This article in Wired this morning reports that although the number of channels the average American receives in their homes has jumped substantially in the last decade, the variety of owners has not increased nearly as much and that most of the ownership is still centered in a relatively small …

An excellent, but lengthy article on CNET provides some food for thought on Apple's Apple Music service, Microsoft's future in the area, some of the sour grapes by the "we were here first but nobody talks about us" crowd, and provides an interesting chart on who the author …

Listen.com, the music service of Real Networks (the service's name is really Rhapsody) has dropped its pricing to $0.79/track for burning to CD. According to the article on Wired, the company ran a promotion earlier this year, which led it to the conclusion that the lower price …

I'm not so much interested by the music as I am by the way that the catalog has been done, but Pearl Jam is now offering a huge number of "albums" (75), many that are actually concert recordings, by date, of their 2000 tour. Each individual song is available for …

Taking its cue from the Creative Commons folks (dedicated to a strong open source model), the folks at OpSound have created a library of open source sound and music, free for use and modification as long as it is attributed and the eventual software/movie/music is released under the …

Bruce Almighty is a new film with Jim Carrey that centers around a TV reporter whose life isn't going as he has planned. It's hardly new territory from the standpoint of the over-driven, uptight character who blames everyone else (including God) for his own misfortunes. In this case, God decides …

An article on CNET reports that Microsoft is preparing to enhance their existing DRM capabilities in Windows Media Player in order to compete better against Apple's new service. The enhancements will allow restricted-rights tunes to be downloaded to music players compatible with Microsoft's DRM capabilities (in other words, the industry-leading …

Film industry users of Apple's Keynote presentation product will be happy to see that Keynote Pro has released a new theme just for them. Pitchboards is designed to provide users with all they need to present a movie, TV, or video idea.

I kept hearing good buzz about Bend It Like Beckham, so with Bruce Almighty set to join The Matrix:Reloaded in theaters tomorrow, I decided that I needed to see it before it went to the small theaters. Good choice: this movie is a little gem. Bend It Like Beckham …

I was reading an blog entry where William Gibson has posted a copy of his speech to the DGA (Director's Guild of America) about music, film, technology and the possible future of mass media and was pleased, although not surprised, to find it hitting the same notes about the future …

According to an article on CNET, Amazon and Microsoft have entered into an agreement by which Amazon will provide music samples via Windows Media Player 9.

An article in Rolling Stone brings up some interesting points about the Apple's new music service. Among them: at the current rate of sales, more money is made at retail selling Vinyl records than Apple will give to the music companies (although the stats are interesting, because I can't …

I was sure that I'd seen it before, but then I couldn't find it, the elusive "Just Added" page on the iTunes Music Store. The key is to go to a genre first, and then you will see the Just Added link and can see what has been added in …

According to a Yahoo Yahoo article, self-destructing DVDs (seen first last year for review-copies of the movie Die Another Day) are finally going to make it to rentals. But, what does it mean? More convenience? More pollution? Less freedom? I like the concept of the new format. The disk physically …

Yes, it's a sequel, so I shouldn't expect much. But, unlike the first one, they spent a hideous amount of money promoting it as the end-all, be-all of movies and so I think any over-expectations were the responsibility of those who wrote/directed/produced the film. Note: I didn't say …

The judge in San Francisco who is mulling over the 321 Studios case against the movie industry over their DVD copying software appeared to be trying to see both sides of the argument today. On some issues, such as whether the software is in violation of the DMCA, she seemed …

In the quarter just reported, Yahoo! is stating that 19% of their earnings came from their deal with Overture to provide paid-for search results. An article on CNET provides some further analysis from industry experts.

The freelancing discussion was more interesting. The panel was a little slow to start, but the moderator engaged them perfectly and within the first ten minutes they were rapidly exchanging opposing views on the subject. Unfortunately, the moderator's otherwise flawless start was marred by switching to audience questions when there …

CNET reports that the case between DVD X-Copy manufacturer 321 Studios and the big movie studios is heading to court Thursday. An article on this site pointed out the tactics of the company.

A story on BBC News reports that the MPA is starting to go after sites that post song lyrics. So, if you have been trying to figure out what song that is that you keep hearing on your radio, better look soon or you will miss your opportunity to find …