YouTube, once a pirate, now legitimate: Signs deal with Time Warner

YouTube, once a pirate, now legitimate: Signs deal with Time Warner

YouTube, the popular video site that was intensely disliked by music and film labels for the endless copyrighted material it would feature, continues to make steady steps to toward acceptance.

Today, it announced on its biggest content partnerships yet: an online video distribution agreement with Time Warner that will give users access to variety of Time Warner’s news, television shows and movies. The agreement will also allow Time Warner’s Warner Bros. Entertainment and Turner Broadcasting System,… Continue Reading

38 free/cheap music sites — Welcome to the fray, Qbox!

38 free/cheap music sites — Welcome to the fray, Qbox!

Ever since Napster brought free MP3s mainstream — and subsequently garnered the wrath of the Recording Industry Association of America — the music industry has been reeling.

No single strategy for listening to music online has come to dominate the market, as record labels, managers, artists, fans, Apple’s music offering, Internet radio and recommendation companies all jockey for position. But one thing is clear above all the din: Fans will not be denied their music —… Continue Reading

Roundup: Jajah attacks Skype, Nokia-Navteq, YouTube’s Adsense, Yahoo’s lag

Roundup: Jajah attacks Skype, Nokia-Navteq, YouTube’s Adsense, Yahoo’s lag

Here’s the latest action:
–Jajah goes after Skype’s turf on eBay
–Nokia buys Navteq, what does Google do?
–YouTube intros Adsense
–Yahoo lags on universal search
–Viacom backs DRM
–Technorati’s new CEO
–Costs of a start-up

Jajah tries to exploit Skype dissatisfaction, releases button for eBay — Now that eBay has admitted the Skype acquisition didn’t pan out as expected, and that the Skype co-founder Zennstrom has left earlier than the desired retention date of 2008-2009, eBay is probably pretty fed up with the… Continue Reading

Funny or Die — and the challenge to the Long Tail

A marriage between Silicon Valley and Hollywood talent led to the birth last month of a video start-up Funny or Die. What took YouTube to do in six months, Funny or Die did in six days.

Its traffic exploded after the release of its first 2-minute clip, The Landlord, starring Will Ferrell. The video drew almost 24 million views. This would be in YouTube’s top three of all time.

Last year, I wrote (“Forget the Long Tail!”)… Continue Reading