Mediagazer: Streaming Subscriptions Are Now a Billion-Dollar Business, but Music Sales Stall (Peter Kafka/Re/code)

8:55 PM ET, March 18, 2014

Top News:

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

Introducing ‘AnonyWatch’: Tracking Nameless Quotations in The Times — This post is the inaugural edition of an effort to point out some of the more regrettable examples of anonymous quotations in The Times. I've written about this from time to time, as have my predecessors, to no little or no avail.

Discussion: Mediaite, FishbowlNY, @jayrosen_nyu, Politico, @emptywheel, @nickfoxnyt, @dangillmor, @antderosa and @mattbai

Tim Kenneally / The Wrap:

ABC News Affiliate Helicopter Crash in Seattle Leaves 2 Dead — A crash involving a KOMO news helicopter in Seattle has left two dead and one in critical condition, the Seattle fire department said Tuesday morning. — The incident, which occurred near the Seattle Space Needle, also involved three car fires, the department added.

Andrew Beaujon / @abeaujon:
KING5 reporting it was “two of our colleagues at KOMO” who died in the crash. http://bit.ly/hE9w6u

Discussion: NWCN, KIRO-TV, Detroit Free Press and Gawker

Benjamin Wallace-Wells / New York Magazine:

Why Do We Expect So Much From Nate Silver? — “It is time for us to start making the news a little nerdier,” Nate Silver announced in an essay, written in a Red Bull—aided last-minute cram session, which aimed to explain the philosophy behind his new ESPN-housed data journalism venture, FiveThirtyEight, which launched this week.

Discussion: New York Times, @jayrosen_nyu, @themarkberman, @nymag, @chadwickmatlin, Talking Points Memo, @edmundlee, @moorehn, @thestalwart, Politico, PandoDaily, NetNewsCheck Latest, @rwhwang, Gigaom, The Huffington Post and FishbowlDC

Ben Thompson / stratechery:
Average journalism gets crowded out as the internet eases delivery of the best journalism

Discussion: Guardian, @karaswisher, @mathewi, WordPress.com VIP, Kirk LaPointe's … and @jayrosen_nyu

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Washington Post goes national by offering free digital access to readers of local newspapers — In 1980, The New York Times launched a daily national edition that, despite a significant upfront investment, turned into a position of strength; today, more than half of the Times' print subscribers are outside New York.

Discussion: Financial Times, Washington Post, PandoDaily, Gigaom, @raju, AdAge, @mattdpearce, The Incidental Economist, @dbrauer, @amzam, @losowsky, @jbenton, The Verge, @caseymcdermott, @jayrosen_nyu, @heyfeifer, @postbaron and @eramshaw

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Streaming Subscriptions Are Now a Billion-Dollar Business, but Music Sales Stall — Music subscription services have been around for a long time. Now they're finally a real business: Companies like Spotify, Deezer and even Google generated more than $1.1 billion in music subscription revenue last year.

Discussion: @jyarow

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:
Pandora raises One price to $4.99 per month for new subscribers and scraps annual option, blames royalty rates

Discussion: Pandora Blog, TechCrunch, Bloomberg and CNET

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

What Viacom Has to Show for Seven Years of Pursuing YouTube (Analysis) — The content giant has spent millions of dollars to shape copyright law. — In a Manhattan courtroom on Monday, an attorney for one of the nation's biggest copyright holders delivered closing arguments in a trial meant …

Discussion: Plagiarism Today

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Google and Viacom Settle Copyright-Infringement Lawsuit over YouTube

Discussion: Re/code, The Wrap, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, CNET, Techdirt, Hollywood Reporter, Lost Remote, Gigaom and VentureBeat

Bill Carter / New York Times:

CNN's Ratings Surge With Coverage of the Mystery of the Missing Airliner — On CNN, the plane rises from misty clouds accompanied by an eerie background score while anchors offer intriguing details — some new, some days old — of the disappearance of Flight 370.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Fox News, Erik Wemple, TVNewser, The Daily Caller, @mlcalderone, Los Angeles Times, Change of Subject, @wesleylowery, @grahamwjenkins, @mattbors, Inside Cable News, New York Magazine, Deadline.com and Mediaite

Sam Kirkland / Poynter:

AP's White House staff: Press losing presidential access as Obama officials close doors — AP's White House correspondent Julie Pace and its chief White House photographer Charles Dharapak warned colleagues on Tuesday that once the press loses its access to the president, it cannot be recovered.

