Madonna

Stunning News: Music Industry Acts Rationally

Peter Kafka in Media on December 14, 2011 at 11:14 am PT

The world’s biggest music label signs one of the biggest stars in the world, for a song. But the Madonna/Univeral deal still makes sense for both sides.

YouTube and Hollywood Finally Link Up: Here Come the Channels

Peter Kafka in Media on October 28, 2011 at 6:00 pm PT

Google announces deals with “Modern Family” star Sofia Vergara and a bunch of other famous people to make stuff for the site. Next up: Signing on advertisers.

Hello, American Pie! Why a 40-Year-Old Song Became This Weekend’s Viral Video

Peter Kafka in Media on May 29, 2011 at 9:17 pm PT

Because it’s fun, because it’s a long weekend, and because the people of Grand Rapids, Michigan, have an axe to grind.

Lady Gaga Sells Lots of Cheap Music–And Full-Priced Music, Too

Peter Kafka in Media on May 27, 2011 at 12:51 pm PT

Amazon’s melted servers still sold lots of 99-cent “Born This Way” albums this week–and iTunes sold a lot of full-priced ones, too. Also, weird but true: People are still buying compact discs!

Read All About It! But Don't Watch–The Grammys Tune Out Online

Peter Kafka in Media on February 14, 2011 at 4:27 am PT

The Grammys generated a flurry of online interest last night, but the music industry’s biggest event of the year is AWOL this morning. Opportunity wasted.

Viral Video: Here's What You Missed Last Week on "Glee"–Oops–in Politics

Kara Swisher in News on October 27, 2010 at 12:15 am PT

Here’s an inventive political-campaign advertisement video from the Illinois governor’s race, using the infectious scenes-from-last-week style of the hit television show “Glee.” While I wish there were some overwrought versions of show tunes or intense channeling of Madonna, it works well.

Will iPhone App Makers Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Piracy?

Peter Kafka in Media on January 25, 2010 at 5:36 am PT

Don’t know if this qualifies as a parable. But at the very least, it’s interesting: An iPhone app developer has figured out how to combat the burgeoning problem of iPhone app piracy–by embracing the pirates.

Hulu Tries a Little More Music, This Time From Warner Music

Peter Kafka in Media on December 22, 2009 at 1:24 pm PT

Once upon a time, Hulu flirted with the notion of becoming a hub for music videos. That never happened, and now the big music labels are trying to create their own Hulu, via their Vevo site. But Hulu is still playing around with music videos, at least at the margins. Last month, the video site began hosting some clips from EMI. And now it is adding a few more, via Warner Music Group, the only label that isn’t a part of Vevo.

Google Steps Gingerly Into Music With “One Box”

Peter Kafka in Media on October 21, 2009 at 7:50 am PT

Google insists, over and over, that it has no intention of getting into the content business. So how is it finessing its way into the music business? Very carefully. The search giant is working on a new service that will provide searchers with streaming music, which sounds a whole lot like a content play at first blush. But Google will only be offering limited bits of music, and it will be relying on other companies–Lala.com, MySpace’s iLike and Imeem, sources say–to actually provide the tunes.

YouTube Yawns at Letterman’s Extortion Story

Peter Kafka in Media on October 3, 2009 at 8:16 am PT

In certain circles, David Letterman’s extortion/adultery story is huge news. On YouTube? It’s overshadowed by an “Ultimate Fighter” match.