Captivating Connections.

are music games sales down?

Apparently, yes.

"According to data from market analyst NPD Group, sales of these games haven't met expectations. The Beatles game, while selling a respectable 800,000 units of its various versions so far, missed the 1 million mark analysts expected in just the first month after its September 9 debut. 'Guitar Hero 5' sold 500,000 units in its first month, compared with the 1.4 million 'Guitar Hero III' moved two years ago in its first month.

'DJ Hero,' the game that was meant to expand the category into the hip-hop genre, moved 123,000 units in the first few days after its late-October release, and analysts at Cowen & Co. slashed their sales forecast for the game from 1.6 million this year to 600,000.

So what happened to this once-promising category, which so many in the music industry looked to for much-needed revenue? According to Pachter, the answer is: Too many games with too much music in too short a time."

what's going on with digital music?

Apparently not all that much!

"Americans love buying digital music, but growth rates related to other digital music activities are leveling off, according to new research from Forrester.

Despite the best marketing efforts of companies like MySpace and Pandora, mainstream Americans still haven't taken to streaming music services, according to a survey of some 4,600 Americans, along with 13,000 Europeans.

For its part, Pandora says that about 65,000 new members sign up for the service every day.

Yet, only 18% of U.S. online adults -- approximately 40 million consumers -- listen to free streaming music online on a regular basis, a percentage that has remained fairly constant over the past few years. Meanwhile, only 3% of U.S. consumers have downloaded a music app for their phone.

'Bottom line,' Forrester concludes: 'Digital music revenue has not yet made up for the decline in CD sales.'"

vevo rocks a solid start.

"The music industry doesn't really do subtle, which is why the Vevo launch party in lower Manhattan on Dec. 8 had all the pomp and glitz of an internet launch party circa 1999.

Because three of four major labels are playing nicely in the venture, attendees got to see Bono sharing the stage with John Mayer, 50 Cent, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris, Lady Gaga and Queen Rania, just to name a few.

The difference between now and when Napster was decimating the music business is that the artists themselves fully realize what's at stake, even if they have a misplaced notion that advertising will save their ailing industry. 'Let's hope Vevo can help salvage something that used to be amazing,' Mariah Carey told the crowd.

One thing Vevo has going for it right out of the gate is quantifiable traffic. Somehow, Mr. Morris persuaded Mr. Schmidt to allow all YouTube views of Vevo videos to accrue to Vevo -- a move that will likely make it the No. 3 video site in the U.S. straight out of the gate. 'Now we have a platform, and it's our platform,' Mr. Morris said."

It'll be interesting to see how it fully unfolds in the next 6-8 months.

myspace gains imeem.

"MySpace's acquisition of imeem is complete. The company officially announced the transaction on its blog after weeks of speculation.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources with knowledge of the transaction say it was for less than the $1 million figure bandied about in earlier speculation. Also, the MySpace Music joint venture is the entity acquiring imeem, not the MySpace Inc. parent company.

The impact of the deal will be felt immediately. Starting tonight, imeem users will be redirected to MySpace Music. In the coming weeks, the company will migrate playlists created on imeem to MySpace Music profiles as well. On the business end, MySpace Music will also transfer imeem's ongoing ad campaigns on a case-by-case basis where possible.

Sources say MySpace Music is also very interested in imeem's mobile app and technologies. MySpace Music as yet has no mobile outlet, and extending the platform into the mobile space is of keen interest for the company in the year ahead."

introducing: vevo.

"In the beleaguered music industry’s latest bid to generate more money from its content, two top music labels on Tuesday will introduce Vevo, a Web site for music videos.

Vevo is co-owned by the Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and the Abu Dhabi Media Company. Vevo said Monday that it had signed up a third major music label, EMI Music, as a video provider, leaving only one holdout among the big four labels, Warner Music. Vevo said conversations with Warner were continuing.

Videos on Vevo will be hosted and streamed by YouTube, the video site owned by Google.

The site will come online in the United States and Canada on Tuesday evening.

'It will be a higher-quality experience around music and videos than anything else that’s currently out there,' Rio Caraeff, Vevo’s chief executive, said in an interview. Mr. Caraeff said the site would host 30,000 music videos by the end of the year. To underscore the exclusive nature of the Web site, Vevo will also carry original programs by artists for their fans."

rihanna redo.

Coming off of a personally dramatic year, Rihanna did something incredibly interesting. "Unlike other celebrity brands with image issues, the singer turned to Madison Avenue for some much-needed brand rehab.

When the singer approached Steve Stoute, founder-CEO of music marketing agency Translation, to help her relaunch her image and musical career this summer, there was a lot more at stake than adding another hit single to her repertoire. Mr. Stoute, who has connected celebs like Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Chris Brown with brands in the past, saw a dual challenge in Rihanna's re-entry into the public eye. His first goal was to cement her status as a 'global pop diva' with restored brand equity, and then cast her as a role model for young girls despite her initial silence about her violent breakup."

