iMpackin - Shooter iPhone App
May 5th, 2009
My buddy Mike Kelley and I whipped up this app called iMpackin, if you have an iphone check it out. Homepage is at iMpackin.com.
Archive
Archive for the ‘entertainment’ Category
Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself
April 28th, 2008
Ok, this is not my site but everyone should go take a look at http://www.worldometers.info/. It has realtime numbers on all kinds of interesting worldwide statistics.
Bronfman’s Epiphany an Insult
November 15th, 2007
Last week digg had an article entitled “Warner Music chief has epiphany, praises Apple”, which linked to this story on AppleInsider which “borrowed” from this MacUser article. My oh my what have the apple fanboys brought us now?
In the article(s), Bronfman Jr. is quoted as saying:
“We used to fool ourselves,’ he said. “We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won.”
Wow, at first glance this seems like an intelligent, albeit late, and well articulated insight. But let’s get into context here. Who the hell is Edgar Bronfman Jr. and why does him saying something most intelligent people know already make news?
Well, he is currently head of Warner Music, owners of little labels like Atlantic and Bad Boy. Put it this way, someone waaaaaaaay down on the org chart from him cuts Puff Daddy’s checks. Where did he get all this paper? The old fashioned way of course, he inherited it. Loooong story shorter, he sold off the assets of his family’s company Seagrams (you drink it we distill it we used to bootleg it), including a 25% stake in chemical giant DuPont for $9 billion, so he could invest in his real love which is entertainment. He did this by buying stakes in various production houses like MCA and Universal Pictures, but pretty soon he realized he needed a partner. Enter Jean-Marie Messier and Vivendi, a multi billion dollar french conglomerate that was also moving out of their traditional businesses into new media and entertainment. In 2000, Edgar thought it would be a great idea to merge the two companies into one and form a internet-music-movie giant in a move that cost him all his remaining shares in Seagrams and his new media company. He resigned as chief in December of 2001, just before the value of the company plummeted more than 80%:
In 2004 he bought Warner Music Group for $2.6 Billion and here we are. Along the way he has always been very vocal about his opinions on Music and Technology. In 2000, he likened the use of Napster to slavery and communism which garnered a shockingly intelligent response from Courtney Love. After becoming head of Warner, he endorsed the RIAA’s lawsuits against consumers, going as far as to say that parents should be held accountable for their kids downloading habits. That was of course before he admitted his kids download unauthorized music too.
I had the pleasure of meeting both Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Jean-Marie Messier when they came to San Diego to buy MP3.com for $372 million in cash and stock. I distinctly remember having a bad taste in my mouth as he stood at the podium telling us all that we could “put the ugliness of my.mp3.com behind us” and “move forward in cooperation with the majors.”
Listen you jerk, you bought the solution you are looking for now in 2001, but were too (stupid? arrogant? ignorant? smart?) to realize it. Now you are giving advice to the mobile industry whose ringtone business has supported your sagging bottom line for the last 4 years on how to handle their consumers, and how you shouldn’t go to war with them. I know you didn’t go to college (neither did I really), but that one should be common sense. Trying to buddy up with the mobile industry now and seem hip to all your consumers who do what they want regardless of the whims of an entertainment tycoon will not work. How about you step up to the plate and do something real, like condemn the RIAA’s CONTINUING practice of suing your customers. Funny how you think its ok to make a lot of public statements on how pirating music is tantamount to evil, but you can mince words and beat around the bush when you are admitting you were wrong. Just say you were wrong, and then actually DO SOMETHING to correct the practice of “going to war with your customers.”
In the words of Michael Corleone, “I hope they will have the decency to clear my name with the same publicity with which they have now besmirched it.”
Apocalypto
August 3rd, 2007
Wow. This was a great movie, really unlike anything I have seen in a long time. So not hollywood, jsut a really good gripping movie. Go rent it.
Make choices and don’t look back
July 3rd, 2007
Added some new quotes to the site:
“Life’s simple, you make choices and you don’t look back.” Han, from the movie The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Yeah I know, I know, fast and furious. But I liked the quote, pretty relevant at the moment.
“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours.” Swedish Proverb.. good words to live by.
In case you never noticed them there are always random quotes on the right sidebar, and you can check them out randomly here.
Easiest Way to Find Free Music
April 7th, 2007
The Jobs Effect
April 3rd, 2007
People have been hating on DRM ever since its inception. Consumer groups have railed, boycotts have been held, but still you hear from industry heavyweights like Ted Cohen:
“The DRM makes the business model possible,” he said. “Without DRM, you can’t have the business models and give people choices.”
But ever since The Great Steve Jobs ranted on DRM, tunes, shall we say, have been changing. EMI has announced a major change in policy by selling their songs through iTunes with no DRM restrictions. Now it looks like Microsoft is pushing at the labels as well:
“Consumers have indicated [having DRM free music] is important to them so Zune has been working with a variety of partners to head in this direction. This is a time of transition for the music industry and Microsoft is committed to striking a balance between delivering the best consumer experience while still protecting the rights of the content owners.”
God, what’s next? A legal music store that sells what consumers want and how they want it?? Shocker!!
I feel obliged to give some equal space to the opposition so here’s what Christopher “Buy DRM” Levy has to say on the subject:
Christopher Levy of the closely held Austin, Texas-based BuyDRM was one of those who was not so eager to contemplate the possibilities in the wake of EMI’s announcement. His company provides DRM technology to artists and record labels and he views the EMI announcement as a desperate move by a desperate music company trying to get around iTunes’ dominance in online sales.
“This is not the bellwether for the rest of the industry,†said Mr. Levy. “As long as there is media, there is going to be digital rights management. We can’t assume the music industry as a whole will abandon this. All things of value have some protection, and that’s not going to change.â€
The Thriving Side of the Music Industry
February 18th, 2007
Fast Company’s February issue has a great article on a quiet little company called Musictoday. Little may be kind of a misnomer because they help more than 700 artists connect with and monetize their fanbase. They provide end to end services for artists, including building their web presence, managing their fan club, and marketing their brand to their fans.
This is the kind of innovation the music industry needs, and we all knew it was just a matter of time before evolution reared its head. Suing your customers is not evolution, its regression and fear. In a time when all we read about is how the RIAA has sued another 800 file sharers and how record label after record label is losing money and going out of business, this story should be a shining beacon of hope that the industry is healthy. Because, after all, people want to buy their music. They WANT to support the artists they like.
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