Microsoft Drop Xbox Points System In Time For 720

At long last Microsoft have said goodbye to their dreaded Xbox points system in favour of local currency. If you’re not already familiar, the Xbox points had a varying value across the globe and required the player to remember exchange rates that were complete nonsense  (400 points = £3.50)! Now it is said that Microsoft will be replacing these points with gift cards, however credit and debit card payments will also be accepted.

This new system will also work for payments to Microsoft’s various other marketplaces, such as the Windows Store and the Windows Phone Store. This change also comes in time for the new Xbox 720, which is set to be released later this year. Read more here.

New Google Maps Looks Spectacular

Google have outlined the new features of Google Maps and they are absolutely spectacular. Interaction was clearly at the centre of these developments as the new system tailors the map according to your search while incorporating Zagat badges, reviews and offers into locations, making choosing where to go easier than ever. Unsure of a place? Click it on a map to get directions or view in street view, along with a gallery of photos taken from that location (you can even submit your own photos)!

If you’re a driver it might be time to ditch that SatNav as now Google Maps allows users to change their route in order to avoid traffic! Read more about Google Maps here.

Google to Launch Music-Streaming Service

After much speculation, Google has finally revealed their music streaming service at their I/O conference earlier this week. For $9.99 (or $7.99 if you sign up before the end of June), users will be able to stream from a boundless library on any android device. Consumers can also add tracks to their own library and have mixes of their favourite music created for them.

“This is radio without rules. It’s as ‘leanback’ as you want to, or as interactive as you want to,” – Chris Yerga as he unveiled the service.

But wait, there’s more. The service will be launched under the lengthy name of Google Play Music All Access… Read more here.

Trey Songz Mobile App Earns $50k+ A Month

Trey Songz and his app, The Angel Network, are doing pretty well as the 45, 300 people who downloaded the app since it’s launch last December continue to spend $1.10-$32 a week buying virtual gifts, sending messages and perfecting their profiles.

Songz’ army of Angels comes originally from his website and, as time and technology have progressed, they have migrated to various other social websites such as Twitter and Instagram. It is estimated that if Trey Songz can convince the rest of his following to download the app and get involved, it could generate as much as $250k a month!

We at 7digital think the app is a very clever idea, but the concept will only work when you’ve got a fanbase of steel like Trey’s! You can read the full story here.

What does it take to launch a music application in 2013?

You need music rights, a catalog, the ability to report and pay royalties to rights holders, and importantly a great user experience and a plan to reach music lovers. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. Although we are in the business of growing our network and would benefit from more people paying us to power their services, our cautionary tales speak truths from the battlefields of digital music industry veterans who have heard and seen it all.  7digital is in a unique place, having heard digital music service concepts pitched to us from all stages of development for a number of years now. The first ever 7digital NARM workshop led by our fearless leader for North America, Vickie Nauman and her San Francisco based Biz Dev team Matt Jwayad and Kyle Pierce did a fantastic job of explaining what the industry looks like through our eyes. They explained how we use T-shirt sizes to categorize the scope of an idea and how a new music service concept fits into the larger arena of players in our network and beyond. We are in a position to empower 3^rd parties with a quicker time to market but as we discuss product development with partners we see some general points of confusion around rights and what it really takes to launch a service. They cautioned with particular emphasis against building me too services, going for anything that attempts to reinvent the wheel, or going at this without legal advice around music rights.

The crowded room of workshop attendees came with all the right questions and we broke into some great conversations afterwards.

Thoughts on the Future

Vickie was delighted to be asked her thoughts on what the selling of music in America will look like in 5 years for the conference’s Hits Magazine. We thought we would share with you what she discussed with them:

“In five years, I anticipate two US major trends coming to full bloom that are in emerging stages now.

“First — Overall digital music revenues will be exponentially higher as more legally licensed music is in the marketplace.  The last twelve years (and yes, I’ve been in these trenches for twelve long years!) have largely been held back by undue complexity, lack of understanding of how to build and develop great digital music products in wide ranging devices, and seemingly insurmountable licensing barriers.  Revenues will come from streaming radio, programmed music channels, interactive subscription services, permanent downloads, synch licenses in games and video, and ad supported services — there will continue to be a proliferation of new and innovative legal services and many will serve niche audiences — the equivalent of yesterday’s corner indie record store.

