According to Nielsen SoundScan, the Journey track “Don’t Stop Believin’”, originally released in 1981, has become the first catalog digital download in history to reach the 2 million sold milestone.
“Believin’” is at 2.03 million downloads since it reached legal download services in April 2003 and has seen increased popularity through famous placements such as during the final scene of “The Sopranos” and in episodes of “Family Guy” and “Laguna Beach.” The recent addition of a new lead singer and a tour has also helped bring the song back into the spotlight.
“They are one of the most important artists we have,” Sony Music Entertainment Commercial Music Group president John Ingrassia says. “We’re constantly working with the band and our team to create new products or highlight the catalog.”
Ingrassia added, “We always do search engine marketing and promotion through the Web sites of TV shows or other partners, but now we can go to DSPs (digital service providers) and say, ‘We can do a lot more with this if you’ll work with us.’”
Well done Journey.
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According to unnamed entertainment executives talking to CNET, YouTube may be on the verge of streaming full-length major motion films on a new service.
The service would be very similar to the popular Hulu site and would let users watch ad-supported movies in a widescreen format. CNET is under the impression that YouTube is so far into negotiations that a formal launch could happen as soon as January.
The deal would mark a major turnaround for YouTube which has so far mostly refused to host video longer than a few minutes.
The service will most likely only be available via a PC web browser as most web video services insert ads using Flash which most video-enabled devices cannot load.
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Earlier this week, hackers discovered a loophole in the brand new “iPlayer for iPhone” beta service which allowed users to download and save all iPlayer content DRM-free.
The exploit, which was made easy using a Firefox plug-in, meant users could “fool the service into thinking they were accessing the programming (with a different DRM set-up) on an iPhone or iPod touch whilst on a computer.” The shows could then be downloaded with no copyright protection.
The vulnerability has now been closed but the BBC will continue to monitor the situation and look out for future exploits.
“It’s an ongoing, constant process and one which we will continue to monitor. Like other broadcasters, the security of rights-protected content online is an issue we take very seriously,” added the BBC in a statement.
