“In a dramatic move that gives a thumbs up to the music industry’s efforts at creating legal alternatives to file sharing, McDonald’s plans to give away up to 1 billion songs in a marketing campaign, according to sources familiar with the matter.” The company will buy the tracks (at 99 center per) from iTunes.
Tag: 11.07.03
iTunes As Apple Loss Leader
That 99-cent price to download music from iTunes still seems a little high to some, especially since it costs nothing for the recording companies to produce it. But then, Apple’s got to make some money too, right? Wrong. Apple CEO Steve Jobs says that all of that 99 cents goes back to the copyright holders – the recording companies, not artists. That makes iTunes a loss-leader. So how is Apple making money on the deal? Selling iPods…
Work As A Game
A new study reports that allowing workers to play games at work might increase their productivity. “The results suggest that, instead of games being a waste of time at work, they might help personal productivity and make people feel better about their jobs. A round of Solitaire could be used as a strategy to break up the day and help people work more effectively because it gives their brain a break from complex work tasks.”
Iraq Art Treasure To US?
Plans to send Iraq’s greatest art treasure to the US for a tour are being considered in Baghdad. “Sending the Nimrud gold to the US, whose armed forces are now occupying Iraq, would undoubtedly disturb many Iraqis. Parallels are being drawn with the controversial US decision to show Germany’s greatest paintings in America in 1948, although the circumstances are different.”
The New Thing: Getting Informed
The Chicago Humanities Festival saw attendance soar by 45 percent this year; 50,000 came in the first weekend… “The festival’s popularity is one sign of an American public that is becoming more deeply engaged in serious issues, such as national identity. In the late 1990s, networking clubs were means for aspiring entrepreneurs to find someone else’s money to spend. The current wave of discussion clubs offers instead a vehicle to get clever, not rich, quick.”
Auction Market Roars Back
The art market is roaring back. Last week “both Sotheby’s and Christie’s had very little difficulty finding buyers for their top lots. The two evening sales totalled $242 million, doubling the $125 million made for the same sessions last May. Adding in the Part II sessions, a total of $283 million was spent on Modern and Impressionist art between 4 and 6 November.”
Mc-NPR? Public Broadcaster Celebrates
Employees of National Public Radio were stunned by the $200 million gift left by Joan Kroc. “NPR employees celebrated the news by eating takeout McDonald’s for lunch yesterday. ‘When I heard about the scope of it, I was almost speechless – a dangerous state in my line of work,’ said longtime NPR host Susan Stamberg. ‘This was totally unexpected.’ She joked that she was changing her name to ‘McStamberg’. Before her death last month at 75, Kroc, widow of McDonald’s mastermind Ray Kroc, had committed her attention and some of her $1.7 billion fortune to charity.”
NPR’s Unexpected Bounty
What will National Public Radio do with the $200 million gift it got from the estate of the late Joan Kroc? “Kevin Klose, the president and chief executive of NPR, said that the broadcasting company had yet to decide how the money would be spent. For now, he said, ‘most of it will not be spent; it is to be saved.’ He added that the NPR board would discuss how to spend the interest earned by the money. At an annual rate of 5 percent, it would generate about $10 million a year.”
Bias, Shmias – American Media Cowers In Corner
“This week, CBS decided that the camp, unsubtle mini-series The Reagans was too hot to handle. Dissent is out of the question, then. A fanatically conservative cabal of Republican politicians, officials and shrill, finger-wagging conservative commentators, has imposed an orthodoxy. There are ludicrous accusations of ‘bias’ in everything from news stories to opinion columns and now a TV miniseries, for heaven’s sake. The mere accusation of bias is enough to shut up some of the accused.”
The Theatre That Ate Milwuakee?
The newly-revived 4,200-seat Milwaukee Theatre is opening. Supporters say the theatre will attract new shows to the city. But managers of Milwaukee’s other theatres are unhappy. “Nothing different will come here. Everyone’s fighting for the same shows, and that causes artists’ fees and ticket prices to go up. There are fewer shows out there and more venues.”