Spotify has launched its very own charts, as it looks to showcase the top 50 songs by region.

Spotify Charts constitute both the top 50 most listened to (the Spotify 50) and the top 50 most shared (the Social 50) songs on the music-streaming platform every week.

Charts can be configured by each of the 28 territories Spotify is available in, from Australia through to the US, and you can scroll back to see the previous 4 weeks’ charts too. They’re updated every Monday at noon EST.

You can also embed the charts on your own website, which is an obvious step for Spotify to take, as it looks to increase its online presence.

This mirrors the move it made last year when it launched embeddable play buttons, letting bloggers and other online publications build music directly into their site – the one obvious downside was, however, that it would only work if the end-user was signed-in to Spotify.

With the charts, however, these will show up regardless of whether the end-user is signed-in to Spotify. But to click through and listen to a track in the browser, they will be required to log-in to their account.

“What’s so powerful about the streaming charts is they let you hear what people are really listening to, right now, and not just what they’re buying,” explains Steve Savoca, Head of Content at Spotify.

Play counts for all

In related news, Spotify has also officially announced play counts for all tracks, a week after some users started seeing this feature appear in their account. So for any artist you visit, you’ll now see their total number of global plays since Spotify launched in October 2008.

This feature launches initially for the desktop client only, and if it’s not showing up yet in your account, it will do in the coming weeks.

“We want to be the best artist promotional platform in the world and showing play counts is a clear step in that direction,” adds Savoca. “Now artists can get immediate feedback from their fans on how their music is performing on Spotify.”

Spotify data was already being tapped for other charts, including the Billboard 100 in the US, but it makes sense that Spotify should have its own dedicated charts, with total number of streams visible to all.

As things stood, users could access a “Top Lists” section which surfaced the top-played tracks and albums, ranked from 1-100 by region. However, it also includes a filter for ‘everywhere’ – this is a key omission from the new Charts feature, and it would be good to have a global perspective as well as a local one.

Spotify is  now availabl.e in 28 territories, including the UK, US, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mexico, and most of Europe. It now claims more than 24 million users, 6 million of whom are paying subscribers.

As the producer behind hits such as The Ring and Mulholland Drive, Neal Edelstein is now trying his hand at experimental new media, kicking off with Haunting Melissa.

Co-founded as a ‘next generation production’ company by Edelstein, Hooked Digital Media premiered Haunting Melissa last week, and is striving to “reinvent storytelling” for the digital age. In a nutshell, the story centers around a teenage girl called – unsurprisingly – Melissa, who believes her deceased mother has returned to haunt her.

We’re starting to see a slew of content air exclusively online – take Netflix’s Hemlock Grove for starters – but Haunting Melissa goes that extra step by making it available exclusively in-app via your iOS device.

Haunting Melissa

Haunting Melissa follows in the footsteps of the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, in that it tries to adhere to a real-life feel as close as possible – we’re talking shaky cameras here.

You’ll note there are 11 chapters, though you can’t skip ahead, not yet at least.

This isn’t just another 90-minute movie repackaged for the mobile generation – Hooked Digital Media’s platform enables the delivery of content at unpredictable intervals.

Designed to bring more mystery into the media mix, as a viewer progresses, the app serves up fresh twists and reveals new narrative elements through push notifications. At the time of writing, only the first chapter is available, for free, and it offers the subsequent chapter for free too, but only if you help share news of Haunting Melissa on Facebook.

If you don’t, you’ll be invited to pay $1.99 per chapter, or $6.99/$14.99 (HD) to buy a season pass which will give you all chapters when they’re made available.

Haunting Melissa was conceived, directed and produced by Edelstein, and it was written by author Andrew Klavan, the same man who wrote True Crime and Don’t Say A Word.

“Haunting Melissa is a ghost story created to be consumed in a dark corner with headphones on and iPhone or iPad in hand,” said Neal Edelstein. “You never know when the next piece will come or how long that piece will be…it’s a complete surprise.”

