Spotify CEO Claims Music Sales Boost

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Although not everyone is crazy about the streaming Spotify service – Taylor Swift’s public departure from it is certainly hard to ignore – CEO Daniel Ek couldn’t help but explain that it isn’t about profiting from piracy, but paying for good services for the site.

Ek recently posted on the Spotify blog page, explaining that the company has given $2 billion to artists since its debut on the scene back in 2008. In fact, in the last year alone, half of that – $1 billion – was given to artists.

Currently, the ratio for paying artists for their work on the site averages out around 70 percent of overall revenue, according to Adweek. Considering that the company’s sales were $1.43 billion over the last year, that’s quite a bit of change.

The global music marketplace has managed to build $15 billion in business overall, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which is a drop from the previous year’s $16.5 billion. Regardless, it’s still big business, and Spotify plays a huge part, as Ek has claimed that the company has paid $1 for every $15 spent in that department in the last year – estimating to nearly seven percent of all global music sales.

Streaming music services also calculated to 39 percent of the industry overall, or an estimated $5.9 billion, according to the IFPI. Paired with Ek’s statements in the blog, this estimated a 17 percent share of the overall digital streaming market.

Said Ek on the blog, “We’re trying to build a new music economy that works for artists in a way the music industry never has before. And it is working – Spotify is the single biggest driver of growth in the music industry, the number one source of increasing revenue, and the first or second biggest source of overall music revenue in many places. Those are facts. But there are at least three big misconceptions out there about how we work, how much we pay, and what we mean for the future of music and the artists who create it.”

Meanwhile, as far as Swift goes, Ek shows no hard feelings, and even praised the female singer for her album sales for 1989, which cleared 1.2 million copies in the first week. “We hope she sells a lot more because she’s an exceptional artist producing great music,” he explained. “In the old days, multiple artists sold multiple millions every year. That just doesn’t happen any more; people’s listening habits have changed – and they’re not going to change back. You can’t look at Spotify in isolation – even though Taylor can pull her music off Spotify (where we license and pay for every song we’ve ever played), her songs are all over services and sites like YouTube and Soundcloud, where people can listen all they want for free.”

Now to see where the digital streaming music scene goes from here . . . and if Ms. Swift will join any of them for the ride.

Funny Or Die Up For Sale, Even If It’s Not Looking To Sell

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By Sahil Patel

Funny or Die might be on the block.

The comedy video site, founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and Chris Henchy, has been approached by numerous potential buyers, according to Funny or Die’s president and CEO Dick Glover. “We’ve received unsolicited interest from a number of companies,” said Glover in a memo. “We are not trying to sell Funny or Die, but we thought it wise to engage some experts to help us evaluate the situation.”

Read more…

This article was originally posted on VideoInk and is reposted on [a]listdaily via a partnership with the news publication, which is the online video industry’s go-to source for breaking news, features, and industry analysis. Follow VideoInk on Twitter @VideoInkNews, or subscribe via thevideoink.com for the latest news and stories, delivered right to your inbox.

Machinima Reborn As Online TV Network

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For years, Machinima has been fighting to establish itself as a leading online network, even with growing competition from the likes of original programmers that work along the lines of YouTube and Vimeo. This week, it pushed itself even further with a rebranding, in an effort to reaffirm itself in the growing video industry.

With this new plan, not only will bigger promotions be put in place to advertise its programming, but a door could open for potential marketers, giving them the ability to set up TV-style ads rather than utilizing a strict format.

“What we’re doing here with this rebrand is providing a really rich, consistent environment that reflects our vision as purveyors of fandom and gamer culture,” explained CEO Chad Gutstein, speaking with Adweek. “It’s one of the things that TV has done phenomenally, and we’re bringing that discipline to social videos.”

Machinima’s game plan works differently than other companies, according to chief content officer Daniel Tibbets. Rather than focus on a multi-channel network format that offers up individual talents for creators of brands to create a strategy around, the plan will work similar to a television format, with a focus on the slate of programming. This enables advertisers to choose from several topics and focus on shows instead.

The company, which has been in operation for nearly 15 years and has three billion monthly views, continues to thrive, even though growing competition from others have forced the company to rethink a few strategies – and accept side investment from Warner Bros., who bought a stake in Machinima earlier this year.

With the new images and slogan, dubbed “Heroes Rise”, Machinima hopes the outreach will work greatly in the company’s favor. “Aligning a slate of programming in a way that’s similar to how advertisers already think about advertising is a reasonable strategy—it’s an easier buy and when there is so much confusion in the market, what one already knows, what’s easy, often wins,” said Jesse Redniss, a former executive for USA Network and co-founder of digital technology advisors BRaVe Ventures.

