Oscar Buzz: Who's ahead in this year's key races?
the everybodyfields - "Worth Keeping"
Album Stream: Listen to Mindy Smith's Christmas album My Holiday
As streaming films became more commonplace online, the drive was to offer the highest-profile titles possible to entice consumers to the new format. But Netflix and other providers seem to have concluded that the titles themselves are only half the allure, and have also focused on new platforms—streaming video for TiVo users, in one instance.
Peter Gabriel knows what you like (in your wardrobe), and he's gonna prove it too. And really, who doesn't like free music? 
In recent years, surrealist old hand David Lynch has proved that the reckless talent at the helm of Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart is still very much in the game. Inland Empire (2006) and especially Mulholland Drive (2001) were two of the director’s most madly inspired visions, and now ON Networks (via Pop Candy) has commissioned the director to produce a new web series.
Oftentimes after stumbling back from a Hold Steady show (or related debauchery), liquor still swelling in our veins, we commit the faux pas of drunk dialing someone. Sure, it might feel good at the time to tell the boss what you really think about "Hawaiian Fridays," or to sob uncontrollably with your ex and plead that you just want to talk to them (honest), but odds are it's a decision you'll regret in the morning.
He's got game like Stuart. Scott. Fresh out the ESPN shop. You might not know that Lil Wanye recently became a blogger for the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, but with the best-selling album of the year in his back pocket, Weezy has plenty of time to to devote to swag-offs and writing thesis-length analyses of pro football (dude has ESPN tattooed on his arm, for cryin' out loud).
In a progression that surprised almost no one, Apple's iTunes store will not close down, as threatened, due to royalty fee hikes. The Copyright Royalty Board's Oct. 2 ruling against the increase has been highly anticipated since 2007 testimony from iTunes Vice President Eddy Cue claimed that the popular music platform "most likely would not continue to operate if it were no longer possible to do so profitably."
In what is sure to be another chapter in the Miltonian clash between online music retailers and the folks who supply their product, Apple has threatened to shut down its online music store over the National Association of Music Publisher's requested six-cent hike in digital royalties fees, the first increase since the rate was set in 1996. The Copyright Royalty Board is set to pass judgment on the issue this week and Apple is likewise poised to close shop and bring 85 percent of online music sales crashing down around it.
According to the Wall Street Journal, nearly 80 percent of all online music downloads come from Apple's iTunes. So you can't blame MySpace for wanting to challenge the hundred-pound gorilla. As reported earlier, MySpace has been working on what it sees as a challenger to the Apple dominance, culminating with the launch its long-in-the-works MySpace Music site this past Thursday.
How many nights have you found yourself jonesing for a little of Mendelssohn's "Symphony No. 5" (in D major, natch) only to discover that your download site of choice has a dearth of options for the classical listener? If you've ever found yourself in this admittedly unlikely situation, we may have just the website for you. Passionato, the brainchild of music-industry veteran and former conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, James Glicker, officially launched this week. The site's stated aim is to provide "the world's biggest collection of high-quality classical downloads, first in the UK and later worldwide."
Say you find yourself cruising Amazon.com one midnight dreary, browsing new music and scoping out rare EPs, when suddenly you find a band you've never heard of before. You're intrigued, but first you have to do some essential fact-checking to make sure that you're not accidentally copping some Creed cover record (perish the thought). But what a pain! You've got to open a new tab, browse Last.fm, and then refer back to the Amazon page. You call that 21st century technology? We want everything now! You can sleep a little bit easier tonight, brave internaut, because Amazon is about to make multi-tab music browsing a thing of the past.
On Tuesday, Google launched its Google Chrome project in beta in more than 100 countries. The project, which is an open-source web browser, has been rumored for years now. A comic book introducing the project by Scott McCloud (a must-read for the web challenged) was leaked a bit early on the web and was made available by the company itself on Monday.
Online shows like Quarterlife or the stuff they put up on Channel 101 can be new and exciting, but ultimately they lack a certain something that network television has. That certain something is money. But it looks like change is afoot, paradigms are shifting, etc. NBC announced recently that it's producing a straight-to-web television show to be released in a series of easy, bite-sized episodes better fitting to their format.
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Episode 70
August 19, 2008
Mindy Smith - "My Holiday"
Punisher: War Zone