I guess a typical scenario could be this – you’re sitting at work, considering whether to go straight home or take a detour to the pub/shops. You then receive a notification that the next chapter is available to watch now and, well, that will influence what you do when you leave work. Alternatively, as this is mobile, you could sneak off to the stationery cupboard and watch it there.

Haunting Melissa is very much about ‘social’ too. Users can sign-in through Facebook, sharing theories with friends and so on, and there is YouTube, Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram communities too.

“The amazing technology contained in the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch has allowed us to present stories in a dramatically different way,” continues Edelstein. “The technology supports story first and foremost. As viewers move further into Melissa’s world, they will understand why this new app technology will change distribution forever.”

It’s certainly an interesting concept, one that positions content that would once have been reserved for cinemas or TV, alongside your emails and tweets. If that makes it sound mundane, it isn’t supposed to – it’s just an interesting way of delivering content, one that could take movie and TV-content delivery in new directions – it’s delivered piece-by-piece, when you’re not expecting it.

That said, cinema has seen off a number of pretenders to its throne over the years, and there’s nothing to suggest here that this will change any time soon with app-only releases. But it certainly hints at where TV could be heading.

Haunting Melissa is available to download for free now, though subsequent chapters beyond the first one will cost you money (or a Facebook share).

Meanwhile, you can watch an official trailer below.

➤ Haunting Melissa | iPad

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Feature Image Credit – Thinkstock

Dhingana is stepping up its efforts to monetize its streaming service for Indian music after it introduced video-roll advertising, initially for its iOS app only.

The company — which has offices in Pune, India, and Sunnyvale, California – launched its advertising platform in August 2012 and it also offer a paid-for subscription for those who prefer an ad-free experience. The company says that its new ‘Premium Video Advertising’ feature is targeted at brands looking to reach its music-loving users with “TV quality commercials”.

Companies are now able to run 10-30 second pre- or post-roll clips that are integrated into the app, taking the place of album cover art or anything else that is on-screen. Since Dhingana provides only audio, the ads are displayed when there is a pause in a user’s activity, meaning that they are likely to come into contact with the device’s screen.

That is designed to keep the listening experience unaffected, CEO Rohit Bhatia explains:

Video is one of the best forms of advertising, delivering two-to-four times higher performance over regular display banner ads on mobile devices. Our video ads are carefully integrated to be shown when the user is already engaged with our music for several minutes to maximize the impact for the advertising brand without compromising the listening experience.

Launching for iOS — both iPhone and iPad — the ads will come to the Android app soon, but, already, Dhingana has recruited a major name, Coke, to kick things off (update: Dhingana tells us that although Coca Cola is an advertiser, it hasn’t specifically agreed to video ads at this time).

The move to introduce more interactive advertising comes three months after the hiring of Bhatia, and the company is likely to have solicited the opinion and feedback of Gokul Rajaram, Facebook’s product director for advertising, who joined its advisory board last year.

Bhatia has a number of ambitious goals and, in his first interview as CEO, he told TNW that he wants to make the service compelling enough for its users to listen for 2 hours each day. That’s roughly 60 hours per month, and would some way ahead of Spotify, which logs an average of 15-20 hours per month per user.

“I’d like Dhingana users to wake up and go to bed with Dhingana music, using it all through the day,” he said.

Founded in 2007 by twin brothers Swapnil and Snehal Shinde, Dhingana offers more than 1 million songs across 42 languages and claims a monthly active user base of more than 15 million. The service is available for iOS, Blackberry, Android, Symbian Windows Phone and via a Web-based player.

Dhingana raised a $7 million Series B round last year, and it competes with a number of Bollywood-focused streaming services, including Saavn and Times Internet-owned Gaana.

Headline image via scubabrett22 / Flickr

If you’re one of those music fans who hounds bands and musicians with questions such as ‘When are you coming to play MY town?’, Detour is one service you will be all over like a deranged groupie rash.