“Second — More creators will be getting paid more fairly.  Artists, performers, songwriters, creative collaborators will increasingly see better compensation of micropayments across all sorts of services.  The heyday of CDs as a cash cow are clearly over, but that doesn’t mean that musicians and writers cannot have sustainable careers.  Currently due to the inefficiencies and complexities of this sector, there are far too many administrative fees, time lags in settlement, mis-directed payments, and other lost opportunities.  Artists who hone their craft, manage their data, and understand how to get their digital assets in the marketplace need to keep ploughing forward and it will pay off.”

It’s a cold and dreary Monday morning. The skies are spitting, the wind is whistling, but for once the London buses seem to be running on time. It’s 9:47 when the bright spark walks into the central London office: black skirt, neat hair, sensible shoes…  our new apprentice.

As a global company with roots in London’s Tech Hub, 7digital has recognised the need for educational opportunities for young people and therefore we have enrolled ourselves as an employer for the UK’s leading digital apprenticeship programme, Arch. We see apprenticeships as a way to nurture talent and prepare our youths for their future professional lives. The UK government has placed a lot of emphasis on encouraging apprenticeships that give the UK a greater presence on the global technology stage, and we are proud to be doing our part to boost the apprenticeship figures in the UK.

After hand picking from a large group of bright teenagers, we think we have found the right one for our new Digital Marketing Assistant. Young, ambitious and eager to learn, Ayesha is the newest member of the 7digital marketing team. With her passion for music and love for the internet, Ayesha comes with some basic digital marketing skills of her own, which we aim to nurture and develop as well as provide her with new knowledge that she can then apply to her workplace tasks to increase her understanding. The end goal of the arrangement being that after gaining experience and a qualification, Ayesha will be at the right standard to secure a permanent job and grow with the ever-expanding company that is 7digital.

We thought we’d let her settle in for the first week while she becomes more acquainted with the 6am wake ups and the 6pm journeys home (with a blog post or two in between). With 15 months of solid work ahead, we can afford to ease her into her first ‘proper’ job, then we’ll get her to work. While here she will be handling some of the 7digital social media, developing email marketing campaigns and creating content for the 7digital blog. She will also have the opportunity to attract new business partners for 7digital. In order to gain her qualification she will complete the appropriate units in the workplace through practical work observed by an assessor, while completing anything she doesn’t cover here as coursework at the Arch training centre.

7digital is confident that the end result after 15 months will be beneficial for both parties and that while completing tasks for 7digital, Ayesha will absorb vast amounts of knowledge while working with us and gain the very best out of her placement here.

We’re back once again for another installment of the weekly Music + Tech Round-Up and this week we’ve been pretty busy attending and doing our own workshop at NARM. Stay tuned for our recap of the event. In the meantime lets dive in to our music review starting off with our label of the month.

Label of the month: Sub Pop Records

Currently celebrating their silver anniversary Sub Pop Records formed in Seattle in 1988, by promoter/DJ Jonathan Poneman and record store-owner Bruce Pavitt, Sub Pop’s mission was simple: “world domination”. Whether wildly ambitious or simply tongue-in-cheek, the statement proved portentous: within three years they’d made an indelible mark on musical history, having unearthing the instigators of the grunge movement,Mudhoney, Soundgarden and Nirvana.

In celebration of 25 years of Sub Pop, we’ve highlighted some of our favourite artists and reduced a selection of classic albums.To dig in to those goodies and read more about the label itself simply head over here.

YouTube Introduces Paid Channels

As recently reported by YouTube itself, finding free music on YouTube will start to become as difficult as looking for water on the desert. As YouTube has recently swelled the ranks of paid music platforms the urgency to address the amount of un-monitored user generated content that lead to free and non-monetized listening experiences was surely not going to last. The video music giant introduced a pilot program for paid channels on Thursday to address the issue. The company will now let a few dozen of popular channels charge viewers a subscription fee of 99 cents or more per month. Each of these channels will offer two weeks of free viewing before charges kick in and some will provide discounts for those who sign up for an annual subscription. To read more about YouTube’s new ways of supporting great content on their platform visit their blog.

Half of Brits want the power to resell their digital content

WorldPay has recently surveyed 3,000 UK and US consumers that have purchased content online in the past 12 months. The results were included in the new Digital Generation Report. The report finds half of Brits desire the option to resell their digital content, with 14% believing it’s legal to do so. The general consensus from all respondents is that they would like the option to sell-on, part-exchange or access content across all devices, just as they would with a DVD or CD. The whole article can be found here.

