When soap operas “One Life to Live” and “All My Children” moved online, it wasn’t clear how fans would watch them. It turns out that most viewers are binge-watching — so the soaps’ production company is cutting back on the number of new episodes each week. Read more »
iTunes’ increasingly good quarterly sales demonstrates how the long-rumored Apple video and “iRadio” subscription services the company has over the years tried to bring to fruition could become significant revenue sources. Read more »
The Financial Times is the latest publisher to strike a partnership with Flipboard. The deal is interesting because the FT recently left another third-party platform, iTunes. Read more »
Two years after ABC canceled them, soap operas One Life to Live and All My Children are coming back to life online, with four new 30-minute episodes per week available on Hulu and iTunes. But soap fans who are not used to online viewing may not tune in. Read more »
A report shows that music subscription service Spotify continues to grow at a rapid pace. The growth validates Spotify’s business model but is also inviting a growing cluster of rivals. Read more »
Browser maker Opera launches a music service in to a Russian market that badly needs legal options, whilst iTunes Store’s debut is reportedly shelved. Read more »
With the launch of Nook Video, Barnes & Noble will begin selling digital movies and TV episodes across devices. The company plans to release Nook Video apps, and the service will be available in the US and UK. Pricing and other details are unclear. Read more »
Any subscription music service from Apple could fundamentally alter the entertainment business. But it may come only when iTunes’ current gas runs out, and we’re not quite there yet. Read more »
Apple is updating its iTunes desktop software with a new UI that makes it look more like an iOS app. iTunes comes with wall-to-wall browsing, a new mini player, cloud integration and the ability for artists to share photos with fans. Read more »
Apple didn’t want to compete with Amazon on ebook prices. But it is already showing that it is more than willing to do so. And if customers are drawn to Apple’s new low prices on ebooks, it’s possible to envision the company’s ebook market share rising. Read more »
A fuss about Bruce Willis and iTunes reminded people that our kids can’t inherit our digital media because we don’t own it in the first place. Here are some practical ways around that. Read more at GigaOM »
Whether you spell it “theatre” or “theater,” any fan of classic or contemporary theatrical works ought to check out the full-length productions available through VOD site Digital Theatre. Though, while the pricing is equivalent to iTunes, the user experience is not. Read more »
Remember when Friendster was the hot social network, publishers doubted that ebooks would ever sell, and Netflix thought DVDs in red envelopes was the future? We do — that was that state of digital media when paidContent launched in 2002. Read more »
Those who purchase Fox movies like Prometheus on iTunes can now re-download their films on iCloud, thanks to a deal the studio carved with its pay TV partner, HBO, that relaxes digital restrictions of movies while they’re in the pay TV window. Read more »
Canada’s Supreme Court this morning further defined the balance between music owners’ right to be paid and the public’s right to use music in ways that don’t trigger copyright infringement. The Court also likened the internet to a “technological taxi” for online content. Read more »
A newly-launched startup called Foundd is taking the algorithmic approach, while its Berlin neighbour Tweek.tv is going for the social angle. But why has no winner emerged in this space already? Read more »
Google now activates one million Android devices per day and has 400 million devices in the wild, but its media store efforts have lagged. Google Play now has more digital content types, so here’s a look at how it compares to iTunes and Amazon’s digital store. Read more »
Once a Google Android exclusive, Amazon released an iOS version of its Cloud Player app for iPhone and iPod touch devices. The free software provides streaming and download access to audio files on Amazon servers either purchased from Amazon’s music store or later uploaded by customers. Read more »
FT.com Managing Director Rob Grimshaw made no secret of his distaste for Apple’s in-app subscription terms at padContent 2012. iOS apps don’t work for publishers, he told the audience, and the Financial Times’ decision to leave the iTunes store was a success. Read more »
Player FM. wants to make it easier to consume podcasts across different devices: The web-based curation and playback platform was launched by former Googler Michael Mahemoff just a few days ago, but Mahemoff is already thinking about bringing new ad formats and micropayments to podcasts. Read more at GigaOM »
Publishers saw the iPad as a chance to turn back the clock and convince consumers to pay for content in a new form. But that dream has collided with reality, and now some content producers — including MIT’s Technology Review — say the standalone content app is dead. Read more at GigaOM »
A New York man claims Apple charged him twice for the same song on iTunes and then refused to give him his money back. But the iTunes Store terms of service requires all users to agree to its no refund policy. Read more »
Inkling, which started out as an iPad textbook publisher and recently launched an interactive e-book publishing platform called Habitat, is moving further into the consumer realm with a new series of Frommer’s interactive digital travel guides. Read more »
Last week, the Department of Justice sued Apple and five book publishers for allegedly colluding to set e-book prices. What does the suit mean for readers today and in coming weeks? Read more »
Apple came under fire last year from parents whose children racked up credit card charges on apps that were supposed to be “free.” Apple tried to throw out a lawsuit over the apps but a judge found the parents suffered sufficient harm to pursue the case. Read more »
The music industry enjoyed its best sales performance for eight years in 2011, as CDs’ collapse decelerated, digital sales continued growing… Read more »
Sony’s music labels have agreed to pay almost $8 million to bands like Allman Brothers and Cheap Trick which claim the company shortchanged… Read more »
Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX), which is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to compete with premium cable channels like HBO and Showtime in the… Read more »
It took one allegation of download bots on a message board, very little in the way of actual confessions, and a whole lot of murmurs, but Ap… Read more »
Research In Motion is undeniably on the ropes at the moment, with the mobile handset maker weathering a decline in global market share, dela… Read more »
Chasing the post-download digital music opportunity, veteran services are seeking scale to fight dominant newcomers, whilst strangers from o… Read more »
Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC), as it winds up as a troubled joint venture to become fully part of Sony, is spinning out some talent… Read more »
The struggling independent film sector believes it has stumbled onto an effective release strategy, combining various forms of online and ca… Read more »
The legislative battle over SOPA highlights the cultural rift between Hollywood and Silicon Valley but one place where the two tribes seem t… Read more »
Games rank as the most popular form of mobile content today — 68 percent of tablet and smartphone app users who downloaded an app in the pa… Read more »
The evolution of premium cable TV beyond the living room took another step this week, with Showtime introducing a streaming app to rival HBO… Read more »
The home-entertainment business has been pummeled in recent years, with revenues falling for seven years in a row, in one year a full 8 perc… Read more »
Back in July, Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) and other content providers pulled the purchasing options from their iOS apps, in order to comply with App… Read more »
Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) famously avoids the biggest event on the tech industry calendar, and given the traffic on Paradise Road this morning you… Read more »
Hispanics, according to Nielsen, have the second-highest penetration of smartphone usage among U.S. ethnic groups, and today brings news of… Read more »
