Music Ownership Beats Music Subscription in Reader Poll

In last week’s Faceoff Series we asked about music consumption models: Do Mashable readers prefer to own their entire music collections or do some of you gravitate toward subscription services?

One week later and the results are in: Ownership wins the day at a full 50% of the vote. Of all our past Faceoffs, though, this edition had one of the highest “tie” votes constituting people who really like both models. The music subscription model still came in second place behind ownership at 28% of the vote, but the “Tie: I like them both!” option was very close behind at 22%.

The results seem to indicate both a growing contingent of folks warming up to the idea of music subscription services, and the idea that there could be room in the market for both approaches to be sustainable business models. Which option got your vote in our poll, and why? Let us know in the comments!

Who would win in a fight: Music subscription, or music ownership?(poll)

Tags: music, polls, social media, subscription, web faceoff

Twins Discover Teenage Brother’s Death on Facebook

This isn’t the way you should learn about the death of your 17 year old brother.

According to Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph, twins Angela and Maryanne Vourlis had just woken up on their 20th birthday. Like most young adults, they logged onto Facebook to check their walls and inboxes for birthday greetings.

Instead of finding happy birthday wishes, the two twins found messages of “RIP Bobby” (their brother) and “RIP Chris Naylor” (a friend of his) all across their Facebook news feeds. Completely shocked, baffled, and hurt, the two rang their brother’s phone in the hopes it was a mistake. It was to no avail.

Next, they rang their mother. While she didn’t receive any word from the police or others about Bobby or Chris Naylor, she did know that Bobby was with his friend that night. After a call to the police, they confirmed what they had learned on Facebook: that Bobby Vourlis was dead. He passed away along with Chris Naylor in a fatal car accident that also took the life of a third teenage passenger.

You can read the whole heartbreaking story over at the Daily Telegraph, but it’s clear that the real-time nature of the web spread information far faster than even the police or phone calls could. While we understand it takes time to identify victims and send an officer to a residence to inform family of the news, the process can simply take too long in today’s world.

We offer our condolences to both families for the tragedy they are enduring. We could not imagine learning about it the way they did.

[via CNET]

Tags: Brothers, death, facebook, Twins

From “Eraserhead” to MMS: David Lynch Goes Mobile

Award-winning director (and three-time Oscar nominee) David Lynch (of Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks fame) and the David Lynch Foundation Television have teamed up with mobile video marketer Mogreet to bring video MMS messages to Lynch fans.

We spoke with Mogreet and the David Lynch Foundation about the technology, the purpose of the campaign and how the DLF is using social media and technology to further its message.

Spreading a Message With Mobile Video

The ever-increasing pace of smartphone adoption only underscores the growing importance of mobility. As we’ve seen with everything from mobile app stores to the Red Cross’s text message for Haiti campaign, mobile is an extremely valuable platform for brands and nonprofits to get their messages across.

Video is an important communication driver, too, and when you combine the two technologies together, you end up with something potentially amazing.

Last month, we wrote about Thwapr, a company that specializes in doing mobile-to-mobile video. We see mobile video messaging as something that’s only going to continue to grow, especially as more and more companies realize just how many users are able to actually view video on their phones.

One of the companies that is really focused on mobile video marketing is Mogreet. Mogreet works with companies so that they can send video MMS messages to users that request their information. Because virtually every mobile phone sold since 2005 or so can support MMS messages that include video playback, the potential audience for these sorts of messages is huge.

I spoke with James Citron, the CEO of Mogreet, and he told me that the company has more than 2,700 device profiles in its database, meaning that if you have a cell phone, chances are, it can play one of Mogreet’s video MMS messages. Each video is encoded in a variety of different formats and it is sent to phones in the best format for that phone, so that users of an iPhone get a different experience than someone using a Motorola Razr, but each user gets the best possible experience for his or her device.

While this has primarily been used for commercial advertisers, Mogreet is interested in getting into the non-profit space too, because that’s perhaps an even better market for this sort of service. Think about it, what if you could donate and then get a video message back showing someone who is helped by your donation saying thanks? Or what if you could see what is going on in Haiti or some other place that needs aid? The non-profit organization’s message might be that much more powerful. After all, images often speak louder than words.

To that end, Mogreet decided to work with the David Lynch Foundation and bring some of Lynch’s talents — and messages — to his fans.

David Lynch Goes Mobile

The David Lynch Foundation Television is dedicated to documenting programs that awaken creativity and transform lives. To that end, the foundation has a website, DLF.TV, that has lots of video content of David Lynch and of people the Foundation has helped, as well as of other artists and friends who have support the Foundation’s vision.

The first mobile video message that the DLF will be sending to fans is of a short film that Lynch directed featuring the musician and artist Ariana Delawari. Delawari’s debut album, Lion of Panjshir was recorded in Kabul and Los Angeles, and reflects the cultures of both places. Delawari’s decision to return to Afghanistan in 2007 to record the album influenced her work and its overall sound. Like Lynch, Delawari is a student of transcendental mediation and like Lynch, it has also influenced her life and her work.

Lynch directed a six-minute short showing off Delawari’s style and voice. The style is unmistakable Lynch, from the background to the sound mix to the camera angles. It’s also a piece that works well when viewing on the web or on a mobile phone.

To spread the word about Delawari — and to kick off a mobile-type of initiative — fans can text ‘LYNCH’ to 647338.

It’s an interesting approach to spread a message from an always-interesting director. It’s also something we expect to be a growing trend, especially as nonprofits start to embrace the power of mobile.

What do you think about mobile video? Are you a fan of David Lynch? What do you think of this initiative? Let us know!

Reviews: video

Tags: david lynch, MMS, Mobile 2.0, video, video messaging, web video

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