Digital Digest – October 3, 2013

Breaking Badfinger

Badfinger’s Baby Blue has received a huge rise in sales and streams, after being featured as the closing song in the final episode of the acclaimed Breaking Bad. Spotify announced streams on their service increased 9000% in the 24 hours following, while the track jumped into the iTunes top 20, remaining there for 48 hours The track sold 5,000 copies in the US in the hours following the finale airing. – NJ

YouTube launches Music Awards

YouTube is throwing its virtual hat into the award show ring and will launch the first YouTube Music Awards this November. Google’s online video sharing juggernaut announced the 90-minute live Music Award ceremony will be held at New York City’s Pier 36 on November 3. Filmmaker Spike Jonze – director of Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are as well as music videos for Arcade Fire, Bjork and Beastie Boys – has been recruited as the show’s Creative Director. While actor and musician Jason Schwartzman is set to host.

Lady Gaga, Eminem and Arcarde Fire are among the acts to perform at the event, which will obviously also be live-streamed across the globe. Artists like along Lindsey Stirling and CDZA, who rose to notoriety via YouTube, will also perform.

“We’re setting out to create a night that’s all about making things and creativity in the spirit of everyone that uses YouTube,” said Jonze to The Hollywood Reporter.

“As well as giving out awards, we’ll be making live music videos. The whole night should feel like a YouTube video itself. We’re getting together a group of amazing artists and filmmakers to do this live. Tune in to see what happens live.”

Awards will be presented to winners of six different categories, to be announced late October, based entirely on the videos watched and shared on YouTube in the last year.

The lead up to the show will also include live performances from International locations including Seoul and Moscow. YouTube’s vice president of marketing, Danielle Tiedt told Billboard the focus of the event will be on creating rather than just presenting. “Music is our bread and butter and our heart and soul here at YouTube. Our main goal is to not just do another award show. We wanted to do something special.” – NB

Lauren Mayberry on Chvrches speaks out about the sexually explicit abuse a female artist in the digital age cops.

Mayberry wrote a piece for The Guardian bemoaning the “barrage of sexually explicit abuse” she has to deal with every day due to her band’s hands-on approach in regards to controlling their social media. She writes:

“I absolutely accept that in this industry there is comment and criticism. There will always be bad reviews: such is the nature of a free press and free speech. When you put your work out there, you are accepting the fact that people will comment on it, but it is your choice whether you read it or not.

“What I do not accept, however, is that it is all right for people to make comments ranging from “a bit sexist but generally harmless” to openly sexually aggressive. That it is something that “just happens”. Is the casual objectification of women so commonplace that we should all just suck it up, roll over and accept defeat? I hope not. Objectification, whatever its form, is not something anyone should have to “just deal with”.

“Since we began the Facebook page, I have seen every message – good and bad – that has come into our inbox. Many people involved with our band argued that we should give up maintaining this routine as things got busier and Chvrches’ schedule got tighter, but it is important to me that our fans know we value their interest in us by giving things a personal touch. Perhaps people assume we have a team of fancy PAs who deal with our social networks for us. Maybe the men – and I’m sorry, but they are all men – sending the notifications of impending unsolicited “anal” bothering don’t realise it will actually be me who reads the emails – or maybe they don’t care either way. But in order to get to the messages from people who genuinely wish to share something with the band, I must filter through every condescending and offensive message we receive.”

Read the entire article here:

US service provider shutting down “repeat infringers”

One of America’s largest Internet service provider Comcast have told TorrentFreak they will terminate the account of any users found in breach of “repeated and egregious” copyright infringement.

A spokesperson for the company told the website: “Termination is a requirement of the DMCA and applies to all ISPs, not just Comcast, as a consequence of repeated and egregious copyright infringement.”

Where as other service providers have claimed in the past that they wouldn’t be actively terminating accounts, Comcast are being more proactive about the situation, taking the DMCA statement that they must “implement a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of subscribers and account holders of the service provider’s system or network who are repeat infringers” as carte blanche to define what constitutes a repeat infringer, and act according. – NJ

MCM’s Lachlan Brahe to run ComScore

Lachlane Brahe, who kicked some hefty goals for MCM’s digital platforms as its Commercial Director of Digital for the past 18 months, is leaving. He will become head of global online measurement company ComScore’s Australian and NZ operation. Brahe also moonlights as a musician who has played Big Day Out, Livid and Homebake and toured with Groove Armada, Stereo MCs, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, The Roots, Beastie Boys and Jurassic Five. – CE