Nielsen and Twitter teamed up to study how consumers decide to go see a movie, and they found that Twitter played a major role in that decision. About 87 percent of surveyed moviegoers said that Twitter influenced their choice of movie and 47 percent said that they saw a movie based on recommendations from family or friends on Twitter. The survey also found that in general, 62 percent of moviegoers use the Internet or mobile apps to look up films before their theatrical release. Continue reading Survey Finds the Twitter Buzz Around Movies Has Real Impact

Billboard and Twitter announced yesterday that the companies plan to launch Billboard Twitter Real-Time Charts in May — regularly updated lists of the songs most frequently discussed and shared via Twitter in the U.S. The real-time charts will be published on Billboard.com and Billboard’s Twitter feed. While music is currently the most widely discussed topic on the social network, with seven of the top 10 accounts belonging to pop stars, Twitter has been largely unsuccessful in exploiting its music-related traffic. Continue reading New Billboard Charts Will Measure Music Popularity on Twitter

Banjo Inc. has raised $16 million in Series B funding in its pursuit to become like a DVR for compelling social media content and conversations. Banjo offers a way to view aggregated, relevant social conversations about news and events attached to specific geographic locations or venues, all in one convenient stream. The startup recently released Android and iOS versions of its mobile app with a new Banjo Rewind feature that lets users access a past event to learn what people were discussing about it. Continue reading Banjo Raises $16 Million, Aims to Become TiVo for Social Media

Of the 140-plus films in this year’s Sundance Film Festival, 26 of them were crowdfunded through Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Zach Braff’s “Wish I Was Here” was one such film, which raised funds from more than 47,000 fans to make up part of its $5 million budget. Some question what kind of impact crowdsourcing might have on sales and distribution, but many filmmakers insist it’s a great way to raise awareness and interest in their productions. Continue reading Increasing Number of Sundance Films are Being Crowdfunded

Even a cursory look at the news coming out of CES makes it clear that wearables have garnered a lot of the buzz. Smartwatches, augmented reality headsets, digital health solutions and fitness tracking monitors are all the rage here. What’s not clear is if wearables will ever intersect with the entertainment industry. Although the question itself may seem risible, it’s worth remembering that most people dismissed the mobile phone as an entertainment device only a few years ago. Continue reading Will Wearable Tech Have a Future in Entertainment Media?

Google Glass moved Augmented Reality from the science fiction depicted in “Minority Report” to the real world. But the technology — which allows the superimposition of data, 3D CGI or video over a real environment, in real time — still has a long way to go. More importantly, the work has barely begun to make AR a revenue-generating business. “We’re not just putting content on top of the world but using context to decide what to display and how to display it, to expand the story and the experience,” said DAQRI CEO Brian Mullins. Continue reading Augmented Reality Needs Powerful Storytelling and Interaction

Musical acts looking to attract greater attention around the time of an album release are opening “pop-up” stores, which are temporary venues that seem to surface out of nowhere. They most often are constructed in an urban location, typically in an already existing retail store of some kind, and sometimes close after only 24 hours. Various artists, such as One Direction and Bob Dylan, have recently used pop-up stores to promote music and sell merchandise to fans. Continue reading Musicians Using Pop-Up Stores to Generate Buzz for Albums

Twitter may be responsible for increasing viewership of live broadcast events. The company contends that significant Twitter activity drives buzz, which increases viewership. MTV’s recent Video Music Awards drew 10.1 million viewers, while more than 300,000 tweets per minute were recorded during the Miley Cyrus performance alone. While Facebook also generates social chatter about TV broadcasts, it does not always reach people as the show airs. Continue reading Twitter May Be Increasing Viewership for Live TV Broadcasts

Netflix is launching its much anticipated reboot of Fox comedy “Arrested Development” on Sunday. According to social analytics firm NetBase, the show has already generated more than 170,000 social mentions since April 26 (a month before its return), essentially tripling the early social buzz of Netflix series “House of Cards.” However, it’s worth noting that “Arrested Development” has the benefit of being a critically acclaimed show and cult favorite with a rabid fan base. Continue reading Netflix: Arrested Development Return Generates Social Buzz