Peer Impact was the name of a pay-for-download file-sharing service created by Wurld Media, Inc.
As the name suggests, it utilized a peer-to-peer distribution system similar to BitTorrent to speed downloads. To compensate users for their bandwidth, Peer Impact paid out cash-credit rewards toward future purchases. Like iTunes, songs on Peer Impact cost $0.99 each. Other media was also available, including radio, video, audio books, and video games.
Peer Impact was launched by Wurld Media in August 2005 with signed digital distribution contracts with four large content providers: Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and EMI. Wurld Media is the first legally sanctioned digital distributor to sign agreements with all four of these content owners. It also had deals with NBC/Universal, 20th Century Fox, and Warner Bros. Pictures to provide video on demand content.
Although Peer Impact used a peer-to-peer architecture, it maintained centralized control of verification and authorization of downloads to ensure that only legal content was exchanged within the network. This was also important to ensure that content redistributors and copyright owners were appropriately compensated.
Wurld Media, Peer Impact's parent company, was acquired for 10 million dollars by the ROO Group on February 26, 2007.
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. Streaming refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content itself.
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of over-the-air programming was the most common form of media distribution. As Internet and IPTV technologies continued to develop in the 1990s, consumers began to gravitate towards non-traditional modes of content consumption, which culminated in the arrival of VOD on televisions and personal computers.
A digital music store is a business that sells digital audio files of music recordings over the Internet. Customers gain ownership of a license to use the files, in contrast to a music streaming service, where they listen to recordings without gaining ownership. Customers pay either for each recording or on a subscription basis. Online music stores generally also offer partial streaming previews of songs, with some songs even available for full length listening. They typically show a picture of the album art or of the performer or band for each song. Some online music stores also sell recorded speech files, such as podcasts, and video files of movies.
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
Digital distribution is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio, video, e-books, video games, and other software. The term is generally used to describe distribution over an online delivery medium, such as the Internet, thus bypassing physical distribution methods, such as paper, optical discs, and VHS videocassettes. The term online distribution is typically applied to freestanding products; downloadable add-ons for other products are more commonly known as downloadable content. With the advancement of network bandwidth capabilities, online distribution became prominent in the 21st century, with prominent platforms such as Amazon Video, and Netflix's streaming service starting in 2007.
A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004 (2001) was a landmark intellectual property case in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the ruling of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, holding that defendant, peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing service Napster, could be held liable for contributory infringement and vicarious infringement of the plaintiffs' copyrights. This was the first major case to address the application of copyright laws to peer-to-peer file sharing.
The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, represent and supply music creators. Among the many individuals and organizations that operate in the industry are: the songwriters and composers who write songs and musical compositions; the singers, musicians, conductors, and bandleaders who perform the music; the record labels, music publishers, recording studios, music producers, audio engineers, retail and digital music stores, and performance rights organizations who create and sell recorded music and sheet music; and the booking agents, promoters, music venues, road crew, and audio engineers who help organize and sell concerts.
SpiralFrog was a very early music streaming service based in New York City that launched in the United States and Canada on September 17, 2007. SpiralFrog offered free and legal music downloads, all supported by advertising, and was the largest site of its kind in North America. On March 19, 2009, SpiralFrog terminated operations due to loan recalls. While SpiralFrog was not successful in the end, it nonetheless helped shaped the digital music industry shift from the purchase to streaming models, and its ultimate revenue recovery
The online service imeem was a social media website where users interacted with each other by streaming, uploading and sharing music and music videos. It operated from 2003 until 2009 when it was shut down after being acquired by MySpace.
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia, program files, documents or electronic books/magazines. It involves various legal aspects as it is often used to exchange data that is copyrighted or licensed.
Thumbplay is a U.S.-based subscription service that allows users to download music, video and games to their cell phones. Users can manage, store and share their mobile content online and on their wireless devices.
Wurld Media was a privately held company based in Saratoga Springs, NY by Gregory Kerber and Kirk Feathers in September 1999.
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia, documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include removable media, centralized servers on computer networks, Internet-based hyperlinked documents, and the use of distributed peer-to-peer networking.
Founded in 2004 in New York City, Pando Networks was a managed peer-to-peer (P2P) media distribution company backed by Intel Capital, BRM Capital and Wheatley Partners. The company specialized in cloud distribution of games, video and software for publishers and media distributors and also operated a freemium consumer business for sending large files.
In the first decade of the 21st century, the rise of digital media on the internet and computers as a central and primary means to record, distribute, store, and play music caused widespread economic changes in the music industry. The rise of digital media with high-speed internet access fundamentally changed the relationships between artists, record companies, promoters, retail music stores, the technology industry, and consumers. The rise of digital music consumption options contributed to several fundamental changes in consumption. One significant change in the music industry was the remarkable decline of conventional album sales on CD and vinyl. With the A la carte sales models increasing in popularity, consumers no longer download entire albums but rather choose single songs.
A music streaming service is a type of streaming media service that focuses primarily on music, and sometimes other forms of digital audio content such as podcasts. These services are usually subscription-based services allowing users to stream digital copyright restricted songs on-demand from a centralized library provided by the service. Some services may offer free tiers with limitations, such as advertising and limits on use. They typically incorporate recommendation engine to help users discover other songs they may enjoy based on their listening history and other factors, as well as the ability to create and share public playlists with other users.
The acquisition of NBCUniversal by Comcast was announced on December 3, 2009, and was completed on March 19, 2013. The acquisition of NBCUniversal by Comcast included the Universal Pictures film and television studio, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), Universal Studio Group, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, NBCUniversal News Group, Universal Brand Development, Universal Parks and Resorts and a 70% stake in Fandango Media. The planned acquisition was subject to scrutiny from activists and government officials; their concerns primarily surrounded the potential effects of the vertical integration that the acquisition could create, as Comcast is also heavily involved in cable television and internet services in many media markets. The deal went through, resulting in Comcast owning 51% of the company until March 2013, when General Electric (GE) divested its stake to give Comcast sole ownership. Comcast and mass media corporation NBCUniversal is headquartered in New York City at the Rockefeller Plaza skyscraper.
Dubset is an online mixed-audio distribution platform that allows DJs to upload, host and share their mixes, podcasts, etc. It assures DJs that the underlying rights holders sampled within the mix will be paid royalties for their works. Dubset is the distribution arm of Dubset Media Holdings, which is based in New York City.
Boomplay or Boomplay Music is a media streaming and download service developed by Transsnet Music Limited. The service was first launched in Nigeria in 2015 by TECNO Mobile, Transsion Holdings. Boomplay has a freemium and subscription based service; basic features are free with advertisements or limitations, while additional features, such as download for offline play and ad-free listening are offered via paid subscriptions. The service is currently available for Web, Android and iOS use. As of August 3, 2018, Boomplay Music recorded 10 million installations off the Google Play App store. It currently has 75 million users.
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