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Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
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iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
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Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

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Discover New Music

  • De Nova

    • 10 out of 10
    • The Redwalls
    • Wow! Perhaps my 5-star rating is simply because the Redwalls are not only new and fresh (none of them older than 22!), or perhaps its because -- despite their ages -- they are able to totally capture
  • Is This It

    • 10 out of 10
    • The Strokes
    • The Strokes set the music world on fire with this 2001 album, with headlines declaring that the New York band was here to save Rock and Roll. While the band hasn't made as much of a splash since t

  • Chicago Transit Authority

    • 10 out of 10
    • Chicago
    • For those of you who don't know, Chicago didn't always suck, and everyone in the band didn't always play a keyboard. When the band started off they were pioneers of rock and jazz fusion, and guita

  • The Stooges

    • 8 out of 10
    • The Stooges
    • Another pillar of my musical foundations, The Stooges' first album is one those records whose influence far outweighed its popularity. Like The Velvet Underground & Nico, hordes of people wh

  • Machine Gun Etiquette

    • 8 out of 10
    • The Damned
    • Punk rock is mostly associated with three chords and a bad attitude, but the Damned were one of the few bands of the era bent on bringing musicianship and a good sense of humor to the scene. And while

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News

Nielsen Analytics: 9 Million Web Users Have Downloaded Podcasts

Nielsen Analytics on Thursday announced the results of a study in which it found that 9 million Web users, or slightly more than 6% of U.S. adults, have downloaded podcasts over the past 30 days. Approximately 38% of those who said that they actively download podcasts indicated that they listen to radio less often.

Nielsen also found that successful podcasts are seeing as many as two million downloads each month, which has brought in advertisers, but 60% of the survey's respondents said that they always fast forward through a podcast's commercials. Women were more likely to fast forward through podcast commercials than men, according to Nielsen.

Advertisers have already responded to that trend, however, and "are already devising more effective means to reach consumers, such as embedding their messages within the program content or having podcast hosts endorse their products and services."

The average length of a podcast is 44 minutes, although Nielsen said that the growing interest in video podcasts will likely reduce that number, since they tend to be shorter than audio-only podcasts. Seventy-two percent of those who are regular podcast consumers download one to three of them each week, on average, while 10% of them are heavy users who download eight or more weekly.

Nielsen also looked at the business of podcasting, finding that "cable and broadcast networks are converting episodes of some of their linear programs into cost-effective, short audio and video podcasts to serve as previews and promotions." In addition, podcasts such as the recent ones promoting the movie Nacho Libre show a desire by movie studios to use the medium as part of their marketing efforts.

In other areas, Nielsen found that financial service firms are offering free finance podcasts, while the online travel agency Orbitz has started featuring audio descriptions of travel destinations. Podcasts are also becoming a major part of the curricula on college campuses, with professors making lectures and class notes available as podcasts.

Nielsen's complete study, "The Economics of Podcasting," is available for purchase for US$1,195.

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