In addition, Machinima has also introduced a new Level Up Talent program, dividing a creator pool into three different levels – basic White and invite-only Red and Black – which will help them focus more on particular programming. The program is sure to pay off for true devotees to the company, such as SkyDoesMinecraft, who already has 10.6 million subscribers and climbing.

“I do think that this approach will help move the needle with brands, but I’m not sure how this approach will help them regain audience,” Redniss said.

We’ll see if the heroes can indeed rise over the next year.

Subscribe To Nintendo’s Amiibos

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Nintendo’s Amiibo figurines are just a few days away from release, with the first batch set to hit stores on November 21. The company is expecting the toys to be best sellers, regardless if they’re utilized with Super Smash Bros. or not, and that could make things difficult for parents trying to get them for kids for the holidays.

However, there is a solution – and it’s coming right out of left field. The publisher has announced a team-up with Lootcrate, a company that specializes in sending monthly shipments of “geek goods” to subscribers, to create a new Amiibo delivery service.

With the program, Lootcrate will send Amiibo figures to consumers who sign up for the service, for a yet-undisclosed subscription price.

The system should work out terrifically for both companies, as Nintendo can deliver the much-wanted Amiibos to folks who don’t want to fight others in the store to pick them up, while Lootcrate gets greater exposure to possible consumers, which could lead to more subscribers of its monthly service, which goes for $20 a month and includes everything from T-shirts to collectible items. (This month’s “Battle” package, as the company deems it, will come with exclusive goods from the Mega Man and Assassin’s Creed franchises.

The only question now is how much the price of the subscription will be. Lootcrate reps indicated that it would be revealed soon, but, for the time being, it’s expected that the figures may still sell for the $12.99 apiece price that they’re slated to go for at retail. However, being Lootcrate, the team may have a special bundle price in mind for those who are in it for the long haul…and it may offer an additional discount for current subscribers to its service.

Those interested in signing up for the program can opt for more information by entering their email addresses at this link. It may be just the ticket for parents who want to make their kids’ Christmas even better – or, of course, those die-hard collectors that love everything Nintendo.

And yes, that includes a few of us.

Mobile Ad Traffic Picking Up

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Think mobile ad traffic is just starting to gain speed You haven’t seen anything yet.

Fierce Developer reports that AppFlood has posted new research that breaks down just how significant an increase there’s been in mobile advertising. It’s risen an incredible 9 percent in revenue year-over-year.

Through AppFlood’s Global Mobile Android Advertising Insights report, these numbers came together, along with the following statistics:

  • Personalization apps make a generous amount of revenue, raking in over two times more than general communication apps, although they still came in a close second.
  • 67 percent of mobile users from around the world come from three specific countries — Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
  • Average mobile ad budgets on a global scale have increased by 24 percent month over month, from July 2013.

As you can see by the chart, the cost per install has dropped as well, going from $.43 in the third quarter of 2013 to just $.26 now — that’s nearly half down.

“It’s not a bad time to be a mobile advertiser as the appetite for apps grows around the world amid a growing supply of traffic outpacing demand,” the report indicates. “Install rates grew across the board in developing regions, suggesting positive sentiment for mobile app discovery through ads.”

It looks like a majority of the numbers show that the biggest increases are coming from the U.S. market, although there isn’t much mention in the Chinese one. At least, not yet — but advertising is likely continuing on a strong streak there as well, and likely to pick up even further next year.

Meanwhile, Fierce Developer also advises that this could be the time to allocate a marketing budget with the coming year. Some particular categories may not benefit as much as “personalization apps,” according to the site.

‘Warlords of Draenor’ Wreck New York

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It’s a big week for video games, between the likes of Halo: The Master Chief Collection for Xbox One, Assassin’s Creed Unity for next-gen systems and PC, Assassin’s Creed Rogue for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and a number of other titles. However, Blizzard is preparing its own holiday storm with the forthcoming expansion to World of Warcraft, Warlords of Draenor.

With this latest release due out on Thursday, the publisher has gone the extra mile with the game’s promotion. In addition to TV advertising taken from the incredible cinematics located below, it’s staged a special attraction right in the heart of Times Square in New York City to advertise the game.

A New York City cab is in the heart of the promotion, showing signs of being destroyed by the stars of the Draenor expansion. Both the hood and trunk are dented in, and a gigantic axe is buried right on top of the vehicle.

In addition to the cab, a sliced sign promoting Warlords of Draenor sits in front of the cab, and the entire area is surrounded by work poles and warning tape, which has the word “#Warlords” printed all across it.

