Last week YouTube launched about 53 paid subscription channels, which start at as little as $0.99. But will they succeed? Paid Content posted an insightful article last week suggesting that the paid channels that succeed will likely be similar to the free premium channels that made the cut when YouTube axed a good chunk of them late last year. Successful examples included brands/channels with a dedicated fan base and channels with quality niche content. Read more about what it might take for YouTube's paid channel subscriptions to succeed here.

In what is a great example of a brand using new media to connect with fans, Carnival Cruise Lines recently worked with Spotify to launch a custom music playlist called "Carnival Cruise Tunes". The successful campaign, which included 4 hours of vacation themed music ...

This week the highly anticipated new Daft Punk album, Random Access Memories, debuted as a free stream on iTunes, a week in advance of the album release. This was an incredibly successful move for both the band and iTunes – for Daft Punk, the early release ...

After much speculation, Google's highly anticipated music-streaming service debuted yesterday at the I/O conference in San Francisco. The service, called "Google Play Music All Access", launched in the U.S. yesterday for $9.99/month, and features "millions of songs you ...

Despite significant growth in recent years from competitors like Hulu, Amazon, and HBO, Netflix's primetime traffic continues to remain largely unaffected. The site continues to account for about a third (32.3%) of Internet primetime "downstream" traffic in North American ...

Last week BitTorrent announced that they will be launching a new kind of legal torrent format, the BitTorrent Bundle. The Bundle, which offers creators an opportunity to distribute and profit from their work independently, will include free content and act "as a ...

On Thursday last week, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that on-demand streams will now be incorporated into the formula used to certify Gold and Platinum awards. The streaming services accepted by the RIAA include Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody ...

Many in the cable industry have been resistant to the video-on-demand (VOD) trend. When viewers stray from network and basic cable channels, providers worry that crucial advertising revenue will be lost from lack of viewership, and that consumers will be less willing ...

It was reported this week that YouTube will be launching its much talked about subscription model for video channels soon, potentially as early as this week. According to Mashable, about 50 specialized channels with premium content will be included in the service, ...

This week Demi Lovato and her camp did something a bit novel to promote her new album – they offered fans the chance to unlock songs from her upcoming album a week before its debut if they "tweeted like crazy". The instructions were simply to retweet (in hashtag ...