As hinted at back in February, Last.fm has been trawling around looking for a buyer and today it found its harbour in the form of a US media giant. The ‘social music’ site has been bought by CBS Corporation for $280m (£140m). This is less than the earlier rumour, but still the largest-ever buyout of a UK-based “Web 2.0” site. The site was founded in the UK five years ago
Joost is hiring talent scouts Creative Artists Agency to get Hollywood programming onto its service. Along with well known programming and a clutch of top advertisers Joost wants to offer shows from independent professional video makers rather than “wild” UGC/social media. Joost has $45 million from five backers and signed Viacom and sister company CBS for content recently.
Suddenly it’s all about trying to be nice to bloggers and get them on your side. Do I smell the whiff of fear amongst media and brands? Trailing in the wake on an event I ran recently are two further events on the subject. A seminar on “Blogger Relations” to help PR types to understand engagement with the blogosphere better is being run this Friday, May 25th. There is more
Pluck, which re-packages social media content for publishers, broadcasters and major brands, is expanding beyond the US and is now on the hunt for a UK MD, according to a highly placed source. Last year the Austin, Texas-based RSS and publisher services company, raised $7 million from Reuters, Austin Ventures and Mayfield and re-focused away from consumer-facing RSS services towards B2B products. Their SiteLife Social Media suite generates user content
Pluck, which re-packages social media content for publishers, broadcasters and major brands, is expanding beyond the US and is now on the hunt for a UK MD, according to a highly placed source. Last year the Austin, Texas-based RSS and publisher services company, raised $7 million from Reuters, Austin Ventures and Mayfield and re-focused away from consumer-facing RSS services towards B2B products. Their SiteLife Social Media suite generates user content
The English Premier League will sue YouTube in the US for alleged copyright infringement and claims the site "knowingly misappropriated" its intellectual property by encouraging videos of matches to be viewed on its site. YouTube already faces a $1bn (£501m) lawsuit from Viacom over similar issues. US music publisher Bourne joins the League in the legal action launched in New York. Doe the League "get it"? It sounds like they
The English Premier League will sue YouTube in the US for alleged copyright infringement and claims the site "knowingly misappropriated" its intellectual property by encouraging videos of matches to be viewed on its site. YouTube already faces a $1bn (£501m) lawsuit from Viacom over similar issues. US music publisher Bourne joins the League in the legal action launched in New York. Doe the League "get it"? It sounds like they
German investors the Samwer brothers have invested an undisclosed amount in Twitter clone Frazr.com, reports alarmclock europe, following a story from a German trade title. Germans are really taking to micro-blogging via SMS using Wamadu, Faybl, 1you, Sloggen, and Partnr.de. Does Germany really need five Twitter clones? Most were launched in March/April. You decide…
German investors the Samwer brothers have invested an undisclosed amount in Twitter clone Frazr.com, reports alarmclock europe, following a story from a German trade title. Germans are really taking to micro-blogging via SMS using Wamadu, Faybl, 1you, Sloggen, and Partnr.de. Does Germany really need five Twitter clones? Most were launched in March/April. You decide…
Whatever happened to Angel Gambino, she of “MTV 2.0”? Well she’s been hired by Bebo to a new position of VP-music. Bebo is interested in rivaling MySpace in the music stakes. Until January this year she was VP commercial, strategy and digital media for Viacom in the UK, where she worked across 11 channels, and was previously controller of business development and emerging platforms at the BBC. Gambino announced the