[Cc-hk] Google offers free music to China

Joichi Ito jito at neoteny.com
Thu Aug 7 01:58:05 EDT 2008


/poke Andrew

On 7 Aug 2008, at 14:53, Rebecca MacKinnon wrote:

> Seems like a no-brainer, doesn't it?
>
> R
>
> On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 1:50 PM, Joichi Ito <jito at neoteny.com> wrote:
> Can we get CC music in this somehow?
>
> - Joi
>
> On 7 Aug 2008, at 14:04, Rebecca MacKinnon wrote:
>
>> http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/08/google-offers-m.html
>> Google offers free music to China
>>
>> 5:50 PM, August 6, 2008
>>
>> In China, Baidu is the powerhouse, the "it" girl, the search engine  
>> to beat. It's a treasure trove of music, most of it illegal. But  
>> Google may have found a way to increase its market share there --  
>> offering free music legally.
>>
>> The U.S. search giant launched a beta version of a Chinese music  
>> service called Music Onebox, which is available only in China at www.google.cn 
>> .
>>
>> "We are launching Music Onebox to give users an easy and legal way  
>> to find the music they're looking for, and to give music labels and  
>> publishers a new channel to distribute, promote and make money off  
>> of their valuable music content," said a Google spokesperson.
>>
>> The way it works: When visitors to Google's home page search for  
>> artists or bands, they are directed to www.top100.cn, a music site,  
>> to download or stream music. The site has financial backing from  
>> basketball wonder Yao Ming. Yes, the very tall one.
>>
>> Google said it would not share in the money made off of ads on the  
>> music service. Instead, the ad money would be split between www.top100.cn 
>>  and the music labels and publishers.
>>
>> The new service is a direct challenge to Baidu, at a time when  
>> Baidu is under increasing pressure to pay up for facilitating music  
>> piracy, says ArsTechnica. At the moment, the selection on top100 is  
>> limited, says Music 2.0.
>>
>> Google's Music Onebox is the YouTube model all over again, said  
>> Brian Zisk, executive producer of the SanFran MusicTech Summit and  
>> technologies director of the Future of Music Coalition: Make itself  
>> the center of media and then try to figure out how to monetize it.  
>> Except in this case, Google is using the lure of free music to draw  
>> people to Google.
>>
>> "They are establishing their presence there," Zisk said. "One way  
>> or another, they can turn it into money."
>>
>> If Music Onebox works in China, why not here?
>>
>> In the U.S., such a service is unthinkable right now because the  
>> U.S. market still pays some of the music industry's bills. But in  
>> China, not so. The music industry is willing to gamble there  
>> because it says to itself, " 'Well, we're not making money in China  
>> anyway,' " Zisk said.
>>
>> -- Michelle Quinn
>>
>> Image of the Chinese music site top100.cn
>>
>> Permalink	| Comments (0) 	 		
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> HELP DISASTER VICTIMS IN SICHUAN AND MYANMAR:
>> http://relief.asia
>>
>> Rebecca MacKinnon
>> Assistant Professor, Journalism & Media Studies Ctr.
>> University of Hong Kong (http://jmsc.hku.hk)
>> E-mail: rmack at hku.hk | Tel: +852-2219-4005
>> Blog: http://RConversation.blogs.com
>> Co-founder: http://GlobalVoicesOnline.org
>> "The world is talking. Are you listening?"
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>
>
>
>
> -- 
> HELP DISASTER VICTIMS IN SICHUAN AND MYANMAR:
> http://relief.asia
>
> Rebecca MacKinnon
> Assistant Professor, Journalism & Media Studies Ctr.
> University of Hong Kong (http://jmsc.hku.hk)
> E-mail: rmack at hku.hk | Tel: +852-2219-4005
> Blog: http://RConversation.blogs.com
> Co-founder: http://GlobalVoicesOnline.org
> "The world is talking. Are you listening?"

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