Even before its debut last month, MySpace’s new music service drew fire from indies because they believe it gives a huge advantage to the big labels.
So when Amit Kapur, MySpace chief operating officer, wanted to respond to the criticism, it made sense for him to go before a crowd of independent artists and producers at the Digital Music Forum West conference in Hollywood.
“We are an artist-friendly site,” Kapur said at the conference Oct. 3. “We want to provide the same access to promotion and business models to every artist.”
MySpace launched its revamped MySpace Music on Sept. 24. Heralded by some analysts as a revolutionary way to deliver music online, the site allows access to hundreds of thousands of songs for streaming and other networking functions, such as ranking, sharing, recommendations and so on.
The twist? The site is jointly owned by all four major music labels EMI Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group giving MySpace access to their libraries and the labels a stake in the site’s success by virtue of having their artists promoted there.
But at the conference, Kapur also made a point to highlight recent MySpace partnerships with indie labels such as Orchard Music Services, Red Music and Fontana Distribution. He promised other such deals were in the works.
It remains to be seen whether indie labels will be satisfied. Shortly after MySpace Music’s debut, the American Association of Independent Music released a statement saying it was “disappointed” that MySpace “has not included independent music labels as equity participants as they have done with the major labels.”
At the conference, Kapur also said that MySpace Music users had streamed 1 billion songs within a few days of the launch of its overhauled site.
Let’s Dance
Did Activision Blizzard Inc. tip its hand on its next big game?
The Santa Monica-based video game developer and maker of the popular “Guitar Hero” franchise recently filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the term “Dance Hero.”
The trademark application, filed Sept. 22, is for an “interactive video game comprised of a cartridge or DVD sold as a unit with a video game controller.”
Filing a trademark application doesn’t necessarily mean a video game is in development. An Activision spokesman declined to comment beyond saying, “We file lots of trademarks.”
But it’s easy to see why Activision would want to expand on “Guitar Hero,” the video game series-turned-cultural phenomenon in which would-be musicians press buttons on a plastic guitar in sync with the notes of real rock songs.
The franchise has sold over 22 million units worldwide and generated $1.7 billion in revenue. Activision is releasing “Guitar Hero World Tour,” the fourth game in the series, later this month.
The notion that Activision would
springboard off the success of “Guitar Hero” has long been rumored. Activision filed a trademark application in February for “DJ Hero,” and since then the Internet has been abuzz that a game in which players remix songs on a turntable-shaped controller is under development.
Mike Hickey, a video game analyst with Janco Partners, said it makes sense for Activision to give itself the option of building the franchise.
“Create the option and there’s value in it,” he said. “Whether they actually green light ‘Dance Hero’ is another matter.”
Hickey said it’s hard to tell what the market would be for a dance video game, but added, “If it’s instructional, I’d be all over it.”
Teleflip Finale
The bell or perhaps more accurately the ring tone has finally tolled for Teleflip Inc.
The Santa Monica-based technology startup that once promised free e-mail
service on cell phones sold its technology to an undisclosed buyer last week, according to Hercules Technology Growth Capital in Palo Alto.
The sale shuts the book on Teleflip, which drew favorable reviews from big media outlets like the New York Times when it debuted in 2005. Teleflip offered a service that turned e-mails into text messages and vice versa. But the company failed to catch on with users and the proliferation of e-mail-enabled phones ultimately wiped the company off the map.
In early August, Teleflip announced it was ending its service and laying off most of its 25 employees.
Tony Davis, Teleflip’s chief executive, did not respond to a request for comment. Hercules issued a press release that Teleflip’s buyer is acquiring the company’s assets for about $650,000 of its common stock. Hercules provided $1 million in debt financing to Teleflip in June 2007.
Staff reporter Charles Proctor can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 230.
