XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. said on Wednesday it added some 285,000 new net subscribers in the third quarter, fewer than that of rival Sirius Satellite Radio.
Sirius said it added about 441,100 net new subscribers in the third quarter, a 23 percent rise from the same quarter a year ago. XM Satellite said its total number of subscribers rose to about 7.19 million in the third quarter. One year ago, XM added 617,00 subscribers in the third quarter.
Both XM and Sirius are growing rapidly in a pay-radio market, but both are losing money as they spend heavily on technology and entertainment including celebrity hosts — to win new subscribers. XM and Oprah recently negotiated a 55 million three year agreement.
Both are expected to make significant marketing pushes for the holiday shopping season, typically the strongest quarter for adding net new subscribers
The October will be peforming at the Delancey (NYC) lounge tonight. Great live act with strong songs, 2007 could be a good year for this 5 piece kentucky brit influenced act. Check out the track Kings and Queens and Bedroom Girls
Florida indie act Between the Trees will be peforming at the Knitting Factory on October 11. In the vein of Mae, The Working Title, Love Drug, etc. Check out the track White Lines and Red Lights
“I watch ‘Ghetto Brawls’ when I’m driving,” Method Man told GQ Magazine last summer when asked about his favorite viewing while in the car. “It’s a DVD of people just having fights in the hood.”
Scenes include A shoeless, elderly drunk who is tormented by a group of thugs who laugh hysterically as they douse his head with antifreeze, drop his personal belongings into a storm sewer and knock him to his knees with a milk crate. In another scene, a young man is dragged from his parked car and beaten repeatedly outside a liquor store; his head stomped into the pavement until he loses consciousness. One of his attackers steals cash from his pocket as he lies lifeless in a parking lot.
Valerie Smith, a Toronto-based anti-violence crusader “For someone like Universal to be peddling this, that’s outrageous,” she said. “If you take the footage of the homeless person, that’s a crime. That’s assault. And this is most definitely going to encourage kids to videotape stuff like this and submit it.” “It’s like we’ve gone back to the gladiator age and we’re at the coliseum. We’re supposed to be becoming more civilized. Instead we’re kind of rocketing backward.”
Universal Music Canada and its partner, Navarre Canada, distribute Ghetto Fights and Wildest Street Brawls in this country.
Rob Stringer who is the younger brother of Sir Howard Stringer, the chief executive officer of Sony officially took the lead of the Sony U.S. label group - replacing Ienner, the longtime executive. Stringer, who had headed the company’s U.K. division, is said to be scrupulously going over the company’s personnel rolls looking for cuts.
Despite nearly 2,000 layoffs worldwide following the 2004 merger between Sony Music and Bertelsmann’s BMG, “The cost structure is still bloated,” said one source.
Another source said Stringer’s tinkering is about “undoing Don nie’s legacy and the structure he put in place.”
One area that is sure to be altered is Sony’s urban music division, which right now sits outside the division’s two main labels – Epic Records and Columbia Records – and has hit artists as Beyonce, Shakira, AC/DC and Jessica Simpson.Â
Billionaire investor and dot-com veteran Mark Cuban had harsh words on Thursday for YouTube, saying only a “moron” would purchase the wildly popular start-up. Cuban, co-founder of HDNet and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, also said YouTube would eventually be “sued into oblivion” because of copyright violations. “They are just breaking the law,” Cuban told a group of advertisers in New York. “The only reason it hasn’t been sued yet is because there is nobody with big money to sue.”
In other remarks, meanwhile, the often-controversial Cuban also told advertisers that the reach of YouTube is limited, particularly when it comes to user-generated videos.
“User-generated content is not going away,” he said. “But do you want your advertising dollars spent on a video of Aunt Jenny watching her niece tap dance?”
“Somebody puts up something really good and you get, what, 60,000 viewers?” Cuban added during the event at Advertising Week in New York.
YouTube now offers advertising through banner ads, promotions and sponsorships. It has said it plans to roll out a range of different advertising options over the coming year.
Viral Campaigns are usually a waste of money
Cuban cautioned advertisers against investing heavily in so-called viral campaigns that are spread by users beyond their initial point of distribution on YouTube or other video sharing sites. But he touted opportunities to run commercials on high-definition television such as his HDNet network.
“What makes viral so special is it’s so hard to do. It’s so hard to plan. It’s hard to stand out,” he said, describing 99 percent of money advertisers spend on viral campaigns as “wasted.”
Point well taken. Advertising dollars spent on amateur videos? C’mon. The world is faced with enough mediocrity. Also, the new industry buzz word is “Viral Campaigns”. I have received many calls from start ups that claim they can exploit artist videos through clever marketing techniques that will result in brand awareness and exponential sales. Viral Marketing is beneficial to mediocre artists. They need all the help they can get. They can sell a couple of CD’s and make Amazon money. Next……………………………
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