New Facebook Insights…
Facebook has added a ton of extra information to Insights. One notable change being the number of unique people who have viewed your posts rather than the total number of impressions.
They’re starting to roll the new Insights out to Pages now so the best way to see what’s changed is to explore the information given for your page. One thing I’ve noticed so far though is how slow Post Insights are in comparison to the old system—taking up to 48 hours at the moment to give any Insights information at all!
READ this piece over at Zesty Media for a bit more information on how it all works
Shiv Singh, Global Head of Digital at PepsiCo Beverages writes about the changing role of the the TV ad and how in the future it will drive more engagement digitally:
“According to a recent study, 60% of television viewers also look at their mobile phones while watching TV shows. 33% have their laptops open in front of them and most interestingly, iPad owners spend the most time in front of the TV with their tablet than any other activity. It makes sense for TV advertisements to be thought of as an element in a broader narrative arch for the brand - a narrative arch that allows the brand to tell a more complete and a more interactive story. But what are the implications for marketers today? I see six key changes.
1. In the future, no television advertisement will be just self-contained narratives designed to entertain, inform, educate or remind consumers about products.
2. Fewer and fewer advertisers will start their strategic marketing planning with a television advertisement in mind.
3. Location-based digital experiences will be the new driver of television advertising.
4. Media planning will change, as social signals will heavily influence media-planning decisions.
5. Being ready for digital participation in real-time becomes the new imperative for marketers.
6. Reflecting digital culture through television will become a priority for brands”
READ the list in more detail over on Harvard Business Review
LoveFilm shows an exclusive livestream of Take That’s ‘Progress Live’ DVD
VISIT LoveFilm
“From Audi and AlmapBBDO in Brazil, and it reimagines “Click to Unlock” as a winding racetrack. For users who play along and circle the track, the ad opens an app for Audi’s iPad magazine. Simple and clever. Via @luckthelady.”
READ more on AdWeek
Rolling Stones Archive makes the most of a 50 year catalogue with music, trivia, memorabilia and more
“The Rolling Stones have unlocked the door to their archive, full of music, film and memorabilia from their incredible, almost 50 year career. At www.StonesArchive.com you can listen to unheard music, view unseen photographs and films, and look at rare merchandise. Fans have the opportunity to buy items such as signed lithographs, deluxe box sets, even personalized merchandise and tour gear in our shop”
VISIT stonesarchive.com
There’s also an album being released to coincide with the launch of the site:
“In conjunction with the debut of StonesArchive.com, the British rockers have released as a digital download an official bootleg album titled The Brussels Affair. The 15-track recording captures the band on its 1973 European tour in support of their Goat’s Head Soup album”
READ more on 95.5 KLOS
GOOGLE MUSIC LAUNCHES! (U.S. only)
“Google Music will offer more 13 million songs from artists on Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI, and the global independent rights agency Merlin as well as over 1,000 independent labels including Merge Records, Warp Records, Matador Records, XL Recordings and Naxos. Google has also partnered with the world’s largest digital distributors of independent music including IODA, INgrooves, The Orchard and Believe Digital. However, the service will not feature tracks from Warner Music.
Google Music will let users access music from various Internet-connected devices and easily share tracks with friends. The search and information giant encodes tunes as 320Kbps MP3s, surpassing Apple’s iTunes and other digital music sellers.
Users will be able to purchase individual songs or entire albums right from their computer or their Android device and they’ll be added instantly to their Google Music library, and accessible anywhere. Google Music will automatically sync a users’ music library - both purchases and uploads - across all his or her devices.”
READ more on CDRinfo
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STREAM & STORE
Unlike Apple Cloud / iTunes Match etc Google Music will allow you to store (up to 20k tracks) and stream any track you own for free on any device. The only time you’ll need to pay for anything is when you purchase new tracks.
” “The Google Music service will continue to be free,” Jamie Rosenberg, Google’s head of digital content for Android, said. “Other cloud music services think you have to pay to stream music you own - we don’t.”
Introducing the service today (Wednesday) in Los Angeles, he said the service lets users upload about 20,000 songs into cloud storage and play them on any computer, even in iOS, or on an Android smartphone running version 2.2 or better.
There’s no charge for using the service, but data fees could be an issue unless you are one of the shrinking minority with unlimited data plans.”
READ more on The Register
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DISCOVERY
There’s also some nice features to make music discover and re-discovery easier:
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ARTIST HUB
“But perhaps the biggest piece of news revealed by Google about the new service is its intention to give smaller, virtually unknown music artists a direct route to distribute their music to fans (provided that they own the rights to their work).
The new music service includes an Artist Hub feature, which lets up-and-coming musicians set up a profile that allows them to upload songs, set prices, link directly to music clips or videos and more. The Artist Hub profile costs $25 — the same amount as an Android developer account.
Those artists keep 70 percent of the revenue from each sale and gain access to detailed financial and promotional analytics. The Artist Hub is a far cry from what Myspace started to accomplish with its own music profiles in 2008. However, unlike previous Myspace owner News Corp., Google isn’t trying to retain the copyright to anything that gains popularity on its site. The move by Google also seriously damage’s Myspace’s future plans to remake itself as a music-focused social network.”
READ more on Venture Beat
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…AND THE UK?
Google Music is currently only open in the U.S. but it is coming to the UK soon, apparently. For a more UK-centric perspective have a READ of this article on Mobile Choice UK:
“when it does finally launch here, it will be a huge weapon in the armoury of Google when it comes to selling the Android platform to consumers.”
