Follow Glenn Peoples on Twitter or e-mail him at gpeoples AT billboard.com.
— TubeMogul stats show Twitter is a growing force in online video. The service had a 28.2% increase in average number of streams referred. (TubeMogul did not offer stats on total number of referrals, so it’s impossible to say how powerful Twitter has become relative to Facebook, Yahoo! and Google.) And videos referred from Twitter are watched an average of 2:07, 13 seconds longer than Yahoo! referrals (1:54) and 17 seconds longer than Facebook (1:50). (Mashable)
— LimeWire is putting up a good public relations show – some might call it a plea for mercy – in the period between summary judgment and a June 1 conference with the judge. In an interview with CNET, LimeWire COO says the current challenge is “changing the behavior of a generation of Internet users” and his company wants to help find a solution. Zeeshan Zaidi said LimeWire wants to convert its 50 million users into paying customers by way of a business model that was not described in detail. LimeWire is talking to major labels about licensing their content for just such a service.
The most likely candidate would be the sort of flat-fee, all-you-can eat download service that has become the Holy Grail of digital business models. But such a service is utterly out of reach in today’s climate. And, of course, LimeWire wants to convert all 50 million of its users into paying music customers. Who wouldn’t want 50 million paying customers? Spotify would love to convert more than a low single-digital percentage of its users into paying customers, too, but it is light years from a 100% conversion rate. At least Spotify doesn’t have to worry about the higher royalty rates that would come with a download-based service. (Wired)
— Speaking of converting pirates to payers, a new study says 44% of P2P users in the U.K. would be willing to pay a small monthly fee to use the service legally. About three in five of those polled said £3.00 to £3.50 ($4.30 to $5.02) was a fair price while a quarter said they would pay as much as £14.50 ($20.82) per month. The survey was conducted by Entertainment Media Research and commissioned by media lawyers Wiggin. (Music Week)
— Rebel Digital chairman and CEO Robin Kent is leaving the company. Rebel is leading advertising sales for Qtrax, the legal P2P service (which has so many restrictions and caveats it really shouldn’t be called P2P). So, “by association,” as Kent wrote in a goodbye email, he is leaving Qtrax as well. Qtrax is currently available in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. According to the company’s website, the service will soon be available in seven additional countries, including China and Brazil. The service offers unlimited and free downloads in protected Windows Media Format. (Digital Music News)
— Big Kenny (of Big and Rich) has signed with Scott Simon’s RPM Management. (MusicRow)
— The Orchard has announced partnerships in Asia that will expand its reach by 1.2 billion mobile customers. The digital distributor’s new deals are in Japan, the Middle East, China, Korea and India. (Press release)
