Comedian Louis C.K. has reported that the self-distribution experiment for his latest comedy special has been a rousing success, grossing $1 million in just 12 days of availability. The special – Live at the Beacon Theatre – went on sale to customers for just $5 – allowing them two full streams and mp4 downloads without any copy restrictions circumvented distributing through traditional retail platforms like iTunes, or distributing through TV networks like HBO, and it has been a huge success.

Lots of money

Announcing the progress on his website, C.K. writes: ‘So it’s been about 12 days since the thing started and yesterday we hit the crazy number. One million dollars. That’s a lot of money. Really too much money. I’ve never had a million dollars all of a sudden.’ He continues, saying: ‘I want to set an example of what you can do if you all of a sudden have a million dollars that people just gave to you directly because you told jokes.’

What to do with all that cash

Comedian Louis C.K. plans to distribute the money amongst various sources, keeping just a fraction of it for himself. $250 000 (about  £160k) will cover production costs, $250 000 (£160k) will be paid to his staff in bonuses, $280 000 (about £180k) will be given to charities, while the remaining $220 000 (£140k) he will keep for himself. He has also committed to distributing more cash

Why this is important

More so than any change in modern day retail, the rise of the internet has fundamentally altered how people are able to distribute products to end users – both digital and physical. With this experiment, C.K. has managed to completely circumvent digital middlemen like iTunes and Amazon, as well as broadcasting middlemen like the television networks who would air the special and later package it on DVD. His fans have benefitted from DRM-free video, while Comedian Louis C.K. grosses more than he would have if a network financed this.

The symbolism of this experiment – much like that of Radiohead’s In Rainbows Experiment – is important, and it points to a future where performers can survive – and thrive – without media houses controlling them.

Last week’s Facebook f8 developers’ conference is widely regarded as the biggest in the company’s history. The content integration, timeline update and redesign have all been given a plenty of coverage – some are saying that the social network’s power is so significant it is effectively building a second internet. The problems this presents to Google have long been documented. Now some are arguing Apple should be on its toes, too.

The fight for media

In a post titled Why Apple Needs a Real Social Network, Mike Elgan over at Cult of Mac argues that Apple and Facebook are officially squaring off in a battle for the future of media.

He writes: ‘Apple isn’t so much a consumer electronics company as it is a media platform. Apple’s success in the last 10 years has all been about changing how people create and consume media and content.’ Elgan argues that the iPod, iPhone, iPad and Mac have all been colossal success stories because ‘they’re all part of a unified strategy for Apple to fix what’s broken with the experience of consuming media and content.’

‘Now Facebook has moved aggressively into Apple territory with a competing model or paradigm for all this,’ he argues. The Facebook model is that we discover content not by browsing iTunes, but by monitoring our News Feed for what our friends and family are enjoying.’

Is he right?

While the Apple and Facebook post touches other areas, that is the gist of the argument, and its viability is wholly dependent on the quality of your friendship networks. Insofar as Spotify and online music service are able to get iTunes-level adoption, the network effects are likely to take some time before they become apparent. But it would be to Apple’s peril to ignore Facebook and the threat it poses, not at all dissimilar from how Apple has methodically disrupted consumer electronics, and the mobile phone industry.

Those of us living in Europe are well acquainted with music streaming service Spotify. With over 1.6 million users in the region, and exceptional popularity in the United Kingdom and other parts of Western Europe, we’ve been sharing playlists for some time now. With the service only now launching in North America, the tech press in that country is going gaga over it. Some very prominent publications think it’s an iTunes killer.

BusinessWeek thinks it’s stealing iTunes’ thunder

In a post titled ‘Spotify rips iTunes’ thunder with new service’ Rich Jaroslovsky points to the allure of ‘wanting something you can’t have’ being at the core of basic human nature, with US users long pining to use music streaming service Spotify being one such example.

He concludes his piece, writing: ‘The digital-music market is undergoing its biggest changes since the opening of the iTunes Store in 2003,’ citing the many alternative music services that have launched in recent years. ‘Even in this crowded field, Spotify stands out for its flexibility, depth and ease of use. It’s one of those cases where the mystique is well-deserved.’ So while Jaroslovsky doesn’t directly say ‘Spotify will kill iTunes’ he hints his belief that it stands a fighting chance.