London-based startup Songkick launched crowdfunding platform Detour in private beta last year, focusing on a small group of serious music fans. In the intermittent period, the service has seen 10 fan-generated gigs come to fruition which, when you consider it was only opened to 1,00 fans, isn’t bad.

In its short life to date, 114 fans used Detour to bring Braid to London, while 80 fans prompted Desaparecidos to play live too. In total, $100,000 in ticket sales have been generated through Detour so far.

It’s a simple-yet-genius idea, and from today any music fan based in the UK capital can use the service.

Detour opens its doors in London

There’s three stages to the crowdfunding process – pledging, selecting promoters and confirmation.

The first phase is all about building interest and seeing how much demand there really is. Sign in using your Songkick log-in details, and YOU decide how much you want to pay. Though your pledge is secured with your bank card, no money is actually taken off until the gig is confirmed.

Once an artist has gained sufficient popularity, the good folks at Songkick will establish contact with a promoter to help make the gig happen. And the final stage is ‘Confirmed’, meaning it’s all systems go and fan pledges are transformed into tickets. Any remaining allocation then go on general sale.

Now, to get your favorite artists to tour near you, you can manually search for them in the Detour database. If you choose someone who’s ‘too popular,’ you’ll be asked to search for someone a little more ‘niche’. In other words, someone who may not be confident of any demand for their live show. Otherwise, you can browse the existing Pledge Leaderboard and throw your own hat into the ring.

If you’re not familiar with how Songkick’s core platform works, it scans your device for music (via Web and mobile apps) and tells you what gigs are coming up near you, based on your collection. As such, Detour already knows who you like, so in your tracked artists section you can see if there’s anyone needing an extra pledge to get things moving.

That’s Detour in a nutshell and, judging by the uptake so far during its short existence, it’s difficult to see how this won’t prove popular with the music-loving masses.

Although it is only London-focused at the moment, it will be opening across the UK shortly. And don’t be too surprised if it opens further afield after that, as Songkick co-founder and CEO Ian Hogarth says in a blog post earlier today, that the team have been “thrilled at the emails we’ve been getting from fans and promoters across the world asking when Detour would come to their city.”

Interestingly, Detour isn’t just being used by fans. Some independent London promoters have also used Detour to kickstart concert campaigns, as it means far lower risk – it’s like a market research tool to establish demand. Also, it could be used for just about any artist or live performer – Detour has already been used to sway comedian Aziz Ansari towards a London gig.

“When we launched Detour London in November, we really didn’t know what would happen,” says Hogarth. “In some ways, that’s the most amazing thing about the Internet – if you give people a powerful new way to connect, they figure out ways to use it that couldn’t be anticipated in advance.”

Detour is open to London users now, and will open across the UK shortly after.

➤ Detour | Songkick

Back in January, we brought you news on Pixoto, an online stock image library that’s striving to stand out from the slew of incumbents already operating in the crowded space.

Finding the right stock snaps can be a tricky and time-consuming affair. To help users find the best imagery, however, Pixoto uses a proprietary community-based ranking system called ‘ImageDuel’ to hep surface the most relevant photos.

As the name suggests, it’s essentially a Facemash-style system, whereby users select their favorite from two randomly-chosen photos, though admittedly it works best when there’s a lot of users contributing. When you first sign up (Twitter or Facebook is mandatory), you get 100 credits, 10 of which you ‘spend’ each time you upload an image from your computer, Facebook, Instagram or cloud-based service such as Flickr, Picasa or Dropbox.

Now, to ensure uploaders also vote, they can only earn more credits by voting for other submissions. The result, in theory at least, is that the best images rise to the top of search results thanks to an active community.

To date, more than one million photos have been ranked by Pixoto users, and the company is now announcing a new stock photo subscription service that lets members download high-res images starting from $0.33 each.

