THREE THE TECH WAY

POINT AND DOTCLICK
Online marketing and research company DotClick has pacted with Arista and will launch "artist communities" for OutKast, Koffee Brown, Run-DMC and From Zero. DotClick offers a downloadable plug-in software designed to work with most media players. As users listen to songs, a pop-up window shows information about the artist, links to music communities, tour dates, music recommendations and ways to buy CDs. An Instant Message feature is also built in. You are getting sleepy. Verrrry sleeeeepy. DotClick and Arista plan to roll out artist communities from Adema, Lennon, Babyface, Pink and Usher later on. Said DotClick VP Business Affairs Howard Altholtz, "These are great additions to our growing affiliate network, and their loyal fan bases will help us quickly build membership and utilization across our Digital Music Network. And as you know, nothing says ‘community’ quite like pop-up advertising."

MP3.COM OFFERS FREE LUNCH
MP3.com, enableyourmusic, Inc. and Film Music Magazine are inviting music supervisors from the entertainment industry to a free catered workshop entitled "Finding and Licensing Music the Easy Way," on June 7 at MP3.com’s San Diego headquarters. The workshop includes live demonstrations and discussions on how to find and license music, as well as lessons on using MP3.com’s Music Licensing program. Attendees will receive a complimentary copy of Film Music’s "Film & TV Music Salary & Rate Survey" and a compilation CD, but our own "Shoots & Scores" columnist, Jeff Rabhan, will be at the tequila booth.

RIP VAN WRINKLE
The pirating of TV shows from satellites prior to their airing—known as TVRip—was of little concern to broadcasters, reports CNET’s John Borland, until these pirated shows started finding their way onto the Internet and began being traded by rippers. Could the swapping of premature satellite streams be the next Napsteresque threat on the media horizon? Well, yes and no. Advertisers may balk at missing part of their target audience, but once the shows air when they’re supposed to, the bootlegged streams are worth about as much as, say, a VHS tape of last week’s "Frasier." Even so, it’s clear that high-quality digital editing and compression software (including apps that let consumers burn their own DVDs) will be a factor in the next wave of copyright wars.