| Novo DVD armazena dez mil vezes mais, OJE de 22-05-2009 |
Discos ópticos de cinco dimensões com uma capacidade 10.000 vezes superior à dos actuais DVDs podem chegar ao mercado no prazo de 10 anos, revelaram investigadores baseados na Austrália. A equipa de cientistas da Swinburne University of Technology de Melbourne avançou que o segredo consiste na junção de nanopartículas e de uma dimensão de polarização à tecnologia já existente, o que possibilita o incremento extremo da capacidade de armazenamento sem necessidade de alterar o tamanho dos discos actuais. Os investigadores, que já assinaram um acordo com a Samsung Electronics, acrescentam que esta técnica inovadora lhes permitiu armazenar 1,6 terabytes de dados num único disco, antecipando o potencial de, no futuro, subirem esse valor até aos 10 terabytes. |
Sexta-feira, 22 de Maio de 2009
Novo DVD armazena dez mil vezes mais
Domingo, 17 de Maio de 2009
Analysis: Ticketmaster Surviving Without Live Nation But Other Issues Remain
Ticketmaster’s Q1 2009 earnings release on Tuesday saw the company being impacted by the loss of Live Nation ticketing volume, the Bruce Springsteen ticketing fiasco in New Jersey and the proposed merger with Live Nation. Like many other companies in the entertainment world, Ticketmaster praises its long-term strategy of acquisitions, synergies and cost-cutting. And like many other entertainment companies attempting to lure cash-conscious consumers, Ticketmaster can point to middling results rather than clear-cut successes.
This was Ticketmaster’s first quarter since Live Nation contracts began to expire and the concert promotion giant began selling its own tickets in January. With the loss of Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s ticket volume was down 6% and the value of those tickets was down 7%. Those losses from Live Nation took away $8 million from Ticketmaster’s profits, which fell 78% to $7.2 million on $373.8 million in revenues (a 7% increase). The company said ticket value was down only 1% excluding Live Nation.
TicketsNow, Ticketmaster’s secondary ticketing service, has proved to be a problem child. A settlement with the Attorney General of New Jersey cost the company $350,000. Even worse are the effects of changes at TicketsNow that pulled $15 million in profits from the bottom line in Q1. As a part of the settlement, tickets cannot be posted to TicketsNow until primary tickets go on sale. In addition, customers will be informed about and provided a link to primary tickets at Ticketmaster.com if the event is not yet sold out. Those changes are good for consumers but will lower short term profits. The best long-term strategy, however, may be to acquiesce to government demands and forego further punishment and financial pain. In the context of a longer time frame, changes at TicketsNow are prudent.
Merger costs were also a big part of Q1 results, amounting to $6.5 million during the period. Ticketmaster said yesterday over half its bank lenders have approved the proposed merger with Live Nation. Both Live Nation and Ticketmaster believe their merger will be approved later this year. Recent statements by antitrust officials at the Department of Justice, however, give hints the merger will face far greater scrutiny than had it been pushed through during the previous administration.
With a traditionally slow Q1, the Artist Services division (via the merger with Front Line) contributed only $34.8 million of revenue and $4.4 million of EBITDA. This division will continue to be in flux will take some time to reach its potential as Front Line is re-shaped and fit into the larger, merged company. It continues to acquire smaller competitors -- Mick Management (John Mayer) in November 2008, for example, and Dale Morris (Kenny Chesney, Big & Rich) just recently.
The company has decided to move Echo, the online e-commerce and artist services company Ticketmaster acquired in March 2007, to Los Angeles. Judging from conversations with involved parties, the transition could easily be a drag on artist relationships and the division’s Q3 performance. There is a good chance the transition will cause lower levels of e-commerce, and the loss of employees means an absence of knowledge and relationships that Front Line will need to service the handful of Echo clients Ticketmaster will keep.
One bright spot was a resilient average revenue per ticket, which increased 1% in the domestic market as ticketing volume dropped 9%. Global ticketing volume was down 8%. The concerts segment was down 9%.
