Showbiz Sandbox 67: Cheap Digital Music Downloads Are On (Arcade) Fire

August 17, 2010

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The indie rock group Arcade Fire topped the album charts for the first time in their career with the release of their third album “The Suburbs” which moved more than 156,000 copies in its first week. However more than 97,000 of those albums were sold digitally at significantly reduced prices. Are digital music downloads devaluing music? Todd Martens, a music reporter with the Los Angeles Times, joins us to explain how digital downloads are affecting the music industry.

Speaking of digital media, Netflix entered into a $900 million deal with Epix which will allow them to stream films from Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate starting in September. Meanwhile the popular television streaming website Hulu is rumored to be investigating an IPO.

Sylvester Stallone may have shown up just in time to save Lions Gate with “The Expendables” which came in first at the box office, but “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” proved a disappointment despite earning rave reviews.

During Big Deal or Big Whoop we review all the week’s top entertainment news including “Star Wars” on Blu-Ray, “Spider-Man” on Broadway and “Dragon Tattoo” gets its leading lady. Our Inside Baseball segment debates whether David Ellison is Hollywood’s newest mogul or just another sucker with a load of money.

Weinstein Loses Appeal Of R Rating For Tillman Documentarty
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/r-rating-for-tillman-doc….

Netflix Pays $900 Million For Streaming Rights To Epix Movies
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/business/media/11netflix.html?hpw

12 Takeaways From The Netflix Epix Agreement
http://www.btigresearch.com/2010/08/10/12-takeaways-from-todays-netflix….

Hulu Prepares For An IPO
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/hulu-is-said-to-be-ready….

The Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” Sells 156K In First Week
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/08/the-arcade-fires-the….

Merge Co-Founder On Arcade Fire’s #1 Debut
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/08/merge-cofounder-on….

Universal Music Group Pulls Videos From MTV’s Websites
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/08/06/universal-music-group-pulls….

Ticket To Ozzfest $10. Beer Inside Ozzfest $13
http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/081610ozzfestbeer

The Rat’s Nest of Music Licensing
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/081710ratsnest#BUxq5fszdb….

AMC Picks Up New Crime Drama
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/amc-picks-up-new-crime-drama/

NBC Ending ‘Persons Unknown’ In A Weird Way
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/08/14/nbc-ending-persons-unknown-a….

Star Wars Coming To Blu-Ray
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/movies/16lucas.html?hpw

Spider-Man The Musical Gets A Premiere Date
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/08/spider-man_the_musical….
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/opening-date-set-for-spider….

Terminator Returns As PG-13 Animated Film
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/17991

Ryan Reynolds Caught Between ‘Green Lantern’ and ‘Deadpool’
http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/08/deadpool-creator-saysspeculates….

John M. Chu Directing Justin Bieber 3D Biopic
http://screencrave.com/2010-08-13/jon-m-chu-directing-justin-bieber-3d….

George Michael Charged With Drug, Driving Offenses
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2010/08/george-michael-charged….

TBS Orders Episodes Of Ice Cube’s “Are We There Yet?”
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i4a25a9….

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Is…Rooney Mara!
http://heatvision.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/08/rooney-mara-to-star….

Dr. Laura Schlessinger To End Radio Show
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/dr-laura-schlessinger….

Fox News’ Digital Divide
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/digital-downloads….

TorrentReactor.net Buys Russian Village For $150,000
http://www.torrentreactor.net/village.php

Fantasia Barrino Ready For TV Appearances
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ic00e0….

Rescue Of MGM Studios On Horizon With Spyglass
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421560….

David Ellison Funding Select Paramount Films
http://www.deadline.com/2010/08/the-son-also-rises-david-ellison….

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