The price of Pixoto

The new three-tiered subscription offering will set you back $19/month for 5 downloads ($3.80 each); $49/month for 100 downloads ($0.49 each); or $99/month for 300 downloads ($0.33 each).

“Over the past few months, our library of available images has grown four-fold, and we are getting more than 50,000 new stock images per week,” explains Jason B. Kiefer, Pixoto founder CEO. “With our new memberships and expanded image offerings we believe we can provide the vast majority of a small business’ image needs for $49 a month.”

Pixoto also recently launched the Pixoto Art Shop for canvas prints based on other users’ images, or they can also order canvas prints of their own snaps at wholesale prices.

Pixoto is an interesting concept for sure, though given it integrates with the likes of Instagram, there is a danger that some of the images you search for will be below par.

Indeed, while the resolution for each photo is displayed on the site, there’s currently no filter to stipulate a minimum quality, which seems like a massive omission, especially given the target user-base won’t be looking for a smartphone screensaver. Kiefer, however, says that as things stand, around three-quarters of all the images on the site are more than 4 megapixels, and plans are in place to introduce the aforementioned filter shortly.

➤ Pixoto

Youku Tudou, the Chinese online video company formed when its billion dollar merger closed last August, has missed estimates with its Q1 2013 financial report, despite consolidating some shared costs.

The company recorded a loss of RMB 1.42 ($0.23) per ADS, coming in under analyst expectation of a loss of 1.39 per ADS. That’s despite revenue surpassing estimates of RMB 510.49 million ($8.3 million).

Revenue for the three-month period was RMB 516.0 million ($83.1 million), which the company says is a 21 percent increase from the pro forma combined revenues that the companies made — while separate — in Q1 2012. The company reported Q1 2013 losses of RMB 232.5 million ($37.4 million), which is a 12 percent improvent on the combined RMB265.5 million ($42.7 million) posted during the same period last year.

The company also released new user metrics. It now has more than 100 million active monthly users, sees more than 170 million daily video views, with each user spending more than 70 minutes on the site.

One of the main reasons for the merger was to consolidate each company’s costs, for expenses such as bandwidth and content deals. In that respect, the RMB 161.0 million ($25.9 million) spent on bandwidth represented 31 percent of the consolidated net revenues. That’s an improvement on 43 percent pro forma in Q1 2012.

However, the cost of product development rose to RMB 56.8 million ($9.2 million) from RMB 48.1 million (US$7.7 million) a year prior; while general expenses rose to RMB 83.4 million ($13.4 million) from RMB 71.8 million ($11.6 million).

A statement from Victor Koo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Youku Tudou, read:

I am pleased with our progress. We are in the final phase of the merger integration process with Tudou and have completed the restructuring of our sales team in the first quarter. Our combined sales team is positively impacting demand and our increased scale is helping us to optimize our cost structure.

Dele Liu, President of Youku Tudou, furthered explained the firm would continue to focus on in-house, user-generated and licensed content for the service.

While these financial details provide an insight into the progress of the now-merged firm in the past year, the data that Q1 2013 is being compared to is taken from before the deal was announced. A more accurate picture of progress will come after August, when the previous year’s figures will take into account the business post-merger.

The company estimates net revenues of between RMB720 million and RMB770 million ($117 million and $125 million) in the next quarter. Consolidated advertising net revenues are estimated at between RMB700 million and RMB740 million ($114 million and $120 million).

Competition is about to get considerably tougher for Youku Tudou, following Baidu’s acquisition of PPS Video for $370 million.

Baidu claims that — in combining its iQiyi service with PPS — it is now China’s top video platform on mobile. However, data from Analysys — covering all devices — gives Youku-Tudou a 30.2 percent share of China’s online video market, followed by Sohu on 10.3 percent, iQiyi on 9.7 percent and PPS on 7.1 percent.