Segunda-feira, 11 de Maio de 2009
Corte de net para downloads ilegais votado a 12 de Junho
Ministros das comunicações vão decidir se estão ao lado do Parlamento Europeu ou não
Os ministros das telecomunicações da União Europeia vão reunir-se a 12 de Junho para decidirem se aceitam ou não o chumbo do Parlamento Europeu (PE) à proposta do presidente francês, Nicolas Sarkozy, que prevê o corte do acesso à Internet para quem fizer downloads ilegais, sem que seja necessária uma ordem judicial.
Caso os ministros não aceitem a decisão do Parlamento Europeu, a reforma da legislação sobre comunicações electrónicas será adiada para o Outono.
O Parlamento Europeu aprovou uma proposta que considera o acesso à internet um «direito fundamental», que apenas pode ser interrompido com a autorização de um juiz.
À Procura da Escala - cinco exercícios disciplinados sobre cultura contemporânea
Pinto Ribeiro, António
Exercício 1. Há, de facto, modos diferentes de governar, inclusivamente na cultura
Exercício 2. A interculturalidade: propósitos e ambiguidades
Exercício 3. Europa-África. E vice-versa?
Exercício 4. À procura da escala
Exercício 5. Fragmentos de cidades
- A propósito de cidades perfeitas
- Um artista de rua
- Piscinas
- Hortas
- Desempregados
- Chá
- Quarto de hotel numa cidade árabe
Sexta-feira, 8 de Maio de 2009
Live Nation CEO Confident About Summer Touring Season
May 07, 2009 - Touring
By Mitchell Peters, L.A.
Despite Live Nation's first-quarter loss of $102.7 million, due in part because of fewer music fans attending concerts in the North American market, the company's CEO Michael Rapino has assured investors that business will pick up this summer.
"Our first quarter results were in line with our expectations and reflect the season's slowest period of the year for us," Rapino said today (May 7) during a conference call with investors. "We have now entered the busiest season for concerts and top-line trends remain healthy."
Live Nation's first-quarter loss of $102.7 million compares with a loss of $37.2 million, or 50 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter, which had been bolstered by 42 cents per share of income from the sale of its North American theatrical business, motor sports division and a business related to producing and selling concert DVDs. See the full details of Live Nation's first-quarter results here.
Live Nation will have a busy summer in 2009, promoting international music festivals and tours for such artists as U2, Coldplay, Nickelback, Madonna and the Jonas Brothers, among many others. The live entertainment company is also developing strategies to stimulate ticket sales for concerts at the amphitheaters it owns or operates in North America.
"We're executing multiple promotions to provide low-cost tickets to fans in this tough economy," Rapino said. "This summer we have over three million lawn tickets priced under $30, and have expanded our four-pack to 70% of our shows. We're also running extensive price promotion with corporate partners such as Citi and 7-11, and working to expand the number of affiliate programs to drive ticket sales to our site."
The CEO also addressed dynamic ticket pricing for upcoming concerts. "In terms of dynamic pricing, I wouldn't say we've made a ton of headroom yet. I think that's still the low-hanging fruit that we have to get to," Rapino said. "We'll test some this summer, but by next year this will be an ongoing change on how we sell with all of the different options."
One of those tests will be the summer amphitheater tour by No Doubt, which begins later this month. "We priced the house very smartly, versus a traditional three-scale model," Rapino said of the tour. "And that's provided some great learning and increased revenue."
Rapino also addressed the status of Live Nation's proposed merger with Ticketmaster Entertainment, which is currently under review by the U.S. Department of Justice on whether the combined entities would be anti competitive.
"We're in the second review, as we've announced, which is just an extensive data collection, period," he said. "All indications we're getting from advisers is that fall is a very reasonable close and time period."
Additional reporting by Associated Press
Sexta-feira, 24 de Abril de 2009
Sexta-feira, 10 de Abril de 2009
Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture
- PROGRAMME FOR SUMMER TERM 2009
Friday 01 May
Edward Carpenter and the Socialist and Anarchist Movements of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries Sheila Rowbotham (University of Manchester)
Friday 15 May
The Cinema of John Sayles: From Billy Zane to Brecht and Bahktin, and back again Mark Bould (University of the West of England)
This seminar is in L103 in the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 17 Russell Square
Friday 29 May
Bourgeois Behaviours: Accumulation & Waste in 19th Century Newspaper Consumption Tom Gretton (University College London) This seminar will take place in NG15 in the North Block, Senate House
Friday 12 June
Jorg Immendorf’s Cafe Deutschland
Norbert Schneider (University of Karlsruhe)
All seminars start at 5.30pm, and are held in the Wolfson Room (unless otherwise indicated) at the Institute of Historical Research in Senate House, Malet St, London. The seminar closes at 7.30pm and retires to the bar.
