DOT DOT DOT COM
EVERAD, PUTTING THE RAD BACK INTO, ER, EVE
Marketing/promotions folks EverAd have integrated their ad-targeting technology with Microsoft Windows Media Digital Rights Management Technology. In plain English, this means that EverAd’s music division, PlayJ, will be able to offer free and legal music streams and downloads in the Windows Media format, with advertising/marketing/promotional messages embedded into the streams or downloads. "We are very happy to be working with Microsoft," said EverAd CEO Angela Pumo. "Now we and our authorized digital service providers will be able to offer record labels an ad-supported distribution format with the most mature and testes DRM technology available, providing them with new revenue and marketing opportunities when they partner with EverAd. All hail our leader, Bill Gates! Much honor to the XP operating system! Death to all counter-revolutionary devils."
LIQUID AUDIO PUTS MUSIC ON SOULSTICE
Liquid Audio? You’re soaking in it. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Anyhoo, the forward-looking tech company has cut a deal to offer the debut album from Om Records’ Soulstice in downloadable form one week before it’s available in stores. The album is available through select sites within the Liquid Music Network, including Sony’s Musiclub service, takeoutmusic.com and Main Street Music. Additionally, individual tracks from the record can be purchased for $1.49. Or you can just wait until the album hits the stores on 4/24. Or you can do what so many readers of this announcement did: wonder who the heck Soulstice is.
YAHOO EXITS PORN BEFORE MONEY SHOT
Inundated by user complaints, Yahoo has announced it will remove adult-related advertising and products from its Web sites. President/COO Jeff Mallett claimed an "incredible" number of users had complained following widespread reports that the Internet company was expanding its porno play (see story, 4/11). "A lot of members hadn't been aware of it," Mallett added. "The worst part is, now we have to find a way to unload these 10,000 Yahoo promotional dildos."
CDNOW KNEW LATER
The CDNow shareholders’ lawsuit against the netco was thrown out by a federal judge last week, reports the Wall Street Journal. The judge found that shareholders, claiming that CDNow hid its poor financial condition and that it dangled an improbable merger with Columbia House in front of them in order to retain their loyalty, failed to prove that the company misled them. The judge ruled that CDNow and its officers had "no duty" to disclose that the deal would fail until it did. In a related story, here’s our imitation of the plaintiffs in that case: "Wah, wah, me lose money, not know who to blame. Me sue. Wah, wah, me lose lawsuit. Now really not know who to blame."
GROOVE IS IN THE HOUSE
House Of Blues has launched its new dance/electronica-focused website, HOBPM.com. The event and entertainment company partnered with URB magazine and SonicNet for the online venture. Noted Interactive and Technology VP Stephen Felisan, "The launch of HOBPM ushers in yet another era for House of Blues." If it’s anything like the last era, we’re gonna need a Venti latte, stat.
POP GOYS BUY WHOLESALE
Teen site YOUtopia.com today announced the launch of an exclusive virtual shopping spree featuring Britney Spears and NSYNC’s Justin Timberlake. Until May 14, viewers can log into the site and enroll in a contest to win a $1,000 shopping spree while watching the two stars talk about what they buy and where they shop. Speaking of shopping, where can we buy some crack?
AUDIORAMP CATCHES A LIVE ONE
Live365, an Internet broadcasting community, and AudioRamp, Inc., a provider of Internet stereo products and services, today announced a strategic partnership for content delivery. The deal will allow consumers to search through and listen to any of Live365’s streaming broadcasts through AudioRamp’s website. It may also help answer the musical question, "What if they gave a partnership and nobody came?"
