Yesterday's
webcast at ABCNews.com
was a spirited discussion of the theories of who truly owns music
once it is purchased, and why consumers might think music should
be for free.
Former presidential aide George Stephanopolous sat in as
host for Sam Donaldson for "The Digital Music Debate."
His guests were RIAA Senior VP Matt Oppenheim, and Forrester Research
music and technology industry analyst Eric Sheirer.
Forrester's Sheirer's main points included that his firm
believes free music will always be available somehow on the Internet,
and that the record companies "have to offer something more
to the consumer than what's available through free services, not
just hope (for) some technology or legal magic bullet." He
offered AOL as an example of a successful 
service
that can charge for something (Internet access) that's also available
for free.
RIAA's Oppenheim, representing the music industry, made
the point that it's unreasonable to expect the record companies
to compete with "free," in other words, Napster. He
said "I do think you need to turn to the laws, which are
very clear on this. And you need to make sure the marketplace
is a level playing field...I'd like a lot of things to be free,
but it's not up to me to decide. If I decide that's called theft."
Sheirer made the point that it's been the history of the
music industry, and consumers' expectation, that music is "introduced"
for free. One hears a song on the radio or at a club -- it's free.
Only when you get to the point of the record store is
payment involved. Now that the digital distribution of music is
so easy, people expect music to remain free.
He added that the feeling that music should be free is
perpetuated by the fact that it's unclear what one actually buys
when they purchase music. "Clearly the music industry is
saying...that just purchasing the CD doesn't give me the complete
rights to everything on there...but on the other hand, I'm not
really buying the rights in the sense that they will replace them
on different media or encourage me to go out and get copies of
the music that I've already purchased..." The discrepancy
there leads to the confusion of what a consumer actually owns
once he or she purchases the music.
The webcast is archived, and you can watch it now by clicking
here (Real Player required).
From the press release: "
MeasureCast
announced a new version of its streaming audience measurement
service that gives Internet broadcasters, advertising agencies,
and media buyers the detailed information they need to sell the
benefits of advertising in streaming media broadcasts.
"Chief among the new features is Network Reporting,
which enables MeasureCast customers to sort, classify, and organize
audience data by state, geographical region, and format from the
network level down to groups of stations."
Read this press release
here.
From another release: "MeasureCast announced today that
for the week of January 22-28, the total time spent
listening
(TTSL) for the top 25 on-line stations in the company's weekly ranking
rose eight percent over the week of January 15-21...
"Three ABC Radio stations made their debuts in the MeasureCast
Internet Radio Top 25 list: WXCD-94.7 FM, a classic rock station
in Chicago; KSCS-96.3 FM, a country music station in Dallas/Ft.
Worth; and KZNZ-105 FM, an alternative rock station in Eden Prairie,
Minnesota.
Read the press release
here.
(Note that in December WXCD/Chicago changed to "80s
Hits" format "94.7 The Zone.")
MeasureCast
(Monday January 22nd -- Sunday January 29th)
|
Rank
|
Station
|
Format
|
Network
|
Total
TSL (in hrs.)
|
Cume
Persons
|
|
1
|
WABC-AM
(New York) |
Talk
Radio |
ABC
Radio |
90,520
|
16,123
|
|
2
|
|
Listener Formatted
|
MEDIAmazing
|
48,854
|
14,947
|
|
3
|
WPLJ-FM
(New York) |
CHR/Top
40 |
ABC
Radio |
38,787
|
3,469
|
|
4
|
Radio
Margaritaville |
Classic
Rock |
Broadcast
America |
38,362 |
6,652 |
|
5
|
KSFO-AM
(San Francisco) |
Talk
Radio |
ABC
Radio |
38,144 |
6,875 |
Click here
to see this week's complete MeasureCast Top 25 report. And
as always, you can also click the link under "Metrics"
on the left-hand menu.
|
Have
an opinion on this article? Share it! Simply click
the headline at left to bring up a convenient "Submit"
form. |
Real Networks Q4 revenues up
34%
From the press release: "
RealNetworks
today announced results for the quarter ended December 31, 2000.
Net revenues for the fourth quarter were $58.2 million, an increase
of 34 percent from $43.5 million in the fourth quarter of 1999.
The Company reported pro forma net earnings for the fourth quarter
of $3.9 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, compared to pro forma
net earnings of $6.6 million, or $0.04 per diluted share in the
fourth quarter of 1999."
Read the press release
here.
RadioResearch.com joint venture
with Jones
From the press release: "
Jones
Radio Network and
RadioResearch.com
have announced a joint venture to
launch The Jones Research Network, a new syndicated Internet-based
music and perceptual research system...
"Stations utilizing the Jones Research Network receive
five key benefits. They include (1) regular weekly testing of titles,
(2) a much larger sample on a weekly basis than is possible with
call-out research, (3) no national results, only results from each
stations listening audience, (4) no tie in with record companies,
it is pure listener research, (5) it is available in exchange for
barter, there is no cash outlay."
Read the press release
here.
CyberRadio2000 adds syndicated
"Starstreams"
From the press release: "
CyberRadio2000.com
is
adding
Musical Starstreams [February
1] to its already wide and diverse selection of music channels.
"'Musical Starstreams' is a syndicated radio program
heard on terrestrial radio stations across the USA."
|
|
Simply
click the headline at left to bring up a convenient pop-up
form -- or click here
to use your own e-mail software. |
| xxx |
 |
|
Try
it out! Explore the wide world of
Internet audio by clicking the screenshot above.
