26/07/10
This section is up-dated every week to include some of the industry news we think might be of interest to you.
Web
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Despite a high-profile re-launch the latest ComScore figures show over half of all MySpace users have deserted the site in the last year. MySpace re-launched its site with a dramatic redesign in December 2009 with a greater emphasis on it being a major online music destination with artists and record labels being able to better control and promote their content. However, ComScore has found user numbers fell from 6.5m in May 2009 to 3.3m in May 2010. MySpace was considered one of the first major social networks but was soon overtaken by Facebook. Many consider MySpace to be the best way to promote new music but other social networks have built this functionality into their sites and now MySpace’s USP is looking a little weak.
- The first sets of figures since the paywall was implemented on Times.co.uk have been released and they show the site has lost two-thirds of its readership since it started charging for content. The Times was expecting to lose around 90% of its readership so these initial numbers might not be as bad as they were expecting. The media blog Beehive City has claimed it has numbers pre and post paywall which show the registered users during the sites free-trial period stood at 150,000 with just 15,000 actually paying for content after the launch. Beehive City also claim 12,500 users have paid for The Times iPad app.
- Facebook has been hinting at making the announcement for some time but this week it finally came, the social network has reached the major milestone of 500 million users, this means roughly 1 in every 12 people on the planet have an account (a stat which is frankly astounding).
New Media
- The iPlayer, one of the great BBC success stories from recent years, has seen an increase in users requesting the service on their mobiles with 7m requests in the month of June. Overall requests for the service were down with 117m requests across all platforms, a 13m drop, but the BBC attributes this to seasonal fluctuations.
- Pixazza, a photo ad-network similar to Google’s AdSense has raised another $12m of funding to develop geo-tagging technology which will be aimed at small publishers. Pixazza is backed by Google and other venture capitalists and allows publishers to tag the products in images on the web and then link those tags to sites where users can purchase these products. The service has been very successful with fashion and home furnishing products but Pixazza hopes this new round of funding will allow it to expand to smaller, local services.
Technology
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It seems the concern sparked last week regarding the iPhone 4 and it’s affect on Apple’s profits was a little premature. Apple reported net income for the three months to the end of June of $3.25bn, up from $1.83bn for the same quarter last year. Apple’s shares climbed 3.4% on the news and went someway to relieve investors concerns about a recall of the iPhone 4. Apple said more people are buying Mac computers than ever before, the iPhone 4 has been a phenomenal success (despite the teething problems) and the iPad is performing well.
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Amazon has revealed this week that ebook sales in the US have outstripped hardback sales for the first time. In the first comprehensive digital figures to be released from Amazon it says for every 100 hardbacks sold in the US in the last three months 143 ebooks have been sold and this rate is increasing. Big-name authors like Steig Larsson and Stephanie Meyer have each sold more than 500,000 ebooks for the Kindle reader. Up until now Amazon has been elusive about sales figures for the Kindle (their own digital reader) and are yet to reveal how many units have been sold. But the rise of ebook sales will be good news for Amazon, and publishers alike, but not such great news for die-hard literature fans who still believe in the physical form.