Building Google Glass is “dead easy!”

Indeed it is but just for some of us. It turns out you do not need to be a Google whiz to build such an amazing (and definitely controversial) tool as Google Glass, or, shall we say ‘Flass’. A 20 year-old Australian tech support worker, Nathan Myers, decided to build his own version of the wearable device. Apparently the young genius built his own version of Google Glass out of a screen from a MyVu Crystal 701 latched onto a custom-made frame and hooked up to a Samsung Galaxy S i9000. The phone has TV out functions that, with the assistance of the Apex Launcher app, projects the Android interface into his right eye. Furthermore, the setup also includes a Bluetooth headset, which allows Nathan to use voice commands in conjunction with the Android handset via an app called utter! Check the video below to find out more about the Flass.

Geoff Taylor, CEO of the BPI, started the discussion on a positive note. While it’s been a tough decade for the music industry, the BPI is seeing positive growth in digital music globally – as shown in their latest report. And the good news for British artists is digital is growing faster in the UK than the majority of global markets.

Ian Hogarth, Co-founder and CEO of Songkick, made some interesting observations of the trends in music over the last 10 years compared to the last 2,000 years (which raised a few eyebrows and smiles). His point was, until relatively recently, the music industry had made the majority of its revenue from live music. This changed for a, relatively, short period as the ability to record and distribute music on records, tapes, and ultimately CDs became possible. The decline in physical, he noted, led to live music revenues overtaking recorded revenue 3-4 years ago in the UK.

Also on the history side, Ben thought back to 2004 when he founded 7digital. Back then, everyone thought he “was crazy” to get into the music business, and no one would pay for music again. Today, the digital business is worth $6bn globally, and the average music fan can access the world’s music catalogue through their smartphone. Our own technology platform is helping partners like Samsung and HTC tap into this world of opportunity.

Responding to a comment that a lot of younger music fans access music for free and this is a ‘hard habit to kick’, Ben noted 7digital is actually seeing a lot fans using free services, like YouTube and SoundCloud, to discover music which they go on to purchase – either through downloads or subscription services. He also noted people are becoming more and more happy to pay for subscription services, but the “sweet spot” for a monthly fee is still elusive. £10 a month, or £120 a year, is more than the average music fan spent at the height of the CD market.

The entire panel agreed the digital and Internet revolution has changed the way the music industry operates, making it easier for artists and acts to develop a fan base and sell music internationally. In particular some British artists, such as One Direction, have managed to break the US by initially developing a fan base on social media – instead of focusing on the US radio scene, as many have tried and failed to do in years past.

Talking on mobile, Ben observed how music has gone from being one item on a long tick list of smartphone specs to being a top priority and necessity for the likes of Samsung, HTC, BlackBerry and more. So much so, over 70% of 7digital’s revenue is now coming through mobile.

Finally, an audience member asked a question on the important interoperability for music services – that is, the ability to move your music, playlists and collection from one device to another. This particular conference attendee noted he has a large amount of music on his iTunes account and it was making him think twice about buying a new Samsung Galaxy S4. This was the most important point raised in the discussion. Music must be accessible wherever and whenever a fan wants it, and on any device they’re using. In today’s innovative, multi platform digital music world, having your collection locked to platform makes no sense whatsoever.

To watch the panel discussion in full, just click on the image below.

New month, new week and new portion of Music and Technology News. Let’s kick off with Troy Carter, Lady Gaga’s manager and technology investor conversation on how technology is changing the music industry. He also mentions two areas, that according to him, are particularly ripe for disruption: terrestrial radio and live touring. Have a look at the TechCrunch video below:

This particular app is only 2 weeks old and was an obvious headline across the web but… It turns out Twitter #music is already fading. The heavily-hyped app is now free-falling on the iTunes app chart.  After debuting at number 5 among all iOS apps. Why is that? If you wish to know more just head straight to Digital Music News to find out.

As our workshop at NARM is just round the corner, it seemed to be quite natural for us to take a closer look at the American audience. According to Nielsen the US market is dominated (80%) by high spending consumers (average household income of $66, 000). What is more they are led by females (53%). The organisation’s newly-published Entertainment Consumer Report examines the music, home video, games and book sectors in the States and reveals how much each of them relies on the top spenders. The whole article can be found on MusicWeek website.