Some background, in case you live under a rock:

"In case you happened to miss one of the year's bigger media stories: Heading into 2009, Rihanna was on her way to becoming the most successful female pop singer of the decade, tying Beyoncé's record for five No. 1 Billboard singles with hits such as 'Umbrella,' 'Disturbia' and 'Take a Bow'; selling more than 12 million copies of her first three albums; and racking up nine Grammy nominations from her most recent album, 'Good Girl Gone Bad.'

A few endorsement deals came her way, too, including a long-term contract with Procter & Gamble's Cover Girl and her own line of umbrellas with Totes-Isotoner as a cheeky reference to her hit single about the rain protector."

Fast forward to now:

"'She has the opportunity, because of her personal issues, to epitomize and work with all people around the world who have personal issues,' Mr. Stoute said. 'While the spotlight was on her and we watched how she got through it, I think she helped a legion of young girls who look up to her and showed them her strength and fortitude to go through this and move forward with life.'

Mr. Stoute said his teaming up with Rihanna is 'brand work' rather than standard record-label marketing.'With brand work you gotta run a marathon. You can't just put out a single, sweep an issue under the rug and get out of it through popularity.'"

It's going to be interesting as her album gets the full launch treatment what happens next.

google & facebook get musical.

"Music fans are about to get two new ways to find and sample songs on the Web, as Google and Facebook introduce new features on their services.

Google, the search giant, plans to announce a music initiative at an event it will hold at the Capitol Records building in Hollywood next Wednesday, according to three people briefed on the details, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the service before it was announced.

The service will give users a more efficient way to find, learn about and sample music after they search for information about bands, albums or songs, said a person who has seen an early demonstration.

Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., will not host any music, nor has it forged any new relationships with the major music labels. But it has struck deals with several streaming music services to let people easily sample music directly from the search engine."

pandora launches 1st video ad.

Pandora is launching it's first video ad campaign!

"Internet radio pioneer Pandora Media is launching a pair of video ad campaigns—a first for the audio-centric company.

The company, which allows users to create custom radio stations, on Sept. 16 kicked off campaigns for NBC, which is promoting its new nurse-themed drama Mercy; and Electronic Arts, which is pushing The Beatles: Rock Band game. Both campaigns will leverage several new ad offerings created by Pandora specifically for entertainment brands, including 30-second spots, user-initiated extended video trailers and branded radio stations.

In addition, NBC’s Mercy effort, which runs through Sept. 23, will include videos and banners on Pandora’s iPhone app, one of the more popular applications created for that device. For EA, Pandora will offer users access to a :30 demo of the much-hyped Beatles game during the campaign, which concludes on Oct. 11.

The push into video is noteworthy for Pandora, given that the site provides mostly an audio experience for its users. Users can listen to their custom radio stations online or via their iPhone without spending much time on Pandora.com—or looking at their computer or phone screens."

how the beatles navigate the world of marketing.

As both a fan and a marketer, I find this incredibly interesting:

"The Beatles broke up almost 40 years ago, but their brand power is almost as strong today as it was when they first played the "Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964. Moreover, the band built that iconic brand -- and continues to promote it, gaining new generations of fans along the way -- without the benefit of advertising agencies or formal relationships with PR firms.

Do you want to know their secret?

Apple Corps, the Beatles' holding company; the Beatles themselves and their surviving spouses; former Beatles label EMI and Sony/ATV, which owns most of the band's music catalog, jointly make decisions on what projects will be approved, and they do so sparingly.

'The key is they've been so amazingly protective of the brand that everything that does come out is special,' said Bill Stainton, president of Ovation Consulting and a Beatles expert. 'They're not going to be on the K-tel compilation, or the 'Best of the '60s' CDs. ... They're almost Disney-esque in their protection of the brand.'"

As they should be!!

I'm not really a U2 fan, but how cool is this?

"FierceMobileContent points to a teaser video on the BlackBerry Web site suggesting that Research in Motion is teaming with Irish megaband U2 on the release of a 'mobile album.' The site offers no details on the project, but invites visitors to register to be notified when it is released.

The site MobileSyrup.com says RIM signed an agreement with the band a few months ago to sponsor their 'No Line on the Horizon' tour, which kicked off June 30 in Barcelona. But apparently there was no sign of a BlackBerry corporate presence at show. U2 moves in mysterious ways.

What happened to its partnership with Apple? After releasing a special U2 iPod a couple of years ago, the band wound up ditching Apple for RIM. Bono told the Toronto Globe and Mail recently that the Canada-based phone maker gave the band greater access to its labs and staff to 'do something really spectacular.'"