Discussion: ap.org

Bekah Grant / Medium:

Confessions of an ex-tech journalist — 20 months, 1,740+ articles, and countless pitches later, I've got some truths to tell — I know how a gazelle feels. There you are, working hard out on the savanna and then BAM! The predators descend, chasing you across the plains, licking their lips …

Discussion: Professional Blog, @lalwanivikas, @robinwauters, @bekahgrant, @alexisohanian, @rafat, @tomgara and @chrissyfarr

Guardian:

Guardian wins Scripps Howard Foundation award for NSA reporting — Organisation receives Roy W Howard award for public service reporting, while New York Times and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also win — The Guardian's revelations about the scale of surveillance on American citizens …

Discussion: Washington Post, TheHill, FishbowlNY, GNM press office and PandoDaily

Erik Wemple:

Los Angeles Times and its fired investigative reporter: A critical look — Jason Felch has spent the past 10 years working as an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He was a 2006 Pulitzer Prize finalist for highlighting mismanagement at the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Discussion: @kateaurthur and @erikwemple

Cal Borchers / BetaBoston:

Northeastern University receives $250K from Knight Foundation for new media innovation course — Who invited them? Innovation party crashers keep coming as Northeastern launches new journalism program — First the musicians, now the reporters. Sorry, tech types. There's another crasher at your innovation party.

Discussion: Knight Foundation, @bostonabrams, @niemanlab and @dangillmor

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Charged Sun journalist: ‘Alarming’ police crackdown has made reporters ‘fearful’ of contact with public officials — A Sun journalist facing trial for ‘conspiracy to cause misconduct in public office’ has highlighted the plight of the many UK journalists caught up in criminal investigations prompted by the hacking scandal.

Discussion: @neilwallis1, @domponsford and @gazthejourno

Michael Holden / Reuters:
PM Cameron's ex-media chief agreed to fund hacking - court

Discussion: ITV, The Independent, BBC and Guardian

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Big names back press regulation underpinned by royal charter — More than 200 - from JK Rowling to Rowan Williams - feature in Hacked Off ad supporting watchdog rejected by publishers — More than 200 leading figures from the arts and academia, including writers, film-makers, actors …

Discussion: Press Gazette and Guardian

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Amazon's Set Top Box Will Be A Dongle Like Chromecast, Could Feature OnLive-Style Streaming — Amazon is readying a game console/set top box of its own, and we've learned from multiple sources familiar with the device that the Lab126-produced gadget will have a form factor similar to the Chromecast …

Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon to Ship Video-Streaming Device in April

Discussion: AppleInsider, Ubergizmo, Cult of Mac, Business Insider, CNET, VG247, The Verge and Electronista

Tara Conlan / Guardian:

Nearly 150 MPs supporting decriminalising non-payment of BBC license fee — Support grows for decriminalising non-payment of licence fee — Almost 150 MPs back amendment to deregulation bill, despite BBC saying it would cost up to £200m a year in lost revenue

Discussion: BBC and ConservativeHome

Australian Associated Press:

Interim Egyptian president will ‘spare no effort’ to have Peter Greste released — Adly Mansour promises a ‘speedy resolution’ that would see jailed journalists freed from jail — Egypt's interim president, Adly Mansour, says he “will spare no effort” to quickly resolve the case of jailed Australian journalist Peter Greste.

Discussion: @hchuaeoan and The Huffington Post