For a critical perspective on all this, check out Mark Mulligan’s article, ‘Why Facebook Is The Real Winner With Google’s Mediocre Music Strategy’
VISIT Google Music
Carter Gibson spoke to Googler, Tae E Kim, and managed to gether some facts on what’s coming from Google+. Here’s a few of the most relevant points:
“1) In 6 months Google+ is going to look like a different product as it integrates with other Google poducts
2) Multiple administrators for brand pages coming in Q1 2012
5) To be a verified brand you need to put the G+ badge on your website and a lot of followers. Google will do the rest.
6) Google isn’t going to wait for a product to be fully baked before releasing because if they did it would stifle innovation (thats why it’s the Google+ project not product)
7) AdWords is coming to Google+ but monetizing is not a priority now, will use Ripples
8) 100% functionality is a main goal for mobile
11) Search with a “+” Google to find pages or people”
READ the full list on Google+
Google+ adds trending topics
“What’s interesting, though, is that the new features go deeper than just showing trends. If you dig around a bit further, you’ll also see that you can now filter your search results to show you what everyone is saying, just your circles, or what you’ve said about a subject.
When it comes down to a matter of being useful, both of these are huge steps from the Google+ team. It’s interesting to note, however, that some commenters on Lusk’s post are saying that this is the death of Twitter, at least for their own use. But it’s also notable that more than a few people are asking for Google+ to add the Trends results to the main page, which would lead us to believe that people are really starting to look for more topics with which to interact on the service.”
READ more on The Next Web
“HMV QR Store.
If you’re going to go to the effort of downloading a QR reader then why not just download a HMV app? Or visit the mobile webstore?
Still its all very 2.0 and all that.”
Google+ introduces Ripples so you can see how popular content spreads
“There’s something deeply satisfying about sharing on Google+, then watching the activity unfold. Comments pour in, notifications light up, friends share with friends (who share with their friends), and in no time at all there’s an entire community around your post. We want to help people re-live those conversations—both to rekindle that initial excitement, and to learn how posts flow across the network. That’s why we’re launching Google+ Ripples: a visualization tool for public shares and comments.
To get started, just find a public post that interests you, and select “View Ripples.” From there you can replay its activity, zoom in on certain events, identify top contributors and much more. Google+ Ripples is still experimental, so let us know how we can make it more informative and more awesome”
READ more on The Next Web or on Google
![“The X Factor: Social media and the live shows – Week 4 [infographic]
Although neither Sophie nor Misha B were clear favourites, they were certainly in the top of the pack and being in the bottom two was a shock. Many reasons have been flying backwards and forwards in the aftermath of Sophie’s early exit from the show, with Gary Barlow reportedly blaming Tulisa for Misha B’s appearance in the bottom (referring to Tulisa criticising Misha live on air for her supposed treatment of other contestants backstage). Other reasons include that Kelly wasn’t there to support her acts and that her replacement, Alexandra Bourke rubbing viewers up the wrong way. Another reason, and probably the most likely, is that their supporters thought they would be safe, so wouldn’t need to vote for them this week.
Whatever the reason, it certainly couldn’t have been predicted by looking how the social media figures stack up. Looking at how the contestants had been performing over the previous three weeks in a social media environment, Kitty, Rhythmix or Johnny were likely to fall below the safety zone. Sophie particularly, has been at the top (or very close to it) right across social media; from the speed of growth of her Facebook and Twitter profiles, to the number of views of her YouTube videos and so on. We’ll continue to watch how her social channels perform throughout the rest of the competition now she is out of the running.”
READ more on The Wall Blog](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lui91qmykI1qak8i7o1_500.jpg)
“The X Factor: Social media and the live shows – Week 4 [infographic]
Although neither Sophie nor Misha B were clear favourites, they were certainly in the top of the pack and being in the bottom two was a shock. Many reasons have been flying backwards and forwards in the aftermath of Sophie’s early exit from the show, with Gary Barlow reportedly blaming Tulisa for Misha B’s appearance in the bottom (referring to Tulisa criticising Misha live on air for her supposed treatment of other contestants backstage). Other reasons include that Kelly wasn’t there to support her acts and that her replacement, Alexandra Bourke rubbing viewers up the wrong way. Another reason, and probably the most likely, is that their supporters thought they would be safe, so wouldn’t need to vote for them this week.
Whatever the reason, it certainly couldn’t have been predicted by looking how the social media figures stack up. Looking at how the contestants had been performing over the previous three weeks in a social media environment, Kitty, Rhythmix or Johnny were likely to fall below the safety zone. Sophie particularly, has been at the top (or very close to it) right across social media; from the speed of growth of her Facebook and Twitter profiles, to the number of views of her YouTube videos and so on. We’ll continue to watch how her social channels perform throughout the rest of the competition now she is out of the running.”
READ more on The Wall Blog
— Phillip Torrone , ‘Zen and the Art of Making’, MAKE
“Vitrue research into Facebook fans
Vitrue have produced a really useful bit of research outlining how the demographics of Facebook overall are markedly different from the sub-group who like Pages, who tend to be younger and predominantly women. In the case of consumer packaged goods Pages, the fans skew even more female but are slightly older.”
(via We Are Social)
READ the research over on Vitrue
“Trend for dual-screen viewing continues
According to a YouGov survey more than three quarters of UK viewers now use other media whilst watching TV, with 43% of them commenting on social media whilst watching programmes on TV.”
(via We Are Social)
Mark Mulligan’s putting up some free reports on his blog. So far you can get hold of ones on Agile Music and the Socially Integrated Web, with more to come. I’ve not had a chance to read through / summarise learnings from these yet so if anyone wants to have a go, feel free!
READ more on Music Industry Blog