Organisers: Matthew Beaumont, Warren Carter, Steve Edwards, Andrew Hemingway, Esther Leslie, & Frances Stracey.
For further information, contact Andrew Hemingway, at:
a.hemingway@ucl.ac.uk or Esther Leslie at: e.leslie@bbk.ac.uk
Terça-feira, 7 de Abril de 2009
THE 'FREE' DEBATE
Ad-supported music sites, file-sharing services
and a wealth of music posted online are
adding to the topic of "free" become a more common
talking point. As companies search for new
ways to monetize recorded music, expect free
music to be a common theme.
Chris Anderson, author of "The Long Tail,"
has a book on the topic coming out in July and
frequently posts about the concept of free at his
blog. "Free: The Future of a Radical Price"may
ignite interest - like Anderson's "The Long Tail"
- as well as fear in the music industry as people
ponder how to earn money if music is supposed
to be free.
Last February, Anderson's article on free for
Wired, "Free! Why $0.00 Is The Future Of Business,"
set the stage for much of today’s discourse.
"Once a marketing gimmick, free has
emerged as a full-fledged economy," he wrote.
"Offering free music proved successful for Radiohead,
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, and
a swarm of other bands on MySpace that grasped
the audience-building merits of zero."
But just as he did in "The Long Tail," Anderson
did not draw enough distinction between
marginal cost – which in the case of digital distribution
is zero – and average cost. When Anderson
writes that "the marginal cost of digital
information comes closer to nothing," what he
means is the marginal cost of distributing that
digital information. There are significant costs
in recording music. The cost of creating a brand
and inducing awareness, other considerations
Anderson understates, are both unavoidable
and considerable. An insignificant cost of creating
and distributing one more digital file does
not reflect the amount of investment to be recouped.
In theory, a company should set price equal
to marginal cost. Digital goods on the Internet,
though, are not akin to razorblades. In reality,
not all digital music can be priced at zero. The
information comes with real costs. Even if it
feels free (Nokia’s Comes With Music) it’s not
free.
But some digital music can be priced at zero.
Streams at MySpace are free to consumers.
Their value is promotional, not whatever scant
revenue share makes its way to the owner. Widgets
that stream an album can generate awareness
and, more importantly, harvest listeners'
email addresses.
Even some downloads can be free. Artists
may give away some downloads to raise awareness
and generate sales of the full release. Radiohead's
"In Rainbows" was given away for
tips, but its true value was the awareness it
raised; the album got an official digital and CD
release just a few months later. iTunes and Amazon.
com regularly give away free tracks and entire
label samplers.
Music industry blog Hypebot recently ran a
number of posts about how to use free music
to induce sales and build an artist. One post on
the subject was by Jim Mahoney of the American
Association of Independent Music. Mahoney
acknowledged the history of using free
music for promotional purposes, and he encouraged
artists and labels to use the strategy
wisely.
"Know why you’re offering your music for
free, get something tangible in return in terms
of special, unique, and focused attention (from
a select and limited group of partners who reach
your fans), and know your exit strategy (i.e. how
giving away your music is going to turn into real
profits) because the old model that says 'promotion
will result in sales' is now a fairy tale."
A post by The Orchard CEO Greg Scholl
touched upon the shortcomings of some free
models.
"The goal of the ad-supported services,
which make up the preponderance of new entrants
getting a lot of press lately, is to fill a
demonstrated market demand by giving consumers
a flexible, easy to use product that offers
good value. But, these services will only
survive if they find a way to do this while creating
new revenue streams that are accretive for
rights holders – just being something consumers
love is important, but not enough."
David Zaslav, CEO of Discovery Communications,
understands consumers want free content
but is trying to figure out if his company
will distribute either short-form or long-form
programming online. Suffice to say, Zaslav is
not just going to give it away. Quoted from a
post at paidContent:
"We don’t want to lose marketshare, but at
the same time, we don’t want to encourage free
content. Free didn’t work for newspapers. Free
didn’t work for the magazines. And it doesn’t
work for the broadcast companies. We have to
see how it develops. But ultimately, we all have
to follow the behavior of the consumer."