It’s quite an eye-catching promotion, and pretty ingenious in fact, as photographers and tourists everywhere have stopped to snap a picture of the destruction, then hashtagging it “#Warlords” on their social media feeds.

Promotion for the forthcoming expansion is at an all-time high. It got big attention at Blizzard’s BlizzCon event over the weekend in Anaheim, and it’s also getting heavy promotion for its “level 90 increase,” which is being promised to all players who pick it up. Considering that World of Warcraft‘s subscriber count has dwindled a little bit, this is sure to bring quite a few players back into the fold.

Granted, they probably won’t take that cab…

Warlords of Draenor releases on November 13 for PC.

GameStop Pulls Smashing Stunt

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What sounded like a story of inspiration revolving around a young player ended up being nothing more than a promotional stunt by the GameStop store chain to promote an upcoming game.

A ten-year old gamer, nicknamed “Karissa the Destroyer” as she played, took part in a gaming event at a GameStop location in California over the weekend, as part of a promotion for Nintendo’s forthcoming Super Smash Bros. release for the Wii U. Reportedly, Karissa was “owning” the competition left and right, destroying opponents and working her way up the tournament chain. Only . . . she wasn’t.

It turns out that the whole thing was, in fact, a publicity stunt. Earlier, before the event, the store chain was actually seeking actors to play a “faked-out” role in the tournament, as you can see in the listing below.

So how did it look like she was playing The fact is, she was mimicking the actions on a controller that wasn’t hooked up to the system, while someone else, obviously out of sight range, was playing the game for her. The video posted below show slight proof of this around the 1:50 mark, when Karissa is scratching her face as her on-screen Smash character is executing a devastating attack on foes.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MQ_NF8sgN0I

It’s uncertain as to why Gamestop would rely on such a stunt to promote the Smash Bros. game, since it has earned critical acclaim from each of its appearances over the past few months. The 3DS version has also been a huge seller, clearing 3.2 million copies sold since its release last month.

Pixel Dynamo recently posted additional facts on the matter, such as how the actress confirmed her involvement through her Twitter account. Those can be found here.

“If you check the /r/smashbros subreddit you can see that feelings are mixed,” said one veteran Smash player. “It seems that most people aren’t upset at the actress, but are just disappointed that there is no such thing as a child prodigy. The story of a 10 year old girl coming out and beating all these top Smash players at their own game would make the game really hype and add flavor to the tourney scene.”

Gamestop had no comment on the legitimacy of the matter, but it’ll be interesting to see where the company moves forward on promotions from here. Maybe next time, just hold a regular tournament and watch the sparks fly. (And watch a real ten-year old player dominate, for that matter.)

Video Game Awards Show Coming Soon

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For years, Spike has hosted a yearly Video Game Awards show that’s been promising to focus on rewarding those in the industry who have set great accomplishments, while, at the same time, revealing new exclusive items to get fans excited. Over the years, though, the show has faded a bit, and last year’s online-only VGX show ended up being heavily mocked, mainly due to the snarkiness of co-host/comedian Joel McHale.

However, it appears that video games will once again be put into the spotlight, as Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and a handful of third parties have joined together to back The Game Awards 2014, a new event that will be held on December 5th at the Axis Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The show will be produced like an awards show, with a similar format to the Video Game Awards, but obviously more legitimate. That means programmers and teams will be promptly rewarded for their efforts, while the show will have its fair share of exclusives, including world premiere trailers and other content.

Geoff Keighley, who’s been a co-host of the Video Game Awards shows on Spike, is providing his expertise to the show. It will be available for viewing across the web, not only on a mainstream site, but also through Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Nintendo’s site and Valve’s Steam.

“The ‘Game Awards 2014′ will celebrate our collective love of games and the passion we all hold in our hearts for this incredible entertainment medium,” Keighley said, speaking with Variety. “Gaming has never been stronger, and this year we will celebrate the fastest-selling launch year ever for new game consoles, the dramatic rise of eSports and mobile gaming around the globe, and preview the games that will make 2015 the biggest year yet.”

As mentioned above, several big game companies are involved with the show, including Konami, Ubisoft, and Electronic Arts. Said EA president Peter Moore, “Electronic Arts has long championed the way gaming brings together players with the talented teams behind the world’s greatest video games, and this event will be an exciting new opportunity to do just that. We look forward to supporting ‘The Game Awards’ alongside our friends in the industry.”

“’The Game Awards’ is a special event to honor the achievements in gaming, our talented developers and devoted fans. We look forward to celebrating the power of games this December,” said Ubisoft’s Guillemot.

