Wednesday
Best Buy, Music Now launch digital music store
MusicNow Inc., a developer of digital music services, and Best Buy Co. Inc. have launched the MusicNow Download Store on BestBuy.com, they said today. The store will be available only on BestBuy this month before it’s made available to other web sites.
The MusicNow store, unlike other digital music offerings, lets users download songs directly to more than 40 portable digital music players in addition to personal computers. Prices are similar to what’s available through Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes, Roxio Inc.’s Napster 2 and other services: 99 cents per downloaded song, or $9.95 for a complete album. Like Napster, MusicNow also provides the option of subscribing for an unlimited number of tracks for $9.95 per month.
"Best Buy is committed to offering our customers leading services that make buying entertainment digitally a great experience. With the launch of the MusicNow Download Store in the Windows format, we believe consumers now have a great choice to purchase digital music that will work on many devices," said Scott Young, vice president of digital entertainment for Best Buy. "We want music to be available to people how and when they want it, and that means letting them take their music with them on the road, in the car, or wherever they want to enjoy it."
"Our Windows-based service and unprecedented ease of use with multiple portable devices will further accelerate the mainstream consumer adoption of digital music services," said Scott Kauffman, president and chief executive officer of MusicNow.
The MusicNow store, unlike other digital music offerings, lets users download songs directly to more than 40 portable digital music players in addition to personal computers. Prices are similar to what’s available through Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes, Roxio Inc.’s Napster 2 and other services: 99 cents per downloaded song, or $9.95 for a complete album. Like Napster, MusicNow also provides the option of subscribing for an unlimited number of tracks for $9.95 per month.
"Best Buy is committed to offering our customers leading services that make buying entertainment digitally a great experience. With the launch of the MusicNow Download Store in the Windows format, we believe consumers now have a great choice to purchase digital music that will work on many devices," said Scott Young, vice president of digital entertainment for Best Buy. "We want music to be available to people how and when they want it, and that means letting them take their music with them on the road, in the car, or wherever they want to enjoy it."
"Our Windows-based service and unprecedented ease of use with multiple portable devices will further accelerate the mainstream consumer adoption of digital music services," said Scott Kauffman, president and chief executive officer of MusicNow.
Tuesday
Global marketers hiked spending in 2002
The world's Top 100 global marketers "weathered" slow growth and uncertain global economic and political conditions in 2002 by stimulating their global media spending by 7.1% to $74.2 billion, reversing a decline of 2.6% charted by the group in 2001, according to Advertising Age's 17th annual Global Marketing report.
Procter & Gamble Co. once again paced the megaspenders at $4.48 billion in media, up 21.9%. Acquisition-minded P&G boosted its volume with the inclusion of Wella A.G., based Darmstadt, Germany, purchased by P&G this September and included in its media totals on a pro forma basis. This is P&G's sixth beauty-care brand to generate $1 billion in annual sales and its 14th global brand at such a level.
Unilever unseated General Motors Corp. as the No. 2 global marketer, at $3.32 billion, up 19.2%, to GM's $3.22 billion, up 9%. The Anglo-Dutch combine had 14 brands that each generated sales of 1 billion euros in 2002, a year that saw the euro rise to the level of the U.S. dollar by yearend. No other marketers reached $3 billion in media spending. Twenty-two were above $1 billion.
The U.S. media component of this report hit $37.31 billion, up 7%, or 50.2% of the Top 100 total. U.S. marketers claim 49 of the Top 100 spots, although Tokyo is the lead headquarters city with 10 vs. eight for New York. Europe amassed media of $23.06 billion from the Top 100, up 12.2%, followed by Asia at $9.87 billion, up 0.5%. The Top 100's category media stimulants were personal care, up 17.3%; telecommunications, 10.6%; and media/entertainment, 9.2%.
To be "global," a marketer must advertise in three of four regions -- North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. This eliminated 30 regional-only marketers (19 in the U.S.) whose media volumes were higher than No. 100 Intel Corp. at $191 million.
Unilever spending came from 72 of the 78 countries from which Ad Age obtained media, the most of any marketer. That globalism is further illustrated in a companion study that illustrates the account play by the world's 23 major multinational agency networks in 61 countries plus eight subregions. Much of Unilever's growth in markets came from full-integration of its Bestfoods acquisition into the agency networks, and rapid global growth of Slim-Fast, Axe and Dove brands.