Headline image via Spencer Platt /Getty Images

Google on Wednesday announced it is expanding its live streaming service to more YouTube channels. If your channel has more than 1,000 subscribers, you can apply for the feature now.

To check if you’re eligible, head to your Account Features page. If you see an “Enable” button, you can click it to sign up for YouTube Live. Google says those who do so will be able to live stream whatever they want to the world directly from their channel “in the following weeks.”

Once you get it, here’s what YouTube Live lets you do:

• Real-time transcoding in the cloud, so you only need to send YouTube your highest quality stream. The site makes it instantly available in all resolutions and device formats.
• Show multiple camera angles, add closed captions, plus insert ads and slates.
• Viewers can watch the live stream from any device, get the best quality constantly adjusting to their Internet connection, and can skip back and forth in the live stream.

Naturally, you can also track statistics for your viewers:

Previously, YouTube Live was only available to a small number of individuals and YouTube partners whom Google deemed worthy to test it out. Now that the video site is opening the feature up to more users, its ability (and stability) will be truly be put to the test.

Many see live streaming as the next step in the video consumption world. On-demand content is not going anywhere (and streamed videos will be recorded for later viewing) but it’s simply not as exciting as watching content as it happens live.

The world’s biggest video platform is getting in on the game, letting users both announce live streams in advance as well as push live video feeds to the world on a whim. In the months to come, YouTube will change, and it won’t quite be the same ever again.

See also – New features hit YouTube Live, with real-time analytics & free Wirecast software and Google gives US Congress members ‘enhanced features’ on YouTube, including the ability to live stream video

Top Image Credit: Eric Piermont/Getty Images

Warner Music Group’s (WMG) acquisition of iconic UK label Parlophone has just edged one step closer, with the news that the deal has been cleared by the European Commission (EC).

News of the proposed acquisition was first announced by WMG back in February, with the $765 million all-cash transaction expected to be completed some time in mid-2013, subject to various regulatory approvals around the world.

Parlophone is the EMI-owned British label that signed the Beatles, and today is home to well-known names such as Coldplay and Kylie Minogue. Parlophone was sold following orders from the EC in the wake of EMI’s £1.2bn acquisition by Universal Music Group (UMG) over anti-competition concerns.

In its statement, the EC said:

“The Commission’s investigation confirmed that the proposed transaction would not raise competition concerns, in particular because following the acquisition, WMG will continue to face competition from the two remaining major music companies, namely Universal Music Group (“UMG”) and Sony, as well as from independent music labels.”

The EC added that some respondents to their investigation said that the proposed transaction could actually “reinforce competition, as it may lead to an increase of the competitive pressure exercised by WMG on both UMG and Sony.”

Parlophone comprises the majority of EMI’s assets, including the Parlophone label, which UMG said it would divest to gain the Commission’s clearance to snap up EMI’s recorded music business. It’s worth noting here, however, that UMG will retain the Beatles’ catalogue.

So, this is a major step towards regulatory clearance in the West, with the US and Brazil already giving the go-ahead. And it’s likely the acquisition will be finalized by the summer as expected.

On-demand movie streaming service Redbox Instant, a joint venture between Redbox and Verizon Communications, is now available on LG’s Smart TV platform.

Over 40 models are supported at launch, allowing users to connect to the service and start watching content without any additional hardware or set-top boxes.

Redbox announced the support over on Twitter this morning, along with a one month free trial to try to entice potential users to the service. Redbox Instant, which is still in beta at the moment, is also offering a separate subscription package that combines its streaming service with its physical disc rental service.

New device announcement! LG Smart TVs are now part of the action. Sign up for your 1 month free trial & learn more: redboxinstant.com/LG

— Redbox Instant (@redboxinstant) May 13, 2013

For $8 per month, users can take out four DVDs from its kiosks strewn across the United States and Canada, as well as have unlimited access to its video on-demand and streaming movie service.

