Archives for July 2004

Thinking outside the cup.

Surprise! Starbucks barista-in-chief Howard Schultz is making a big, bold push into
the music business. He aims to transform the record industry — and turn Starbucks
into the world’s biggest brand, period.

Fast Company | Thinking Outside The Cup

Sounds like a neat concept, only problem with this for me is that 3 hour livesets probably won’t [...]

Piracy at all time high.

Software manufacturers lost $29 billion to piracy in 2003, more than double the
previous year’s losses, according to an industry survey released Wednesday.

Software piracy losses double | CNET News.com

Of course every copy pirated is a lost sale. At least that’s the basis of all these pirating studies. Bleh.

Movie Profits are down. Way down. Not.

US box office takings passed the $1bn (£545m) mark for the first time in June, led
by the success of the third Harry Potter film, a survey indicated.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Film | US box office ‘beats $1bn record’

I’d say $1 billion in a month is pretty good, and it’s 37% higher than it [...]

Studios considering encrypted DVDs

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has endorsed a plan to distribute
about 6,000 special DVD players to members. Specially encrypted discs, known as
screeners, would be earmarked for a specific academy voter and would play only
on that person’s machine.

My Way News

I’m sure some clever git will hack this player as well, [...]

Music Industry Waking Up?

The news that Radio 1 is to be allowed to broadcast a chart of top downloaded
tracks is a sign that the music industry may be coming back to what might loosely
be called its senses.

The Observer | Review | The joys of the celestial jukebox