Analytics provider Next Big Sound has released its State of Online Music report, which provides a detailed look at how social networks, streaming services, online radio and digital downloads are impacting the way consumers discover and share new music. Online growth was staggering in 2012 with a 45 percent increase in new plays, 67 percent increase in new fans and 6 percent increase in new profile views. Continue reading Next Big Sound Tracks Online Music Discovery and Sharing

Justin Timberlake released his latest song, “Suit & Tie,” on Myspace last week in order to promote both his new album and the revamped version of Myspace (Timberlake is a minority partner in the group that purchased the social network in 2011). The new Myspace, which lets users listen to music for free in order to help promote artists, has drawn early praise for its functionality and sleek design, but it may have hit a bump in the road as a coalition of indie record labels claims the network is using music from member labels without permission. Continue reading Revamped Myspace Hits Snag with Independent Record Labels

“Disney Infinity”is a new interactive universe that allows children to interact with figurines in a digital world. It connects characters from Disney and Pixar movies including “Monster’s University,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Incredibles,”although Disney plans to add more before the June launch. With characters from different franchises interacting with one another, will we see any “Star Wars” entries? Continue reading Disney Preps Infinity: New Universe for Interactive Gaming

Things can change drastically in just one year, as evidenced by the downward turn in social gaming. Investment in the medium went down by about $1 billion in 2012. There’s an important rule to follow when considering the video game business, writes Digital Trends: “what seems suddenly like the most profitable new market in the world one day, can become a wasteland the next.” Continue reading Study Reveals Funding to Social Gaming Dips Heavily in 2012

Stanford mathematics professor Gunnar Carlsson’s startup Ayasdi uses topological data analysis to better understand huge sets of data. While other companies focus on handling queries, Carlsson’s approach analyzes the shape of data and identifies patterns and clusters. These clusters help people to understand the larger picture of the big data analysis, as the clusters can represent segments of customers or patients, for example. Continue reading Ayasdi Uses New Topological Approach to Big Data Analysis

Amazon has launched a browser-based MP3 store featuring 22 million songs. The move directly challenges Apple since the store allows consumers to use their Apple devices to access music through Amazon’s Cloud Player app. Much of the music is cheaper than iTunes because Amazon does not have to pay Apple the 30 percent commission for sales through iTunes. This allows Amazon to offer specials like 69 cent songs and $5 albums. Continue reading Amazon Launches HTML5-Based MP3 Store to Compete with Apple

PrimeSense, the company responsible for the 3D sensor inside the popular Microsoft Kinect gaming system, demonstrated new possibilities for its technology at CES. The company’s depth sensor Carmine is being put to use in a variety of applications outside of gaming, and a smaller version of the sensor may soon appear in smartphones and tablets. Continue reading PrimeSense Takes Sensor and Gesture Control to New Level

Twitter has released the Twitter TV Book, a breakdown of tweet-based analytics of second screen viewers in the United Kingdom. The analysis includes details regarding user demographics, devices used, television program genres and tweeting habits. Twitter says about 60 percent of the UK’s 10 million active users tweet while watching television. Continue reading Twitter TV Book Examines Second Screen Tweeting in the UK

President Obama signed into law an amended version of the Video Piracy Protection Act, which will allow Netflix and other rental services to integrate viewing data with social media sites. Customers must consent to the shared data, which will share data related to watching, rating, and saving on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Netflix hopes the integration will increase viewing hours and customer subscriptions. Continue reading VPPA Update Enables Netflix to Share User Data on Facebook

The relationship between Hollywood and Facebook may be showing signs of strain. While the entertainment industry was quick to embrace the social network as a marketing tool, major studios are now expressing doubt. “Some industry executives are increasingly skeptical that Facebook ads and promotional campaigns that ask users to ‘like’ a movie can deliver big box-office returns,” writes the Los Angeles Times. Continue reading Studios Question the Value of Marketing Movies on Facebook

“The launch of two new features into the Open Compute hardware specifications on Wednesday has managed to do what Facebook has been threatening to do since it began building its vanity-free hardware back in 2010,” writes GigaOM. These new features mean Facebook has “blown up the server,” says the article, adding that the server has been reduced “to interchangeable components.” Continue reading Facebook Features Could Lead To End Of The Server Business

Wilocity is on a mission to build the fastest Wi-Fi chips in the world. The company, which was demonstrating its technology at CES in a suite at the Las Vegas Hotel, specializes in wireless products that favor 60GHz transmissions, which are faster than traditional Wi-Fi. Regular Wi-Fi connections use the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands and have just crossed the gigabit-per-second mark with the 802.11ac standard. Continue reading Wilocity Aims To Build the Fastest Wi-Fi Chips In The World

One component of today’s national gun control debate involves the impact of violent video games, as emphasized by President Obama’s announcement that the government will allocate funds to “study the link between video games and violent behavior.” Other lawmakers have introduced plans to tax video games above a certain rating and to put warning labels on ones that contain violent content.  Continue reading Government To Fund Research On Video Game Links To Violence

Do Aereo’s search marketing tactics prove that the TV service infringes copyright? A coalition of networks suing the company “says in court papers that it needs to examine records from Google about Aereo’s AdWords campaigns. That advertising information allegedly ‘bears directly’ on whether Aereo’s $8-a-month service potentially harms the market — which can be a factor in copyright infringement,” reports MediaPost. Continue reading Aereo: Will AdWords Campaign Prove Copyright Infringement?

As we reported earlier this week, Facebook’s new Graph Search allows users to find answers to questions by searching their own connections and personal network instead of going the route of a traditional open Web search a la Google. According to Variety, the new search tool has the potential to “give media companies more firepower to leverage the social network for content discovery.” Continue reading Facebook Graph Search to Open New Doors for Media Companies