Harvard going hardline

Maxwell Wessel of the Harvard Business Review takes a much more firm stance, saying, in no uncertain terms, that music streaming service Spotify will topple iTunes or, perhaps, more specifically, licensing streams will be the preferred model of music consumption, as opposed to buying direct.

He writes: ‘iTunes as we know it is over. It is walking, talking, and continuing to pretend it’s alive, but Spotify, Europe’s outrageously successful streaming music product, has just shown us the future.’ His post, incidentally, is titled ‘Why Spotify Will Kill iTunes.’ No pussyfooting around there.

What we think

As much as we like music streaming service Spotify, it’s too soon to say whether it can – or will – topple iTunes. US publications could really just be caught up in the hype. It’s a great accompaniment to today’s smartphones, where we consume most of our music, where iTunes is still associated with the mp3 players of yesteryear. But iTunes is a juggernaut and Apple will respond accordingly. It’s a question of whether Spotify can outrun, and outsmart, the iPhone maker.

What do you make of it all?

Chances are if you read tech blogs at all today, you’ll have gotten tired of seeing the words ‘Apple’, ‘iOS’, and ‘WWDC 2011’. The thing, though, is Apple’s press conference was jam packed with several potentially industry shaking announcements that individual stories have to be dedicated to each. The theme for this year’s conference was iOS 5, Mac OS X Lion, and Apple’s new iCloud service.

One of the big components of iCloud was what iTunes in the cloud would be and how it would work. Below is what Apple revealed.

What it is not

From the get-go, what must be explained is what iTunes in the Cloud is not. In its current incarnation, the service is not a streaming music service that will compete directly with Spotify or Rdio. Apple has not created a service where you can search for whatever music your heart desires, find it, and play it back instantly. Look elsewhere if streaming music is what you were hoping for.

What iTunes in the Cloud is

iTunes in the cloud is, however, an online locker for all of your music, allowing you to access it from all of your Apple devices at no additional cost. Jobs explains that: ‘For the songs you’ve already bought, we’ve added a purchased button. It shows the history of all the songs you’ve bought on any device. I can download any song to any device by pushing that little cloud button. At no additional charge.’

Apple’s iconic leader added that: ‘This is the first time you’ve seen this in the music industry: multiple downloads to different devices for no charge. So in the future, it will push it to all of my devices.’

US-only for now

The service is currently US-only, and only applies to songs you have purchased from iTunes in the interim. The company said it would let you convert your ripped music for $24.99, using an offering called iTunes Match, but those of you who’ve gotten your mp3s in not-completely-legal-ways or from other retail outlets, you’re out of luck for now.

The iTunes in the cloud component of iCloud was, for me, something of a letdown. It’s a great offering for those who own multiple iOS devices, yet perhaps my hopes of a Spotify-like streaming music service were more prayers than anything else.

For close on 18 months, there’s been incessant chatter on Apple dramatically ramping up their cloud computing offerings, with a cloud-based iTunes offering being the highlight of the feature set. The predictions look like they will soon come true, with the tech titan purchasing the domain name iCloud.com for a mountain of cash, as its cloud offering finally approaches market.

Purchase is real, price is unconfirmed

The service could be called Apple iCloud.com after Apple bought the domain name from a Swedish cloud computing firm called Xcerion, sources have confirmed. The news that Apple had purchased the domain was first reported by tech site GigaOm, who said Apple paid an i-watering (sorry) $4.5 million (£2.14m) for said domain name.

What to do with it? What to do with it?

What is currently unknown is what Apple iCloud.com will actually be. The most obvious is Apple plans on tying this service to whatever that 500,000-square-foot data center in North Carolina is intended for.

A cloud iTunes service seems likely, but whether that will be an online locker, a streaming service like Spotify, or a combination of the two is as yet unknown. MobileMe is due for a dramatic upgrade, with a better feature set at a more affordable price tag, too, so Apple iCloud.com could be used for that purpose. Early rumours on the design of iOS 5.0 suggest Apple’s mobile OS will be web-based, much like HP Palm’s webOS, so the domain name could be the catchall host for a collection of services.

