in a future version of iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we could consider.”

[ See post to watch video ]

"Unsupported Third-Party Digital Media Players." Hmm, Wonder Who That Could Pre…

John Paczkowski — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:13:43 +0000

Apple is aware that some third-parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players.

Translation: The Pre won’t be syncing with iTunes for long.

[ See post to watch video ]

MySpace | A Place for Layoffs

John Paczkowski — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:15:14 +0000

The ax has finally swung at MySpace. This morning the AOL of social networks announced plans to sack 30 percent of its workforce. All told, 420 workers will lose their jobs, reducing the size of the company’s staff to 1,000 employees.

“Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company,” CEO Owen Van Natta said in a statement. “I understand that these changes are painful for many. They are also necessary for the long-term health and culture of MySpace. Our intent is to return to an environment of innovation that is centered on our user and our product.”

“MySpace grew too big considering the realities of today’s marketplace,” said Jon Miller, News Corporation’s (NWS) CEO of Digital Media. “I believe this restructuring will help MySpace operate much more effectively both structurally and financially moving forward.”

The news follows a report by market research outfit comScore (SCOR), indicating that Facebook has surpassed MySpace in the U.S. market as the top social-networking site.

Below, CEO Owen Van Natta’s all-hands memo breaking the ugly news.

Everyone,

Today we are making a number of changes to MySpace’s domestic organizational structure. For the long-term health of the company we are making some very tough, but unfortunately very necessary decisions.

We are reducing our workforce from 1,420 employees to 1,000 – all divisions within the company are affected by this restructure.

These decisions are difficult for everyone, but especially for our friends and colleagues who contributed to MySpace’s success and are directly affected by the changes. Through no fault of theirs our company’s size became unsustainable. The future success of MySpace is dependent upon us operating as a nimble and entrepreneurial company with the adaptive mentality of a start-up.

I believe this is the first difficult step toward a major turnaround – a step that will not only shore us up in the short term, but position us for long term success. We need to become a more innovative company. Becoming more innovative is an ongoing responsibility for all of us, not a one-time effort. We are developing a process that will empower anyone in the company to contribute ideas and enable us to integrate your thoughts into our plans for the future. We will follow-up with details on this process in the coming weeks.

This week we will communicate the foundation for our company strategy. In the days ahead, I will visit a number of U.S. offices, starting tomorrow at HQ, MySpace Music, and El Segundo. On Thursday I look forward to seeing everyone in Seattle and San Francisco, and on Friday, I’ll be spending time with the team based in New York.

I’m honored to be working with you on the next phase of MySpace and I’m grateful for your patience during this difficult process.

Thank you,
Owen

MySpace | A Place for Layoffs

John Paczkowski — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:15:14 +0000

The news follows a report by market research outfit comScore (SCOR), indicating that Facebook has surpassed MySpace in the U.S. market as the top social-networking site.

Below, CEO Owen Van Natta’s all-hands memo breaking the ugly news.

Everyone,

Today we are making a number of changes to MySpace’s domestic organizational structure. For the long-term health of the company we are making some very tough, but unfortunately very necessary decisions.

We are reducing our workforce from 1,420 employees to 1,000 – all divisions within the company are affected by this restructure.

These decisions are difficult for everyone, but especially for our friends and colleagues who contributed to MySpace’s success and are directly affected by the changes. Through no fault of theirs our company’s size became unsustainable. The future success of MySpace is dependent upon us operating as a nimble and entrepreneurial company with the adaptive mentality of a start-up.

I believe this is the first difficult step toward a major turnaround – a step that will not only shore us up in the short term, but position us for long term success. We need to become a more innovative company. Becoming more innovative is an ongoing responsibility for all of us, not a one-time effort. We are developing a process that will empower anyone in the company to contribute ideas and enable us to integrate your thoughts into our plans for the future. We will follow-up with details on this process in the coming weeks.

This week we will communicate the foundation for our company strategy. In the days ahead, I will visit a number of U.S. offices, starting tomorrow at HQ, MySpace Music, and El Segundo. On Thursday I look forward to seeing everyone in Seattle and San Francisco, and on Friday, I’ll be spending time with the team based in New York.

I’m honored to be working with you on the next phase of MySpace and I’m grateful for your patience during this difficult process.

Thank you,
Owen

Departing Sun Co-Founder Keeping His Business Cards

John Paczkowski — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:53:46 +0000

Andy Bechtolsheim has given his notice again. The Sun (JAVA) co-founder is leaving the company he helped establish in 1982, just four years after returning to it and reinvigorating its aging product line. His new gig: chairman and chief development officer of Arista Networks, a start-up he funded with Stanford University’s David Cheriton that sells lean, high-performance network switches for data centers to the likes of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and digital media streaming company BitGravity. Together with Cisco alum Jayshree Ullal, the two hope to take on Cisco Systems (CSCO) in the data center infrastructure market.

This is the second time Bechtolsheim has left Sun, and in all likelihood his last. On Monday, the company warned of a much larger-than-expected quarterly loss on lower revenue. Sun shares have fallen more than 70 percent this year, and they fell lower still on news of Bechtolsheim’s departure.

Sun, still reeling from the beating it’s been taking on Wall Street, claims it’s not losing Bechtolsheim–just his undivided attention. “Andy will remain with the company as an essential product architect as part of the Sun Systems group; however he will be working with Sun in a reduced capacity as a result of his being named Chief Development Officer of Arista Networks, a start-up company he founded,” Sun said in a statement. “Andy will focus his time with Sun on technology development and ongoing systems projects to help drive new product architectures, including X64 servers and storage servers, and will continue to work on key strategic initiatives such as HPC.”

Just how Bechtolsheim will manage that with a new full-time job as chairman and chief development officer of Arista remains to be seen. Although if anyone can do it, he can.