Following an FCC investigation into the overall industry, Google has slashed the fee for Nexus One owners who decide to drop their contract early.
The early termination fee, or as Google calls it, the “equipment recovery fee,” is now dropped from $350 USD to $150 USD for T-Mobile users who purchased the phone but no longer want their T-Mobile contract. The $150 is on top of the $200 that T-Mobile charges for breaking the contract early.
Says Google: “Google’s overall financial philosophy with regard to operator service plans remains unchanged: We make no profit from commissions from operators or from equipment recovery fees, and our recovery fees are based on operator charges to Google for early termination of service.”
Result for: philosophy
Universal Music Group has announced a new deal with TuneCore, the digital music distribution company.
The agreement, says Jeff Price, founder and CEO of TuneCore, will allow the distribution company to host music for UMG’s labels and artists.
The press release adds that “as an artist’s career grows, they may benefit from having a number of artist-discovery, marketing and upstreaming opportunities within the UMG system.
“Our agreement with TuneCore highlights UMGD’s commitment to a strong sales philosophy and long-term artist development,” notes a UMG spokesperson. “UMGD is uniquely positioned to provide the most flexible and comprehensive digital and physical distribution, sales and marketing services in the industry, all of which results in more profitable opportunities for both our labels and our artists.”
“Honestly, Universal is one of the most forward thinking record labels on the planet,” added Price. “With this deal UMGD has truly changed the rules and the major label model by providing true choice for a musician. If an artist is doing well, there is a direct line through which UMGD can extend its hand or, via the existing TuneCore model, the artist can choose to continue to succeed on their own. It is the continuation of the shift to serve the musician.”
Result for: philosophy
Back in November, YouTube boss Steve Chen promised that the popular video sharing site would begin giving viewers the option to watch some videos in High Definition beginning in March.
As promised, the site has now begun to offer higher definition streams based upon the source file uploaded. The site also promises more videos coming over time.
Users have the option to see the higher definition streams by checking an option in their Account page. Select “always show me higher quality when available” or “never show me higher quality” depending on your personal choice.
The official YouTube blog had this to say about the new video quality. “Our philosophy is to make sure that as many people as possible can access YouTube and that videos start quickly and play smoothly”.
“That’s one reason why you don’t see us racing to call this ‘Super Duper YouTube HD’ because most people don’t want to wait a long time for videos to play.”