P&G: $4.48 billion
Procter & Gamble Co. once again paced the megaspenders at $4.48 billion in media, up 21.9%. Acquisition-minded P&G boosted its volume with the inclusion of Wella A.G., based Darmstadt, Germany, purchased by P&G this September and included in its media totals on a pro forma basis. This is P&G's sixth beauty-care brand to generate $1 billion in annual sales and its 14th global brand at such a level.
Unilever unseated General Motors Corp. as the No. 2 global marketer, at $3.32 billion, up 19.2%, to GM's $3.22 billion, up 9%. The Anglo-Dutch combine had 14 brands that each generated sales of 1 billion euros in 2002, a year that saw the euro rise to the level of the U.S. dollar by yearend. No other marketers reached $3 billion in media spending. Twenty-two were above $1 billion.
U.S. component
The U.S. media component of this report hit $37.31 billion, up 7%, or 50.2% of the Top 100 total. U.S. marketers claim 49 of the Top 100 spots, although Tokyo is the lead headquarters city with 10 vs. eight for New York. Europe amassed media of $23.06 billion from the Top 100, up 12.2%, followed by Asia at $9.87 billion, up 0.5%. The Top 100's category media stimulants were personal care, up 17.3%; telecommunications, 10.6%; and media/entertainment, 9.2%.
Four main regions
To be "global," a marketer must advertise in three of four regions -- North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. This eliminated 30 regional-only marketers (19 in the U.S.) whose media volumes were higher than No. 100 Intel Corp. at $191 million.
Unilever spending came from 72 of the 78 countries from which Ad Age obtained media, the most of any marketer. That globalism is further illustrated in a companion study that illustrates the account play by the world's 23 major multinational agency networks in 61 countries plus eight subregions. Much of Unilever's growth in markets came from full-integration of its Bestfoods acquisition into the agency networks, and rapid global growth of Slim-Fast, Axe and Dove brands.
Download Full 54-page, 2003 Global Marketing Report here
Gates trots out Longhorn
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates tried to win over developers here Monday as he offered the first look at Longhorn, the next version of Windows. Longhorn is built around three major advances--a new graphics and presentation engine known as Avalon, a new communications architecture known as Indigo, and a new file system known as WinFS that borrows from Microsoft's relational database technology.
Gates did not offer a time frame for delivery of the new operating system, but he said it still represents "years of work." Analysts have said they expect it could be 2006 before the new software is released.
Instead of providing an estimate of when the final release will ship, Microsoft said only that a beta, or test version, of the software is slated for next summer.
It was Longhorn's desktop that got the most thorough preview during Gates' keynote address at the company's Professional Developers Conference, taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Among the features shown off were transparent windows, animated windows that pop open and a new taskbar on the righthand side of the screen that displayed a clock, buddy list, and news and other information streamed onto the desktop via an RSS feed.
Using the relational database built into the file system, information can be viewed in new ways, such as in "stacks" based on a single common attribute. Although the concept is similar to that of folders, it is more ad hoc than the folder design and is meant to facilitate having one piece of information in several stacks.
The graphics are powered by a new XML-based graphics and presentation engine known as Avalon that builds into the operating system and expands some of Microsoft's existing technologies like DirectX and ClearType.
The graphical look of Longhorn--particularly its transparency and animated windows--are reminiscent of Apple's Mac OS X. Other features, such as the thumbnail image that pops up while users are scrolling through a long document, appear to be all-new ideas.
The file system has already been well described, but Gates said it will fulfill a long-held vision of his that will pave the way for better searching as well as ways of grouping together e-mail, Web pages and documents that have previously been held in separate "silos."
"That's been a holy grail for me for some time," Gates told developers Monday.
Although the event was miles away from the fires that have been ravaging much of Southern California, the morning's crowd was somewhat smaller than the sell-out numbers still expected here. Some people were still having trouble getting into Los Angeles, with many flights cancelled or delayed for hours.
Gates also tried to stress that Microsoft is still looking for developer feedback to make sure that the company is headed in the right direction with Longhorn, which he reiterated is the company's biggest effort since Windows 95.
Advances in hardware will make the features of Longhorn both possible and necessary, Gates said, predicting that PCs by 2006 will have a processor of between 4GHz and 6GHz, more than 2GB of memory, a terabyte or more of storage, and graphics chips three times as powerful as today's.
"None of these things are the constraints," Gates said. "It's software."
In addition to the major advances that Microsoft is planning with Longhorn, Gates and Microsoft Group Vice President Jim Allchin underscored the effort that Microsoft is placing on the fundamentals--increasing both the security and reliability of Windows.