WWDC 2011

Perhaps, most tellingly, with this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) taking place in June having a renewed focus on just devs – since the iPhone 5 will not be shown there – all will be revealed soon. I would venture Apple is going to unveil a suite of products and cloud-based offerings for both the iPhone and iPad, so it’s just a case of waiting and seeing.

Apple earnings season is always a fun time to swoon about Apple’s earnings pull, and how the company makes money like the act is going to go out of fashion. Overall numbers are almost always the focus, as well as a newfound focus on what the iPhone and iPad iOS devices are doing at retail in terms of sales. The one component too few people care about is iTunes, which is doing remarkable numbers, seeing revenues for the quarter jump by more than a quarter!

The numbers

In the earnings report, Apple singled out that iTunes revenue totaled a remarkable $1.4 billion. Ask any physical retailer if they’d be happy with that number, and outside of the colossal companies like Walmart, you’d get universal celebration.

This iTunes revenue number represented 27 per cent year-on-year growth for Apple’s digital download store, which is remarkable.

Apps, apps, apps

While Apple never reports the performance of the individual components of iTunes, clever deduction makes it easy to guess where most of the growth came from – application purchases.

With Netflix dominating films and Amazon dominating book sales, neither iTunes movies nor iBooks are big earners for the company. Digital music sales have also been flat, especially in the US, leaving only the App Store as the big source of growth for the Apple digital download service.

iOS benefits

What this means, by the way, is that people are very comfortable spending money on digital media, and that the dramatic growth of iOS devices is having a positive impact on the growth of the App Store, and, by extension, iTunes, too.

If you happen to own an iOS device – or any contemporary smartphone for that matter – have you found yourself spending more and more on apps, or do you keep it thrifty?

While the Japan tsunami no longer dominates the news the way it did during its peak, the effects of the disaster are still being felt by the Japanese. And while it’s easy to send out our heartfelt sorrow to the folks of Japan, there is one thing greater than sorrow that will help them rebuild their lives, and that is money. Below is a look at how some tech companies, through the help of their users, helped the Japanese relief effort.

Songs for Japan

Featuring prominently on iTunes stores all across the world, several celebrity musicians got together to put out the Songs for Japan album. All proceeds from the compilation will go to the nation’s Red Cross to help with relief efforts post-tsunami.

Keep farming, planting and supporting

Fans of social games developed by Zynga also pitched in, raising over $1 million for relief efforts in just 36 hours – and this was after the account was set up a mere 24 hours after the disastrous Japan earthquake led to the tsunami. The social gaming giant continues with its aid effort.

Shoot ‘em in the face, and save a life

Valve, the folks behind Steam, and the hugely popular Team Fortress 2 video game, also raised a heap of money for Japan relief efforts. The titan video game developer and its community of Team Fortress 2 players raised an impressive $300,000 for the disaster stricken nation. This was achieved through the sales of limited edition DLC, in the form of in-game headwear. Valve was stunned by the community’s fantastic response.

Much more being done, much more needed

This is just a few of the ways technology companies, and media businesses, are helping to support Japan. There’s undoubtedly much more happening, and there’s still much more needed.

Thankfully savvy companies have found ways to raise money without burdening their communities by making them feel like it is charity. We urge you to look for whatever way – whether it is through purchasing an album, FarmVille seeds or cool headwear for your marksman duties – to support Japan relief efforts.

Music industry sources have revealed that the long-awaited and much rumoured Google Music service is on its way. People close to the matter say that the search giant has begun testing the service internally, which suggests it could launch quite soon.

iTunes, here we come

Google Music is meant to take on iTunes – and Amazon music, to some extent – and it’s been close to launching for some time now. A Motorola executive had previously said it was scheduled to launch with Android 3.0, but there was no word of it when Android Honeycomb arrived. Other rumours pegged it launching with the Motorola Xoom, over Christmas, and at the recent South by Southwest conference, too, which did not happen either.

