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meerkat-periscope

Meerkat and Periscope: What’s the Hype?

Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock this past month has heard about Meerkat and Periscope, a competitor created by Twitter. As the “breakout app” of SXSW being used by Mashable’s Pete Cashmore on a selfie stick walking around Austin and Julia Louis Dreyfus during her VEEP panel, Meerkat was hard to ignore. Now Periscope pretty much does the same thing and has stolen all of Meerkat’s thunder. So what do these apps do actually?

Remember when Charlie Sheen went all crazy with #winning and strippers and held a Ustream of him ranting? I remember – I am ashamed to say that I watched. If Meerkat or Periscope were around back then, Charlie likely would have used that instead. It is the mobile version of Ustream, allowing its users to live stream on the go. So why then is it so ridiculously popular if there was already a similar service? Well, first off they’re integrated with Twitter (Periscope is obviously more so integrated). In a nutshell, when you start streaming, a Tweet goes out. With Periscope, you have the added ability to be able to see reactions to your stream from Twitter embedded in the app. Also, if you think about it, no one has really improved upon the ability to live stream until now. Improvement, you ask? Meerkat allows you to record and schedule your stream for a later time, while Periscope allows users to save videos to replay them later.

So what’s all the hype about? Well, if you’re an everyday person who isn’t a celebrity, politician, or reporter, you aren’t likely to have a big viewership with Meerkat or Periscope. No one really cares what you have to say in real time. If you do happen to fall into one of those popular people categories, it’s the compelling content that is going to keep followers coming back (or maybe not? Here’s a live stream of a fridge at the Washington Post that’s quite popular. Maybe it’s just the big brand that keeps people watching… or the novelty?).

A big challenge for both Meerkat and Periscope as I see it (if either or both stay alive), is that in order to succeed, they really have to encourage the top-level influencers to keep the everyday user tuned in. Periscope may be the present day cool-kid app (Sorry Meerkat), but it’s more time consuming than a simple tweet or Instagram. So if the influencers get bored and don’t use it, the everyday user is going to peace out.

While the live video concept of Meerkat and Periscope is compelling and dramatic, the apps can only continue if both the influencer continues to stream interesting content and the user is available to consume it.

My final thought that I just can’t get around when it comes to streaming-type apps like this is this – who has time to watch live programming anymore? Didn’t God invent the DVR to get around what these apps offer? Even if it’s programmed content (from Meerkat) or a stream that you can save to watch later (from Periscope), I’m still not compelled to tune in at a certain time to be able to view or save the content.

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Streaming Music: And The Beat Goes On

Music brings people together, connects them. So it’s only natural that the music scene would move to a digital venue.

This month, music streaming giant Pandora reached 200 million users, 100 million of which registered in less than two years! Upon this achievement, founder Tim Westergren stated that “radio is changing,” and he couldn’t be more correct.

Pandora has yet to implement major social features, but Swedish streaming service Spotify has made a huge splash in the US market after a successful launch in June 2011. The service is heavily integrated with Facebook and Twitter, at one point requiring a Fa1C6896377-TwitterMusic.streams_desktop_mediumcebook log-in to create an account.

We’re guessing Twitter caught wind of Spotify’s success, since today marks the launch of the Twitter Music app, confirmed after longtime rumors (and Ryan Seacrest blabbing about it!). TechCrunch speculates that this weekend’s launch coinciding with the Coachella Music Festival is no coincidence and is on the lookout for marketing at the festival.

It’s rumored that Twitter Music will be split into four tabs: “Suggested,” which consists of music based on who you’re following; “#NowPlaying,” which features songs tweeted by your friends with that hashtag; “Popular,” which displays trending songs throughout Twitter; and “Emerging,” which shows up and coming new music.

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Someone had better let MegaUpload’s Kim Dotcom know about Twitter’s big plans. His disembodied head made some big claims at this past SXSW in regards to music services – going so far as to claim he could take down iTunes.

Everywhere’s office playlist is a big deal, so we’re looking forward to trying out the new Twitter app! Check out some of our past 5:00 p.m. jam sessions here.

62nd Primetime Emmy Awards - Insider

Thank the Academy: Awards Season for Webshows?

By Molly Daly

62nd Primetime Emmy Awards - InsiderAwards season is coming to a close, but there’s big news on the horizon for webshows. Here’s a quick history: back in the 90’s, cable TV shows finally became eligible for Emmy awards. In 2008, a rule change from the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences allowed shows like Netflix’s successful original series House of Cards to be nominated for Emmys and treated as equals among cable and network shows.

It looks like this could be the year for some serious competition. In a strategic move, Netflix is launching the new season of revived comedy Arrested Development in its entirety to secure its status as a contender. As it should be – 40% of Netflix users stream through their HDTVs.

Starting in September 2013, Nielsen will include streaming statistics in their ratings. This seems to be where the future is headed: 2.65 million cable subscribers cancelled service between 2008 and 2011, and roughly 1.5 million of those cancellations occurred in 2011 alone. House of Cards - Netflix

Who knows, maybe you could take home one of those little golden statues: YouTube uploads are eligible nominees for a fee of $600 - $700. “We leave it to our voting members to determine quality…the criterion for nominations and wins,” according to John Leverence, the senior vice president in charge of awards at the TV Academy, via TV Guide.

Netflix is already on top of it – in celebration of America’s new viewing habits, they’ve implemented their own awards, The Flixies. Users vote for Netflix content nominees in categories such as “Best Guilty Pleasure” and “Best Hangover Cure.”

As for Everywhere, we’re following the trend of emergin’ and convergin’ Internet and TV, and we like what we see!