Details of the draconian music licensing deals Spotify has been forced to agree to by record labels have leaked, amid suggestions that the streaming music service will never be profitable. The terms – which apply to other streaming media services as well, such as Rhapsody – conspire to undermine the streaming companies’ negotiating power, GigaOm reports, with such gems as huge upfront payments and payout deals based on the biggest income of either minimum subscriber fees, per-play costs or total company revenue.
There’s also time-consuming and expensive data collection, made mandatory by the agreements, with little in the way of standardization for reporting to each individual label. Even the raw tracks themselves are supplied in different formats with different data tagging, and must be fettled into a consistent shape before they can be deployed.
To cap it off, a “most favored nation” clause means that even if one label negotiates a more service-friendly deal, it can later insist on the same terms as agreed with a different label. The best terms are shared between all the labels; the reason, insider Michael Robertson (former CEO of MP3.com) says, streaming media services often find it easy to get a first label onboard, knowing they’ll share in any good deals negotiated down the line. Spotify and others aren’t free to go to other suppliers, since the labels and publishers hold the copyrights.
It’s well worth reading if you’ve ever wondered why Spotify and other services have such difficulty spreading into new markets – the much-delayed Spotify US launch is a good example – and, indeed, how labels are making their money in the new digital age. The fact that the labels are likely to get even tighter with the splitting up and sale of EMI doesn’t bode well for fairer negotiations in future.
Fox News got an airport baggage handler to spill about what really happens behind the scenes after a traveler deposits his suitcase--on the condition of anonymity, of course.
His revelations made us want to stick to carry-on for all future travel plans.
The full interview is worth a read, but here are some of the most disheartening things we learned (not that we can say we're totally surprised):
Your suitcase travels in some pretty grotesque company: "Other than bags, there is a lot of other cargo that gets transported by air. We see everything from human remains, to mail to fruits and vegetables coming on and off the plane."
Luggage really does take a beating: "They call it 'throwing bags' for a reason. There isn’t an easy way around this. Airplanes are only making money while in the air and no airline wants an airplane on the ground too long.
Stuff breaks all the time: "Wheels and handles oftentimes break or crack on impact and anything fragile inside that is not packed well doesn’t stand much of a chance. Don’t put red wine or alcohol in your suitcase ever."
"Fragile" stickers are a joke: "Those fragile stickers don’t get noticed very often in the rush of loading bags unless it is an obvious shape, such as a musical instrument."
Items really do get lost: tags get misread, bags aren't scanned, and things really do "fall off the truck," the handler says.
What can you do to minimize the chance of a mishap?
Invest in one of those 4-wheel rolling suitcases-they're less likely to get tossed. Stick ID tags on the outside and inside of your bag. And hold onto that bag receipt--it might come in handy when you arrive in Florida and your suitcase is still in New York.
Now check out the 10 grossest things flight attendants have seen passengers do on an airplane >
http://cssa.mit.edu/forum/index.php?showuser=45958
http://www.ncv.unsw.edu.au/index.php/member/18835/
http://www.knopm.uw.edu.pl/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=37409
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~phlee/xenonapp/forums5/xenon/profile.php?action=get&id=7208
http://music.unt.edu/pianoresearch/discussion/profile.php?action=get&id=16272
http://sweb.uky.edu/StudentOrgs/Badminton/bbs/profile.php?action=get&id=8681
http://avidbbs.cuc.edu.cn/profile.php?id=1721
http://www.uta.edu/studentorgs/cgsa/forum/profile.php?id=33272
http://ftp.itcs.tsinghua.edu.cn/papakons/teaching/advalgorithmsS11/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=68662
http://getreal.ous.edu/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=36957
http://forum.loni.ucla.edu/member.php?u=10198
http://forum.portal.edu.ro/index.php?showuser=386978
http://www.jiexiu.gov.cn/user/profile/20442.page
http://forums.saa.edu/profile.php?id=263561
http://yakko.cs.wmich.edu/~digiband/index.php?section=showuser&subsection=lancemara
http://www.sas.edu.pk/vb/member.php?u=32029
http://www.sti.edu.vn/members/lancemara.html
http://forum.thcsnguyenbinhkhiem.edu.vn/member.php?u=5454
http://rkjsw.sh.gov.cn/user/profile/87172.page
http://portal.aerocivil.gov.co/foro/user/profile/25230.page
http://www.fjit.gov.cn/bbs/user/profile/173385.page
http://school41.edu.ru/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=9962
http://www.scribd.com/doc/75882708/Appliance-Repair-Services
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/108712775/Appliance_Repair_Services
http://www.slideshare.net/henryjohn34/appliance-repair-services
http://member.thinkfree.com/myoffice/show.se?f=d90342b9c507ddcc38f0d41fde4ffb82
http://www.divshare.com/download/16396780-375
http://www.4shared.com/document/0X9KkdQJ/Appliance_Repair_Services.html
https://share.zoho.com/preview/writer/685465000000083014/appliance_repair_services
http://www.box.com/s/e5ms3a5duhvte9n4zqig
http://issuu.com/henryjohn34/docs/appliance_repair_services
http://www.calameo.com/books/0004699018b34a74b13b0
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/3361132/appliance-repair-services-doc-december-16-2011-10-50-pm-54k
http://www.wepapers.com/Papers/170344/Appliance_Repair_Services
http://www.gigasize.com/get/s485m5vogkd
http://www.doxtop.com/browse/96533712/appliance-repair-services.aspx
http://www.mediafire.com/?ciyw4482dy3atym
http://www.ziddu.com/download/17839907/Appliance_Repair_Services.doc.html
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/36250372/Appliance_Repair_Services.doc
http://speedy.sh/ChBFG/Appliance-Repair-Services.doc
http://mesendfiles.info/files/gnNd1324054830.html
http://www.largedocument.com/4/5d2c0f69/Appliance_Repair_Services.doc
http://uploadingit.com/file/ylcrcv2z7ucstwx7/Appliance_Repair_Services.doc
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kb1Go8YnHCzaOfSEaWqAeMYnX8h96pKUORofpujcsvQ/edit
http://www.myplick.com/view/6jNtKqnkbS8/Appliance-Repair-Services
http://www.viewdocsonline.com/document/sgzpdj
http://www.crocko.com/6B8A3E8E69FE448B90DB88104BD7FF9F/Appliance_Repair_Services.doc
No comments:
Post a Comment