Consumer content

Source: MySpace Music considers subscription model

MySpace Music, that long slumbering music unit of the struggling social network, is considering whether to begin charging users, according to a source close to the negotiations.

The source said Wednesday that MySpace Music execs have spoken to some of the top labels about creating a subscription service. This apparently confirms a report published Tuesday by the Web site of Side-Line, a music magazine. Citing sources close to News Corp., parent company of MySpace, the publication said it wants to move MySpace Music to a paid model and that it's burning through a lot of money each month.

MySpace … Read more

YouTube revamps mobile Web site

SAN BRUNO, Calif.--YouTube has redesigned its mobile site, hoping to get more and more smartphone users watching its videos through the browser, rather than through native applications.

The company will unveil the new design at m.youtube.com this afternoon, said Andrey Doronichev, product manager for YouTube Mobile, during a briefing Wednesday morning here at YouTube's headquarters. The main idea is to replicate the desktop PC-based YouTube experience in the mobile browser, or to at least get as close as possible, he said.

At the moment, mobile YouTube visitors play around 100 million videos a day, Doronichev said; … Read more

Bands deliver new material via collectible flash drives

A recent trend among live performers is to record a concert, immediately transfer the recording to flash drives, and sell them as fans walk past the merchandise table on their way out. I first heard of Willie Nelson doing this on a Fourth of July show back in 2007, and I saw the Pixies offer a recording of the Seattle show I attended through EMI's Abbey Road Live program last November.

Aderra, which provides turnkey services for musicians who want to record and sell their own shows on USB drives, is offering a new twist: flash drives that give … Read more

Borders opens e-book store

Borders' new e-book store is now open for business.

The bookstore chain officially unveiled its new e-book store on Wednesday, with a million and a half electronic books, both paid and free, in a variety of formats, including ePub, mobile, and PDF.

Customers can read the e-books using free software powered by Kobo and designed for different devices, according to Borders. The lineup includes existing applications for the PC, Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and new apps just launched for Android and BlackBerry phones, all of which are available at Borders' Web site. In addition to reading the books through the … Read more

Netflix to stream some first-run movies

Netflix has signed a long-term agreement with Relativity Media to stream first-run films from the movie studio and financier, the companies said Tuesday.

The deal will allow Netflix subscribers to stream the movies online a few months after their DVD releases but during what is traditionally known as the "pay TV window."

Relativity, the studio responsible for "Get him to the Greek" and "Grown Ups," says it produces or finances 20 to 30 new movies each year. The first of its films to be made available through Netflix streaming will be "The Fighter&… Read more

Apple Records goes digital, but still no Beatles

One of the great mysteries involving Apple Records, the music label created by the Beatles, is why the band's music is still not available online--legally.

Perhaps that could change as Apple Records has at least now for the first time made some of the label's catalog available for download. In partnership with EMI Music, Apple Records announced Tuesday that it is releasing 15 remastered albums that it will also make available for download on October 26.

Among the acts whose music is being released by Apple Records, the chief division of the Beatles' primary business entity, Apple Corps, … Read more

MySpace eyes follow-on for Google ad deal

As MySpace's search advertising deal with Google nears its expiration next month, parent News Corp. is reportedly trying to cut a new ad deal with Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo, according to a story in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Journal, which is also owned by News Corp., said that under MySpace's current deal, Google had agreed to kick in $900 million in guaranteed payments for the right to sell ads on MySpace and other, smaller News Corp. sites. But traffic at MySpace has been much lower than what Google … Read more

Is the Web outdated, or is it just Prince?

The Internet has suffered a premature death--or at least that's what aging rocker Prince believes has happened.

"The Internet [is] completely over," Prince told U.K. publication The Mirror, which published an interview with the music icon on Monday, the eve of the debut in that country of his latest CD, 20TEN. Perhaps not coincidentally The Mirror plans to soon give away copies of the disc with every purchase of the paper.

"The Internet [is] like MTV," Prince said later in the Interview. "At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated.&… Read more

MeCanto, Psonar offer free online music lockers

Last week, I took a look at a bunch of online services that help you get music from your PC to your mobile phone without forcing you to connect it to your computer. Since then, a couple readers have pointed out services that I missed.

Introduced in 2009, MeCanto is a straightforward music locker service that lets you upload your music library to its servers, then stream that music to supported Android or Symbian S60 phones. It's similar to MP3Tunes or mSpot, but completely free. Download the free MeCanto client (Windows only), and it will begin uploading your entire … Read more

Starbucks' winning combo: Caffeine and Web

NEW YORK--Grabbing a little pick-me-up for those late-night code-writing sessions or World of Warcraft marathons might be about to get a little easier.

The ubiquitous coffee house chain Starbucks started offering free Wi-Fi on Thursday, so I went to go check out the new service. A few people here, at the Starbucks located at the intersection of East 96th Street and Madison Avenue, were trying to log on to the Web with mixed results.

When Web access was actually up and running, pages sometimes took minutes to download. And it's not as if the network appeared overwhelmed. This is … Read more