Topic: Media Sector

Portrait of the Rapper as a Young Marketer: How K'naan Delivered on Coca-Cola's $300 Million Bet

Coca-Cola bet that an unknown Somali rapper could support its biggest marketing campaign ever. The company was right, and it may have launched a new star. Or not.READ»

• Two Versions of "Wavin' Flag"

Murdoch Takes on Ticketmaster With "Foxtix"

The billionaire media magnate launches a Ticketmaster competitor in Australia. Will it soon challenge the ticket giant in the U.S. too?READ»

Should Albums Cost $1.50?

A top record label exec says radically slashing album prices could drive sales of 200 million copies for major releases.READ»

Did Borders' New Self-Publishing Tool Make Blogs Smarter or Books Dumber?

Borders is trying a new experiment to combat Amazon and Barnes & Noble in the e-book wars: It's partnered with BookBrewer, which will bring self-publishing powers to its platform. And the intriguing chance to turn blogs into e-books.READ»

Have a Cigar

A parallel has been drawn between travel distribution and music distribution. Specifically, as to how the music distribution business has undergone changes that have decimated many of the industry leaders. This change seemed bad at first--that is, until Apple stamped it with a brand new spin and gee-whizzed some not terribly creative ways to make a buck at it.READ»

Dreamworks on Big Stars Vs. Big Animation

DreamWorks Animation's $150 million blockbuster Megamind hits theaters this November, helmed by Brad Pitt, Will Ferrell, and Tina Fey. But the true stars of this film aren't necessarily the names in big letters. Has celebrity talent become secondary?READ»

Tribune's Troubles: Why Frat Boys Make Lousy Change Agents

Every once in a while, I encounter the face of business at its worst, and see the damage done when remarkably untalented people make tough situations even worse and destroy value in the process.READ»

How an Apple Subscription Model Could Damn Streaming Services [Updated]

What does this mean for streaming services like Rhapsody or the much-anticipated Swedish import Spotify?READ»

Bright Spot for the Music Industry: Product Placement Is Pirate-Proof

Piracy may be leading to a decline in profits for record labels, but product placement is still big business. READ»

Converse: I'm With the Brand

The shoe already worn by rock royalty is opening its own recording studio and hosting unsigned artists. But brands are a long way from replacing record labels. READ»

Instapaper Tests Subscriptions, Highlights Sophisticated Future for E-Publishing [Updated]

Instapaper, the handy offline website article reading service, is testing out a subscription model. With recent moves by Amazon, this indicates Web-based e-publishing has a sophisticated, paid, layered future ahead of it.READ»

Google Introduces Google TV

Google's ever-expanding tentacles are now moving into the entertainment world with this week's launch of Google TV, a platform that purportedly combines "current TV programming and the open web into a single, seamless entertainment experience."READ»

Barnes & Noble Launches PubIt! E-Book Publishing Platform, Still No Color Nook

E-publishing pretender to Amazon's crown Barnes and Noble has just launched the "PubIt!" self-publishing platform, designed to bring digital publishing within the reach of more authors. It also promises "no hidden fees." READ»

Netflix. Meet Hulu. Now, How About Merging Together?

Farhad Manjoo argues that Netflix and Hulu should stop competing and team up.READ»

Survey of Kids: Physical Books Here to Stay, In Parallel to Rise of E-Readers

American publisher Scholastic has just surveyed youngsters thoughts about books, and it's good news for traditional publishing: E-readers haven't dominated the world, and two thirds of kids still say they'd keep printed matter books. READ»

Lady Gaga Is Last.fm's Most Unwanted Artist

Lady Gaga has topped Last.fm's latest "Most Unwanted Scrobbles" list, meaning her tracks were most frequently deleted from user playlists last month. Is this the beginning of the end for Fast Company's Most Creative Person in Business?READ»

Backstage at Apple's Ping Launch, No Record Labels Allowed

Apple negotiated with Facebook for more than 18 months to launch Ping, its new social network. How much heads up did they give to record labels? Absolutely none.READ»

iFive: Amazon Loves Lovefilm, RIAA Hacked, Linux Loophole, Google Security Bump, Napster Completes the Circle

Welcome to another week of work folks! Here's today's early news digested for your groggy post-weekend head:READ»

105 Companies Join Forces With Obama to "Change The Equation" for Education

More than 100 companies are joining forces--from Facebook to Microsoft, DreamWorks to Google--to increase student literacy in science, technology, engineering, and math, which will account for some 8 million jobs by 2018. READ»

Rumor: Apple Subscriptions to Digital Newspapers In-Bound

Is Apple about to re-jig the newspaper business and announce a subscription service for its iDevices? A hot new rumor suggests as much, and we almost believe it.READ»

Character Study: Nokia's New Chief vs. the Old vs. Steve Jobs

Embittered Nokia has just ousted well-known figure Olli Pekka-Kallasvuo and replaced him with Stephen Elop. It's a business decision, but who these guys are matters: Will the new CEO's character bring Nokia back to life in its industry?READ»

MTV Bumps Vevo as Top Online Music Destination, Igniting a Web Video Flame War

MTV Networks has taken over Vevo as the No. 1 spot for music videos online. What does this mean for labels Universal and Warner Music Group?READ»

Why You Should Care About Sean Parker: The Man Behind Napster, Facebook, and Chatroulette

Sean Parker is already famous in today's Web-connected tech world, mythical perhaps. But he's about to get even more famous thanks to a Vanity Fair profile and a movie that's indirectly about his life. READ»

Why Apple's Ping Stumble May Help Google Music

The oft-flawless company stumbled in Ping's launch, and the reasons why are representative of Apple's relationship with consumers, record labels, and Google.READ»

Google's Eric Schmidt Shown as Perverter of Privacy on Times Square Jumbotron

Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, took to Times Square this week to protest Google's privacy invasions.READ»