Following Gates on stage, Allchin showed off more of Longhorn's technical features, including a reporting feature that he said offers developers the equivalent of a "flight data recorder" to track the operation of their applications.
Gates said the new technologies inside Longhorn should be used to make applications that are at once both more powerful and more simple to run--another longtime goal. He expressed hope that future programs might have "less commands despite the new richness that's there."
With that goal in mind, Microsoft highlighted some new tools for developers, most notably WinFX, which the company described as a new application programming model and an evolution of its .Net Framework, as well as "XAML" (pronounced "zamel"), a new language that Allchin said would allow developers to create Longhorn applications in a "declarative" way.
The company also wanted to show that some developers are already committed to its efforts, tapping representatives from Adobe Systems, Amazon.com and elsewhere to show some of the possibilites for Longhorn applications.
Bottom line
Even with all the work that's been done so far, Gates is still looking for developer feedback to make sure that Microsoft is headed in the right direction with Longhorn, which he calls the company's biggest effort since Windows 95.Gates did not offer a time frame for delivery of the new operating system, but he said it still represents "years of work." Analysts have said they expect it could be 2006 before the new software is released.
Instead of providing an estimate of when the final release will ship, Microsoft said only that a beta, or test version, of the software is slated for next summer.
It was Longhorn's desktop that got the most thorough preview during Gates' keynote address at the company's Professional Developers Conference, taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Among the features shown off were transparent windows, animated windows that pop open and a new taskbar on the righthand side of the screen that displayed a clock, buddy list, and news and other information streamed onto the desktop via an RSS feed.
Using the relational database built into the file system, information can be viewed in new ways, such as in "stacks" based on a single common attribute. Although the concept is similar to that of folders, it is more ad hoc than the folder design and is meant to facilitate having one piece of information in several stacks.
The graphics are powered by a new XML-based graphics and presentation engine known as Avalon that builds into the operating system and expands some of Microsoft's existing technologies like DirectX and ClearType.
The graphical look of Longhorn--particularly its transparency and animated windows--are reminiscent of Apple's Mac OS X. Other features, such as the thumbnail image that pops up while users are scrolling through a long document, appear to be all-new ideas.
The file system has already been well described, but Gates said it will fulfill a long-held vision of his that will pave the way for better searching as well as ways of grouping together e-mail, Web pages and documents that have previously been held in separate "silos."
"That's been a holy grail for me for some time," Gates told developers Monday.
Although the event was miles away from the fires that have been ravaging much of Southern California, the morning's crowd was somewhat smaller than the sell-out numbers still expected here. Some people were still having trouble getting into Los Angeles, with many flights cancelled or delayed for hours.
Back to the future
Trying to show off both Longhorn's backward compatibility and its possibilities for the future, Microsoft product unit manager Hillel Cooperman presented the operating system running VisiCalc, the 20-year-old spreadsheet program, as well as a demo application that drew on all of the operating system's new features to grab and display content from the Internet and video, drawing on the operating system's search, graphics and Web services engines.Gates also tried to stress that Microsoft is still looking for developer feedback to make sure that the company is headed in the right direction with Longhorn, which he reiterated is the company's biggest effort since Windows 95.
Advances in hardware will make the features of Longhorn both possible and necessary, Gates said, predicting that PCs by 2006 will have a processor of between 4GHz and 6GHz, more than 2GB of memory, a terabyte or more of storage, and graphics chips three times as powerful as today's.
"None of these things are the constraints," Gates said. "It's software."
In addition to the major advances that Microsoft is planning with Longhorn, Gates and Microsoft Group Vice President Jim Allchin underscored the effort that Microsoft is placing on the fundamentals--increasing both the security and reliability of Windows.
Following Gates on stage, Allchin showed off more of Longhorn's technical features, including a reporting feature that he said offers developers the equivalent of a "flight data recorder" to track the operation of their applications.
Gates said the new technologies inside Longhorn should be used to make applications that are at once both more powerful and more simple to run--another longtime goal. He expressed hope that future programs might have "less commands despite the new richness that's there."
With that goal in mind, Microsoft highlighted some new tools for developers, most notably WinFX, which the company described as a new application programming model and an evolution of its .Net Framework, as well as "XAML" (pronounced "zamel"), a new language that Allchin said would allow developers to create Longhorn applications in a "declarative" way.
The company also wanted to show that some developers are already committed to its efforts, tapping representatives from Adobe Systems, Amazon.com and elsewhere to show some of the possibilites for Longhorn applications.