We were quite excited this week because Samsung Galaxy S4, with the 7digital powered music app,  finally hit the stores! As reported by Mobile News despite only being on sale for last four days of April, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is already challenging Apple for top spot on the uSwitch Mobile Tracker, having proved to be the third most popular smartphone of the month. Based on live searches, pre-orders and sales, the uSwitch.com Mobile Tracker ranked the Apple iPhone 5 16GB as the most popular smartphone of the month, with the iPhone 4S taking second place. However remarkably, in spite of April 26th release, the new Samsung flagship device took the third spot. As you can see the forecasts are very optimistic for Samsung.

Google Glass has been on the wall for quite some time now. Here are few images showing how you really look wearing Google Glass. Below is our absolute favourite model! Can you picture yourself wearing a pair of Goggles?

It’s time to kick off with another round of Music + Tech news. This culminating April edition is focused on how technology can enable music to break boundaries and create new experiences! Before we get there let’s have a look at the freshest eMarketer report showing how UK teens far outshine US peers in smartphone usage. It is no secret that cravings for technology among youths across the globe are incurable but it still might be a little startling for some to find out that 93% of UK teens will use mobile phones in 2013. We agree with Mary Madden, senior researcher for the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project and co-author of the report who said: “The nature of teens’ internet use has transformed dramatically — from stationary connections tied to shared desktops in the home to always-on connections that move with them throughout the day.” Always-on connections in our ears sounds like your music everywhere. With our open and agnostic approach and growing network of partners, we are ready support always-on users across any number of devices. More about the report.

Still on the topic of phones but going back about 100 years. Have you ever heard Alexander Graham Bell’s Voice? The inventor of the telephone may have died over 90 years ago but you can still hear his voice today! No it’s not a joke! As reported by Smithsonian Magazine Smithsonian researchers recovered Bell’s voice from a historical recording by using optical technology. Make sure you head over to Smithsonian.com to listen to the audio file.

Let’s dive into music now. When doing our weekly news research we came across this interesting article on How the Digital Music Revolution is re-shaping Album Artwork. Author explores how music was liberated from its physical delivery format, album artwork also experienced a shift. ‘Seemingly by happenstance, the digital music revolution has spawned a parallel and equally-profound revolution: a revolutionary paradigm-shift of what constitutes “album artwork.”’ If you are into music and art we do encourage you to read this exciting post!

Who’s a Bon Jovi fan? Last week we talked about experiencing The London Marathon from the comfort of your own home. As major artists have started streaming their shows live, Bon Jovi is the latest to jump on the bandwagon. Yes, indeed, if you have missed the magic of  Bon Jovi live, you are now in luck! The Jersey-based rockers were streaming the final show of their US concert tour online yesterday. Everything is possible with technology! Check Ultimate Classic Rock for coverage of this live media event.

For those of you, who are very much into digital music and its future, we have a great video featuring our own 7digital boss on Bloomberg TV this morning! Ben Drury talks about London Tech Hub, future of music publishing & playing music from light bulbs… Intrigued? Watch the video below.

Last but not least we love Richard’s Branson Guide to Getting Lucky, where he gives his tips on how to get the attention of the ‘object’ of your interest… Have a look yourself!

Richard, how about just going back to a good old jukebox idea and picking a song for him or her?

The event kicked off with a short presentation from each of the sponsors, introducing their company and outlining the APIs on offer. Hackers then headed out into the blazing sunshine to discuss teams and ideas over a hotdog, before bagging a desk and settling down to work. Over the course of the afternoon and evening, folks alternated between bouts of intense concentration, games of table football, and replenishing caffeine levels. The background soundtrack of those Parisian favourites Daft Punk was occasionally punctuated by a friendly squabble over coding practises, or a burst of dischordant music as teams demonstrated their work-in-progress to each other.

As I wandered about the room in the evening I really wanted to interrupt people to ask what they were making, especially if I caught a glimpse of their screen or that private smile you get when you finally make something work, but knowing that thought flow is a precious and ephemeral thing, I reined my curiosity in. About midnight I ran out of steam and headed back to my hotel, but was too hyped to really sleep – or possibly just too full of coffee.

