Digital music services try to nibble away at Apple
DENVER (Billboard) - The digital music wars are entering a new phase.
Several digital music service providers -- including MTV's Urge, Rhapsody, Verizon Wireless, Wal-Mart and Yahoo Music -- have unveiled new forays designed to shine light on their struggling services in the shadow of Apple's still-dominant iTunes.
While no individual effort is likely to dislodge Apple from its No. 1 position, all are clearly efforts to chip away at its commanding lead. According to data from NPD Group, Apple controls 73.7 percent of the retail digital-music market, with more than 3 billion tracks sold since it went live. iTunes is also the third-largest music retailer of any kind, surpassed only by Best Buy and Wal-Mart.
REALNETWORKS, MTV, VERIZON WIRELESS
In perhaps the most significant move, the three providers have joined forces to offer one integrated digital-music platform that includes Rhapsody's technology and music, editorial content and playlist programming from MTV's Urge and wireless distribution via Verizon Wireless. MTV brings strong marketing muscle -- to the tune of $230 million during the next five years, not to mention its on-air channels -- plus well-received blogs and other resources that should improve on Rhapsody's content. Verizon brings a mobile extension, something market leader iTunes still lacks. And Rhapsody brings the most popular subscription services on the market, its existing subscribers and back-end mobile technology.
The big bet, however, is on integration. Verizon will replace its Web-based digital music store with the new Rhapsody service and will send a copy of every song downloaded to a Verizon phone to the user's Rhapsody account. And Rhapsody subscribers will be able to transfer subscription-based music to Rhapsody-compatible Verizon phones once they're introduced later this year. But don't expect to download subscription tracks over the air from Verizon phones just yet.
On paper it's a strong alliance that emphasizes each partner's strengths and eliminates their weaknesses in what MTV Networks president Van Toffler called a "perfect storm" of capabilities. Whether they can execute it is another story.
WAL-MART
The big-box retailer has started a public relations initiative to highlight the availability of digital-rights-management-free (read: iPod-compatible) music from EMI and Universal Music Group. This is a particularly big deal for Wal-Mart, which has not been able to translate its success as a physical retailer to digital music. While it is responsible for about 22 percent of physical CD sales, Wal-Mart has less than 2 percent market share among music services, despite undercutting the competition on price. Protected tracks are 11 cents cheaper than on iTunes, while DRM-free tracks are 35 cents cheaper.
But this probably won't matter much until Wal-Mart can sell all its music without DRM, not just music from EMI and UMG. And the conservative company sells only edited versions of songs that otherwise would earn a parental advisory notice.
YAHOO MUSIC
Yahoo has unveiled plans to launch a Web-based music player that will allow current and non-subscribers to stream music from the service without requiring them to download the full Yahoo Music Unlimited software.
While its music portal receives more than 25 million unique hits per month, the Yahoo Music Unlimited subscription service continues to struggle for mass-market attention, just like every other subscription service out there.
According to Yahoo Music general manager Ian Rogers, the idea is to give its broader Internet community access to the same tools as subscribers and eventually convert them into paying members. Non-subscribers can hear only 30-second samples, while members can listen to the entire track.
Ebert denies 'thumb' ban
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Film critic Roger Ebert said he never gave a "thumbs down" to the use of thumbs in reviews for "At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper" during contract negotiations.
In a statement released Friday to The Associated Press, the TV show's distributor, Disney-ABC Domestic Television, said Ebert had "exercised his right to withhold use of the 'thumbs' until a new contract is signed." Ebert is a copyright holder on the signature "thumbs up-thumbs down" judgment that's part of each film review.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning critic responded in a statement Saturday on his web site, saying he "had made it clear the Thumbs could remain during good-faith negotiations," contrary to Disney's press release.
"They made a first offer on Friday which I considered offensively low," he wrote. "I responded with a counteroffer. They did not reply to this, and on Monday ordered the Thumbs removed from the show. This is not something I expected after an association of over 22 years."
Health problems have kept Ebert from appearing on the show for more than a year, with guest hosts filling in, although he has continued to write reviews and books. In the new season starting this weekend, co-host Richard Roeper is being joined for the first few months by movie critic Robert Wilonsky of the Dallas Observer.
Two episodes have been filmed so far without the thumb assessment, which has become a staple of movie marketing and, in turn, a big part of the show's influence.
Ebert, 65, holds the copyright to the critique with the estate of Gene Siskel, his original co-host. Ebert, a film critic at the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and Siskel, who was at the rival Chicago Tribune, launched the show in 1975. Siskel died in 1999. Roeper also is a Sun-Times columnist.
'Superbad' still No. 1 with $18 million
LOS ANGELES - Hollywood notched its first $4 billion summer as teen geeks helped Hollywood end the season in record fashion.
Sony's "Superbad," the comedy about three dorky high-schoolers trying to score booze for a party, was the No. 1 movie for a second straight weekend with $18 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The movie raised its 10-day total to $68.6 million.
"Superbad" was on its way to $100 million, an unusual accomplishment for a movie with no big stars.
"It just goes to show, you make them laugh, and they'll come," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, which kicked off Hollywood's big summer with a record-breaking debut weekend of $151.1 million for "Spider-Man 3" in early May. "To start the summer with `Spider-Man' and end it like this is an absolute blast."
Though business is slowing down as parents and students prepare for a new school year, Hollywood continued its summer hot streak. The top 12 movies took in $90.2 million, up 7 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Invincible" opened at No. 1 with $17 million.
Overall, Hollywood crossed the $4 billion mark for the summer season. The figure topped the $3.95 billion set in 2004, according to box office tracker Media By Numbers.
Movies will have grossed about $4.15 billion by the time the season ends on Labor Day, up 8 percent from last summer, estimated Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.
"Whether it be sequels, originals, comedies, action movies or whatever, this particular mix of films brought audiences in a record-breaking way," Dergarabedian said. "We still have to temper that with the fact that the number of tickets sold is nowhere near a record."
Factoring in higher admission prices, Media By Numbers estimated about 606 million movie tickets will have been sold this summer — a solid figure but only the sixth-best for modern Hollywood.
The best summer in recent times was in 2002, when 653.4 million tickets were sold.
The weekend's top debuts were Universal's "Mr. Bean's Holiday" and Lionsgate's "War."
"Mr. Bean's Holiday" features Rowan Atkinson reprising the goofy man-child character he played on British television and in the 1997 movie "Bean."
If the estimates hold when final numbers are released Monday, "Mr. Bean's Holiday" will finish No. 4 at the box office with $10.1 million. It already has taken in $190 million in overseas markets, where the character is enormously popular.
"War," an action showdown between Jet Li as a shadowy hit man and Jason Statham as an FBI agent, debuted at No. 5 with $10 million.
The MGM and Weinstein Co. release "The Nanny Diaries," starring Scarlett Johanssen as a recent college graduate who takes a live-in childcare job for a control-freak mom (Laura Linney) and a career-obsessed dad (Paul Giamatti), opened in sixth place with $7.8 million.
Yari Film Group's "Resurrecting the Champ," with Samuel L. Jackson as a former boxer now living on the streets and Josh Hartnett as a sportswriter who chronicles the man's story, opened weakly with $1.85 million.
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Superbad," $18 million.
2. "The Bourne Ultimatum," $12.4 million.
3. "Rush Hour 3," $12.3 million.
4. "Mr. Bean's Holiday," $10.1 million.
5. "War," $10 million.
6. "The Nanny Diaries," $7.8 million.
7. "The Simpsons Movie," $4.4 million.
8. "Stardust," $4 million.
9. "Hairspray," $3.5 million.
10. "The Invasion," $3.1 million.