Before Anderson's "Free!" book comes out
in July, there is a conference in May called "The
Free! Summit." Anderson and TechDirt's Mike
Masnick are scheduled to speak.
—Glenn Peoples, Nashville
BUSINESS BRIEFS: YOUTUBE, ORIGAMI VINYL, TICKETSNOW AND MORE
online research community of people with
a passion for music." It appears to be a continuation
of the mission to learn about consumer behavior
that was started with the consumer-facing
EMI.com. Hopeful registrants are taken through
a five-minute questionnaire. (Your registration
will be denied as soon as you indicate you work
in the music industry.) What will be learned from
Your Soundcheck that could not be gleaned from
the various Web sites of EMI artists, conversations
with technology partners or expensive market
research reports? Perhaps how valuable
consumers email addresses are to direct marketing.
(Your Soundcheck)
- A familiar refrain: digital site losing money,
artists demand better royalties. In this case, the
site is YouTube (estimated 2009 loss: $470 million)
and the artist is singer-songwriter Billy Bragg.
(Digital Music News)
- Echo Park in Los Angeles has a new record
store, Origami Vinyl. Vinyl-only stores are becoming
more commonplace. Sales continue to increase
and LPs offer better margins than do CDs.
For the first three months of 2009, vinyl sales are
up nearly 55% according to Nielsen Soundscan.
(LAist)
- David Harrell, who writes the excellent Digital
Audio Insider blog, was interviewed by Fingertips
about digital music, being an artist in the
Internet era, etc. An excerpt: "I'm not arguing that
musicians don't deserve a living wage, but it's a
simple fact that--and this is the case with any creative
field--you have more talented people than
the market for their collective talent can reasonably
support. And you've got more of them every
day, as it's easy for anyone to release music today,
even if it's just putting some songs up on My-
Space. The result is more and more competition,
not just for the dollars of music fans but for their
time and attention." (Fingertips)
- Regional Mexican artists are having success
with mobile phones. "In the Anglo market the
majority of digital sales take place online; in regional
Mexican music an estimated 85 percent of
digital music is purchased on cellphones." (New
York Times)
- MicroMu is a Chinese Web site that promotes
concerts by local independent artists and posts
live recordings that are free to consumers. The
artists get a share of the advertising revenue. (Beijing
Review)
- A broad coalition - some of its its members
usually sit on the same side of digital rights issues
- is urging President Obama to appoint "policymakers
who will protect new tools and new
artistic works" and create new positions at the
Patent and Trademark Office, the United States
Trade Representative and the Department of State.
The coalition includes the Electronic Frontier Federation,
Consumer Electronics Association, the
American Library Association, and the Wikimedia
Foundation. (Press release)
- Nearly half of Canadians polled by the Angus
Reid Global Monitor believe secondary ticketing
service TicketsNow should be closed because they
believe Ticketmaster is using the site to overcharge
fans. (Ticket News)
—Glenn Peoples, Nashville
Segunda-feira, 6 de Abril de 2009
Direitos de Autor e Direitos Conexos - Em Defesa da Transparência e do Rigor
Os estabelecimentos comerciais de diversão nocturna – Bares, Discotecas, Restaurantes, Salas de Concerto e outros - que passam música e vídeos, sentem-se prejudicados pela forma como estão a ser exigidos e cobrados os valores das licenças impostas para a difusão Música e de Imagens, quer a título de Direitos de Autor, quer a título de Direitos Conexos.
Na verdade, apesar de tal matéria se encontrar prevista na lei, a grande maioria dos cidadãos não sabe:
1.
O pagamento dessas licenças é imposto por associações, isto é pessoas colectivas privadas – Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores ( S.P.A.) para os Direitos de Autor,AUDIOGEST e G.D.A. (vulgo PASSMÚSICA) para os Direitos Conexos – que não têm concorrência;
2.
Os valores cobrados são decididos por estas entidades, impondo esses valores de forma unilateral e sem qualquer controlo do Estado;
3.