Apparently a key ingredient is what has stopped the service from launching – in fact the most key ingredient of them all.

Where’s the music?

The music industry sources who spoke to Cnet revealed that the underlying technology for the Google Music service is ready but – get this – the music part of the component is not.

The search giant wants their service to be an online locker for users’ music, acting as a central cloud streaming service to their computers and mobile devices. In addition, Google also wants to retail music to users. It is effectively Spotify for your personal collections meets iTunes.

The problem is deals are still being ironed out with the notoriously-difficult-to-negotiate-with music publishers and record labels.

This means that the Google Music service will not launch – not in its current form, at least – until they get UMG, Warner Music, EMI, Sony BMG and other labels to agree to license their music along this retail channel. It’s the absurdity of building music technology to work with modern smartphones and for delivery through modern channels that always stumps the forward thinking tech business who have to deal with executives protecting a burning platform.

When Apple unveiled the new iPad 2, some were disappointed the company spent no time discussing what was coming for the next version of their mobile OS, iOS 5. The rumour mill has begun churning, suggesting that this wasn’t an oversight on Apple’s part, but rather due to the fact that the new OS is actually some time away.

Changed release schedule

Sources say that Apple will break its usual pattern of launching their new mobile OS with their new iPhone, instead launching it in autumn – likely November. As such, this means that the iPhone 5 will simply launch with iOS 4.x.

Apparently the new OS will be a major rethink, hence the delay.

What will you get?

TechCrunch, citing two reliable sources, reports the autumn date and that the mobile OS will go through a major revamp. Additionally, Apple could still preview iOS 5 at its WWDC event where the new iPhone 5 is expected to be unveiled, though it won’t launch then.

Other details say Apple’s new mobile OS platform will be built around cloud computing, with several new services from Apple launching in conjunction with it to take advantage of this. These new services will apparently include the long-rumoured iTunes locker, as well as a location service built around finding friends and family.

Strange, but interesting

It’s certainly unusual to see Apple break out of a tried-and-true formula like this. However, if TechCrunch’s sources are correct about what work is being put into iOS 5, it makes sense. In the interim, you can now buy the iPad 2 in the UK, while iPhone 4 sales keep churning along steadily. Outside of better push notifications, we haven’t had a chance to think through what we want from Apple’s new mobile OS. Have you thought of what you’d like to see?

When Microsoft began rolling out its Windows Phone 7 pre-update that made some handsets stop working, the company was rightfully rapped on the knuckles for it. Now with the first major WP7 update, codenamed ‘NoDo’, rolling out extremely slowly with several users still not having access to it, Microsoft is blowing it again. Or, rather, should that be Microsoft is taking the blame for carriers blowing it?

Consumers are not happy

PCWorld has an article detailing the many user complaints left in the comment thread on the Microsoft blog post announcing the Windows Phone 7 update.

One user, going by ‘jimpict’, summing up the feelings of the entire WP7 community commenting on that thread, writes: ‘This is wholly unacceptable, and, as we all know, it is also wholly unnecessary.’ He continued, saying: ‘You have betrayed the trust of early adopters, and your inability to get out a single update with anything even resembling moderate success only shows either how deeply you misunderstand the hostility toward your product you have generated or just how incredibly incompetent you are at a basic and fundamental task.’

iTunes

Windows Phone 7’s reliance on carriers to push out updates confirms why iTunes is such a significant cog in Apple’s success. When the iOS updates for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch are ready, Apple pushes it out to its digital retail and management platform. Everybody around the world with an internet connection, iTunes installed on their computer and the appropriate iOS device connected, will be prompted with an update message.

As a Windows Phone 7 – and even a Google Android – user you are beholden to carriers to push out the updates for your handsets.

Microsoft has to take this on the chin

Love it or hate it – and there are legitimate reasons to deeply dislike iTunes – one cannot deny the power of the platform. And to answer the question we set ourselves at the outset, it doesn’t matter if the carriers are to blame for Microsoft struggling to roll out the Windows Phone 7 update. The fact is WP7 users are left high and dry waiting. And that won’t do this new mobile OS platform any good against other smartphone ecosystems.