• techcrunch

    Michael Arrington didn't even make Vanity Fair's kiddie-table list

    This weekend's San Jose Mercury News profile of TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington, so obsequiously flattering that some wondered whether the writer was auditioning for a job at the tech blog, included an inadvertent slam. Evidence of Arrington's importance: According to TechCrunch marketing VP Sarah Ross, Arrington was considered for Vanity Fair's "New Establishment" power list, but didn't make the final cut. So he's sort of famous, right? Just one problem with that theory. More »

    2:40 PM on Mon Sep 8 2008
    By Owen Thomas
    947 views, 4 comments

    Latest by AnonymousRealist: Does anyone with half a brain think Arrington belongs in *any* issue of Vanity Fair? more »

  • Next Establishment

    Once again, Vanity Fair leaves geeks at the kids' power table

    Preeminent among the magazine world's kingmaking power lists is Vanity Fair's New Establishment, which appears in the October issue — on newsstands in L.A. and New York today, but not in the Bay Area for another six days. Silicon Valley gets similar short shrift: The names who make it there are predictable bigs like Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison, or Hollywood-crossover types like Jeff Skoll, eBay's first employee turned movie producer. Walt Mossberg, now employed by New Establishment perennial Rupert Murdoch, also squeaked in. The consolation prize Vanity Fair offers: Its "Next Establishment" list, reserved for the likes of Twitter's Ev Williams. It's a marvelous piece of New York media trickery — flatter the geeks by making them feel included, but corral them into a side room so the real power brokers aren't offended by comparison. True, the "Next Establishment" suggests that these are people who might matter in the future. But in saying that, Vanity Fair's editors are also sending the message that right here, right now, its "Next" nominees are nobodies. On this year's list: More »

    1:00 PM on Wed Sep 3 2008
    By Owen Thomas
    861 views, 5 comments

    Latest by Robleh: I doubt they would put Murdoch's wife on a list of nobodies. more »

  • f8

    Facebook execs to favor widgets built by investors, relatives

    Today at its F8 developers' conference, Facebook will announce a plan to give favored widgets more abilities to promote themselves on the site. The first two apps to get "preferred" status will be Causes and iLike. What does being a "preferred" widgetmaker mean? A source tells us that in the short term, Facebook will simply promote preferred apps in users' News Feeds more often, increasing their chances of spreading from friend to friend. "Basically, it is a subsidy program for their favorite darlings," says our source. Causes is an app backed by former Facebook president Sean Parker; iLike is a startup backed by Marc Bodnick of Elevation Partners, who is also a private Facebook investor and the brother-in-law of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Our source also tells us that after top tier preferred apps, there will be a middle tier of "certified/approved/vetted" applications as well. More »

    10:20 AM on Wed Jul 23 2008
    By Nicholas Carlson
    1,137 views, 4 comments

    Latest by rafa3rafa: Isn't "nepotism" what Silicon Valley is all about? Ridiculous. What is worse is if people just sit on their ass more »

  • elevation partners

    How iLike got U2's new song



    A previously unreleased song from U2's upcoming rerelease of Joshua Tree is already available on the Internet. But we're not just talking about unlicensed BitTorrents here. "Wave of Sorrow" and the video embedded above explaining the song, is available on iLike, and not, as far as we can tell, on the band's MySpace or official site. So why did U2 favor iLike, the music widget best known as a Facebook success story? More »

    2:53 PM on Thu Nov 15 2007
    By Megan McCarthy
    2,020 views, 6 comments

    Latest by pleeker: Just for the record, this video was available inside U2.com (for paying members) about 1-2 days before it hit iLike. more »

  • digital music

    Facebook Music platform to launch next week?

    All the attention might be on Facebook's advertising aspirations, the Microsoft investment, and Google's OpenSocial initiative. But don't think Facebook has forgotten about MySpace, which still has a lock on the music market, thanks to bands which discovered the site as a way to connect with fans. One report has Facebook launching a long-rumored platform for musicians at the Ad:Tech conference. More »

    2:45 PM on Wed Oct 31 2007
    By Jordan Golson
    1,075 views, 1 comment

    Latest by dweezel: Methinks that Facebook is going after Amie Street ([amiestreet.com]) more »

  • rumormonger

    Watch out MySpace: Facebook to launch a platform for musicians

    On Friday we wrote about Facebook launching a possible iTunes competitor. We've now found a new, more compelling rumor from Rafat Ali of PaidContent. Instead of a music store, Facebook is said to be launching an artist platform to compete with MySpace's musician-friendly profile pages — a feature that has been a huge part of the social network's growth. Ali says that the platform includes iTunes integration for buying music through Apple's store, special profiles for bands, and unique widgets for music promotion, tour dates, and more, all within the clean Facebook interface. More »

    7:18 PM on Sat Oct 6 2007
    By Jordan Golson
    3,048 views, 10 comments

    Latest by treyp: @Michael Bauser: autoplay will almost definitely will not be enabled for music. on the platform right now, facebook does not more »

  • facebook

    What would a Facebook music store look like?

    Allfacebook.com is reporting a rumor that Facebook will take on Apple's dominant iTunes by introducing its own music store. Few details are provided, save that they are actively looking to hire someone to head the project and discussions with studios have been ongoing. Music applications such as iLike are popular on the social network, and digital music is a natural fit with the site's original college-kid demographic. But could Facebook really pull this off? At this point, we don't really know what a Facebook music store would be. We do know, however, what it's not. More »

    Feature

    2:06 PM on Fri Oct 5 2007
    By Tim Faulkner
    859 views, Comment

  • party report

    iLike a good mustache, don't you?

    ATHERTON — I'm told I left the party too early, but once Third Eye Blind started playing, Thursday night's iLike bash was pretty much over for me. Don't get me wrong — I like Third Eye Blind. It's right in tune with my utterly bland and more than slightly gay musical tendencies. But this is exactly why I will never, ever use a service like iLike, which makes a Facebook app that allows you to reveal your musical taste, or lack thereof, to your friends by posting songs, and find people with similar tastes by seeing who's going to concerts. Here's the thing: I know my taste in music is egregiously bad. I don't want to advertise the fact to the world, and if anything, I want to meet people who specifically dislike the music I listen to. That's all right, though — what I really wanted to listen to was the buzz in the room. More »

    6:24 PM on Fri Sep 7 2007
    By Owen Thomas
    2,723 views, 3 comments

    Latest by Baberaham Lincoln: Mustache Rides 5 Cents! more »