Quando não lhes são pagos os valores que exigem sempre podem chamar as autoridades policiais pois, embora estejamos perante o incumprimento de um pagamento, é o único caso em que o não pagamento de uma licença a uma entidade privada dá pena de prisão até três anos cumulada com multa;
4.
A S.P.A. e a PASSMÚSICA ( AUDIOGESTE e G.D.A.), aproveitando que não têm concorrência, cobram licenças de forma indiscriminada, mesmo quando são difundidos Autores, intérpretes ou Editoras que não estão legitimados para representar;
5.
Cobram valores alegando a representação de artistas que permitem a distribuição e divulgação gratuita dos seus temas.
6.
Essas Entidades impõem valores exorbitantes esquecendo que, nos estabelecimentos comerciais de diversão nocturna e restauração, o benefício da passagem de música para os Autores, Editores, Produtores e intérpretes é igual ao benefício para esses espaços. Sem a existência desses espaços, as únicas músicas que o público português teria acesso são as que passam no “Top Mais”, programa da responsabilidade da Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa, entidade com a qual a Audiogeste partilha a sua sede, manietando a divulgação da cultura;
7.
Por outro lado, Artistas que nunca iriam ser conhecidos no nosso País – pois nem todos passam nas rádios por causa das Play-lists – têm a oportunidade de terem espaços onde a sua música é divulgada, o que permite concertos e venda de discos. Às Editoras mais pequenas - muitas das quais não são representadas pela PASSMÚSICA (AUDIOGEST e G.D.A.) - permite venda de discos. Os espaços utilizam música mas também a divulgam de forma mais ampla que as rádios e a televisão sendo idêntico o benefício para ambas as partes, nada recebendo os Estabelecimentos por essa difusão ao contrário das Rádios, Televisões, Jornais e Revistas.
8.
Quando os Estabelecimentos compram os temas estão, com essa compra e através do preço, a pagar uma parte para a S.P.A. e para as Editoras, produtores e Interpretes representados pela PASSMÚSICA (AUDIOGEST e G.D.A.). A cobrança das licenças de difusão é uma forma destas entidades se fazerem pagar duas vezes pelos mesmos Direitos.
9.
As tabelas são manifestamente exageradas para a realidade portuguesa com valores que são incomportáveis para a grande maioria dos Bares, Discotecas, Restaurantes entre outros, dando a ideia que, embora sejam associações sem fins lucrativos, visam essencialmente o lucro e não e apenas a Protecção de Direitos;
10.
Cobram licenças mesmo quando os estabelecimentos não estão a trabalhar. O pagamento de uma licença para divulgar um tema musical ou um vídeo é devido quando se exerce esse direito, ora em meses ou em dias em que o estabelecimento se encontra encerrado nada é devido. Essas entidades cobram abusivamente valores pelos quais não dão contrapartidas efectivas;
11.
Os critérios de pagamento são diferenciados e aleatórios: espaços com as mesmas características, no mesmo período e nas mesmas condições pagam valores diferentes e que não são os que constam das tabelas.
12.
A S.P.A. e a PASSMÚSICA (AUDIOGEST e G.D.A.) não têm uma base de dados com os artistas e com os temas que estão legal e devidamente autorizados para representar. Cobram elevadas quantias e não comprovam antecipadamente quem é que representam. Nos seus sites preocupam-se em mostrar as suas tabelas de preços mas não permitem que haja transparência, nem liberdade de escolha. Deveria ser permitido que os Estabelecimentos comerciais de diversão nocturna possam optar em passar Artistas ou Autores representados por estas entidades ou divulgar outros que não acreditam ser beneficiados porque nunca receberam nada das mesmas optando por não cobrar pela divulgação da sua música. Não é legítimo, nem lícito uma entidade fazer-se cobrar direitos em nome de quem não representa apenas porque alega representar grande parte do mercado. Existem Autores, Artistas e Editoras que nunca receberam nada da S.P.A. e da PASSMÚSICA e, ainda assim, estas não deixam de cobrar em seu nome.
É, pois, pelos motivos expostos, que os abaixo-assinados, cidadãos inconformados com estas realidades, aqui manifestam o seu descontentamento e apelam à clarificação e regulamentação da lei que prevê os direitos conexos ao direito de autor.
Em nome do rigor, da transparência e da Cultura!
Sincerely,