The next morning I was impressed to see that some teams had literally worked all through the night, and others had come in early to get their apps finished before the 1:30pm deadline. The energy levels stayed high, occasionally spiking into frantic, and come the afternoon everyone grabbed a seat to watch the hacks being presented. We were treated to a huge range of exciting ideas, including but not limited to a video visualiser made from clips of The Soul Train, an app to share your favourite six seconds of a track, a multi-iphone lyric display, a beatiful visual display of your music collection, and a way to control music using your brainwaves.

Our 7digital prize was awarded to the team from Queen Mary’s university for their app Brutalize Me, which transformed Justin Bieber pop songs into death metal: two types of metal actually, light or deadly.

After the presentations the hackers began to dissipate back to the four corners of Europe, pausing to compliment each others’ apps and swap contact details. Massive props to Deezer and Martyn for putting on such a great weekend – and looking forward to catching up with everyone at the next one.

]]> http://blogs.7digital.com/blog/2013/04/24/come-see-us-at-narm/feed/ 1 http://blogs.7digital.com/blog/2013/04/19/music-tech-round-up-19-04-13/ http://blogs.7digital.com/blog/2013/04/19/music-tech-round-up-19-04-13/#comments Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:32:35 +0000 Sylwia Kacprzak http://blogs.7digital.com/?p=1501

Half-way through the month and we’re back with what the past 7 days of music and technology news! Let’s open up this week’s segment with some good music. Our incredibly passionate music team recently had a chance to speak with the acclaimed Aussie electronic act,  PVT. In their interview, Rich Pike tells us about parting ways with Warp Records, the creative process behind new album Homosapien, the travels between Sydney and London and why his band have been branded “a futuristic INXS”.  This electrifying interview can be found here.

We’re done with the first installment of the sun-drenched, celebrity-filled, Indio, CA-based yearly musical mayhem event. Yes, it’s Coachella baby! Offering consistently killer line-ups, the festival is so oversubscribed that last year the organisers decided to stage it twice, across consecutive weekends. This year’s event runs from the 12th to 14th and 19th to 21st April and tickets were sold out less than 24 hours after going on sale. Not to worry if you are one of us , who weren’t lucky enough to get the pass as our amazing music team put together something very special for you to enjoy! Just head to our store for albums from the headliners and our tips for the must-see acts of 2013.

Ahead of The Virgin London Marathon taking place in the capital this Sunday, the 21st of April, we’ve come across this ‘revolutionary’  app that allows you to run the route without actually being at the event! You can now simulate the entire route in Kinomap Trainer available for Apple devices. The app offers geolocated videos and GPS routes uploaded by other users for you to run, row or cycle from the comfort of your own home or gym. ‘In the case of the London Marathon, you can strap your iOS device to a running machine and try to match the pace and running experience of the video as it was originally recorded along the 2012 event.’ You can participate in the London Marathon from Sydney, Dubai, Tokyo or New York! How awesome is that?

As it is spring and we are shedding layers, it is a good idea to take on some healthy eating habits. Question is how to develop those? Fortunately technology never stops to surprise us with compelling offers of help and support for the betterment of even the most human functions. So of course there is now a gadget out there that can ‘nag you about your eating habits the way your mom used to’. It’s called the amazing HAPIfork! The invention is supported by studies claiming  that the slower and more mindfully one eats, the better for one’s digestive system, weight and overall health. Following that concept the fork is designed to vibrate in your mouth if you take bites too frequently. It uploads its info to an app via Bluetooth or to your laptop via USB, providing you with graph of the number of bites you took over time during your meals. I think it’s a lunch time for us now…

Another thing that can easily be done from the comfort of your home, car – or for the lucky ones – beach, is online shopping. It turns out that men love to shop on mobile and they do it more often than women… In a survey of consumers in the US, the UK, Australia, Germany, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Columbia, France and Mexico, men in all countries were more likely to say they would use their phone to shop.

Last but not least following our oven-fresh partnership with QNX that will bring high quality digital music to millions of in-car infotainment systems, we wanted to dig for some great automotive originality and we came across this exciting Audi A3 App. Whether you’re on the lookout for a new car or wanted to see simply how it looks to sit inside the dream car or see what it would look like on your driveway, this app does it all! ‘The app welcomes users into a 3D virtual showroom, where they can select their preferred model – the A3 or A3 Sportback. From here they can explore the cars and learn more about Audi’s advanced technology via a range of interactive features.’ Make sure you check this out!