Added Jennifer Kolbe, VP of Publishing at Rockstar Games, “We have long been believers in the potential for videogames to inspire, challenge and entertain, and we look forward to standing with the industry to celebrate the medium at ‘The Game Awards’ this year.”

We certainly wish The Game Awards the best of luck . . . and hope that the team avoids the same pratfalls that ended up hitting the VGX presentation from last year.

The Future Of Banner Ads

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Banner ads have been in advertising for a great period of time now, but there’s a question revolving around whether they remain as effective as other means of native advertising. This past week, that argument arose once more, as Farhad Manjoo published a story titled Fall of the Banner Ad: The Monster that Swallowed the Web, which appeared on the front page of the New York Times.

In that story, Manjoo explained how banner ads were preventing certain economics revolving around online content, with Andreessen Horowitz’ Chris Dixon adding, “It’s almost like a prank that was played by the technology industry on the media industry 20 years ago.”

The story, posted by Pando, went back and forth, with IAB president and CEO Randall Rothenberg responding to Manjoo’s accusations. “Banner ads are the Mark Twain of the Internet: reports of their death are greatly exaggerated,” he explained. “Farhad Manjoo has built a lengthy piece on a ridiculous premise.”

With that, the lines are still divided over the usefulness of banner advertising, especially considering the other means available. Sharethrough CEO Dan Greenberg had his own thoughts on the matter, speaking with Pando and explaining that advertising revenue could be greatly generated with a larger audience – and banner ads actually got in the way of that, even being irrelevant to a fault. “It created a shell game, circling ads on top of ads on top of ads,” he said.

One example Greenberg brought up was the Suggest.com page, which consists of click-through countdown articles, like “8 Starlets Rejected From Playboy.” The site is filled with a number of banner ads, including a noticeable one for Braintree.

“I was on the Braintree website earlier in the day. They don’t care where I am on the Internet. They’re just trying to remind me they’re there,” said Greenberg. “Banner ads forced the New York Times and Suggest.com onto an even playing field. But they also made it worse. Because it’s cheaper for Braintree to reach me on Suggest.com than it is the New York Times.”

Meanwhile, native advertising remains on the rise, such as the Red Bull-sponsored clip that featured Felix Baumgartner free-falling a whopping 128,000 feet from space. It’s a clip that garnered hundreds of millions of views, leaving viewers awestruck at its tranquility.

“If I said to you, watch this clip of an eagle flying with a camera strapped to its head, or watch this video of an eagle flying with a GoPro attached to its head, you’re more likely to watch the GoPro clip, because they’ve built up a reputation of making great stuff,” explained Greenberg.

The argument over the banner ad is likely to continue for some time, but, for the time being, it seems more and more companies are accepting mainstream advertising to move their companies forward.

 

Oculus Rift Teams With Mountain Dew

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The team behind Mountain Dew is doing quite a bit of innovative stuff these days – odd soda flavor “Dewritos” not withstanding – but along with delivering new products, it also wants to immerse its audience in a great new virtual experience.

Back in September, the team announced the production of a new live-action, 360-degree experience that utilizes the Oculus VR headset to create a virtual “Dew Tour Brooklyn” experience. Those in attendance could put on the headset and check out skateboarder Paul Rodriguez taking part in a run alongside the “Mtn. Dew” skate team for a two-minute period.

With the experience, which you can view in the video below, Mountain Dew director of brand marketing Jamal Henderson explained, “This is not an advertisement. This is an experience.”

According to Adweek, this is just the first collaboration that Mountain Dew has with the VR headset, as it’s looking to create a number of videos for users to download and enjoy, placing them in the shoes of other extreme sports athletes, as well as other parties.

“When you think about the consumer — and it all starts with the consumer — they’re consuming more media. In our feeds, we want to see more content. The more we can be a part of that editorial and a part of the feed and not disruptive pre-roll, I think that’s the way for our brand to tell our story,” said Henderson.

This would put Mountain Dew into competition with the likes of Red Bull and GoPro, each of which have a large stake in extreme sports in one form or another, with video footage and other sponsorships in play.

This isn’t the first time that a major company has taken advantage of the Oculus VR headset for promotion, as a number of movie studios utilized it for projects at San Diego Comic-Con, and Marriott recently hosted a special “virtual tour” of dream vacation spots in certain locations.

Mountain Dew faces a large uphill battle against its competition, but Henderson believes the company will score big. “Brands that target millennials are going to be in that ‘lean-in experience’ space,” he explained. Oculus VR “is the next iteration of that. I 100 percent think that this is where brands are going. I just hope they don’t do it as fast as we do.”