The model is a departure from its domestic competitors Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, which is focused almost solely on providing a digital streaming service (Netflix offers physical disc rentals, but they’re being promoted less and less). The approach by Redbox Instant mimics that of LOVEFiLM Instant in the United Kingdom, Germany and Scandinavia; both offer a physical DVD rental service in addition to various streaming apps.

Both have rather limited catalogs at the moment, so it gives users access to a wider range of content at any one time. Given that some films are still released on DVD well before they hit Netflix or Amazon Instant Video, it’s a nice backup for consumers.

LOVEFiLM and Redbox differ, however, in the way that they distribute physical DVDs. While LOVEFiLM is a delivery service, whereby users create a ‘most-wanted’ list online and then wait for discs to be posted to their door, Redbox offers physical, self-service kiosks. Consumers have to travel to these – which is never ideal – but it does mean that they can pick and choose exactly what they want.

In March, Redbox hit 1 million film and video game disc rentals in Canada, 10 months after launch. Some of that success can be attributed to the demise of movie rental stores such as Blockbuster, but it shows that there’s still a market – albeit perhaps a diminishing one – for disc rentals.

Redbox Instant launched in December with electronic sell-through (EST), which means that consumers can download a movie to their device and watch it later when they’re offline. iOS and Android apps followed shortly afterwards, as well as an Xbox 360 app in February.

It’s early days for Redbox Instant, but if the service is to stand any chance of competing with Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, the company will need to make sure that it’s available on as many devices as possible. LG Smart TVs is just the tip of the iceberg.

 Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Malaysia-based digital media companies Catcha Media and Says.com have announced a $20 million merger deal that will seem them combine to become one of the largest Internet advertising groups in the country.

Catcha Media, which specialises in online advertising, digital content and e-commerce solutions, says it will merge two of its business units with Says.com — a national social news network — to take advantage of the growth in Internet usage and the rising adoption of new media services.

Says.com is led by CEO and co-founder Khailee Ng, who is also an entrepreneur-in-residence for 500 Startups. The site collects the latest news and buzz from across Malaysia using a crowdsourced and user curated model. Users are paid to publish advertiser-sponsored content, which sits along news and features on the site.

Catcha Media says that it will merge Says.com with its digital advertising and publishing business, with a viewing to expanding the company across Southeast Asia.

For now, in Malaysia, the two Catcha Media businesses together reach 9.78 million Internet users in the country each month, and account for 15 national print magazines. The group also manages Microsoft’s Web presence in Malaysia, including its popular MSN portal.

The new entity will also explore the possibility to go public in Malaysia within the next year, according to Patrick Grove, CEO of Catcha Media, who said:

This new company offers a tremendous opportunity to dominate the future of digital marketing in Malaysia by pairing two clear leaders in the space. We intend to expand this business regionally and the expected profitability of this merged entity should make us able to consider an IPO within the coming 12 months.

The deal is the second exit for Ng, who sold Malaysia-based group-buying site Groupsmore to Groupon in January 2011, and he explains that Says is “already seeded” for official launch in Philippines, Singapore, and India.

Ng also provided TNW with a snippet of the memo sent to clients, which explains new opportunities that the merger is opening to customers:

Advertisers are always excited to use SAYS to get their branded content shared in social media. In some cases the advertisers would request SAYS to create the content, which we would need to decline because of our laser focus and expertise in the distribution of social content instead. Whereas Catcha Publishing has always been in the business of creating custom content and authority content, in many cases, entire content channels and magazines for advertisers! They are also frequently requested to integrate social media centric solutions into the fold. So, the idea of combining these two things together was an exciting proposition for advertisers. This, when combined with the reach of advertising properties in MSN, Lowyat.net, and Skype… the more we talked, the more opportunities we saw. That’s when we knew that our shared vision for the future of advertising had to be acted upon.

The use of digital media has rocketed in Southeast Asia over the past few years, with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and other markets ranked among the world’s top users of Facebook, and most engaged nations on Twitter.

Headline image via ThinkStock