Next Big Sound (a/o May 16th):
He finally got pushed. Longtime Sirius XM Radio CEO Mel Karmazin is now leaving the building, a move confirmed by the Board and an official departure letter from Karmazin himself. The move was likely prompted by Liberty Media Corporation, whose ownership stake in the company is now approaching majority status.
It was another spectacular Apple showcase, this time in San Jose. And among the stocking stuffers was a sleek iPad mini, which looks just like Sr. but can easily be gripped in one hand. Apple says the functionality and capabilities will largely remain the same, though the smaller size packs a bigger punch against rivals like the Amazon Kindle and Google Nexus. Other unveilings included a strikingly-thin iMac upgrade.
Among the disappointments, however, was a decided lack of anything iTunes 11. The super-svelte software upgrade is still anticipated for this month; no sign of a radio launch, either.
The SXSW Borg is now spreading outside of Austin's City Limits. Just this afternoon, word of a Vegas-based, entrepreneurial edition of SXSW emerged. 'SXSW V2V' happens August 11-14th, 2013 at the not-so-lean, very un-SoMA-like Cosmopolitan Hotel.
Oh, and for those attending the SXSW mothership in March, get ready for some very tasty coverage from Digital Music News. On the panel circuit at the Austin Convention Center, we'll be diving into the rough state of music startups and investing, plus we're building the blocks on a major expansion in on-site coverage.
Are you buying this? In case you thought in-stream Twitcommerce specialist Chirpify was a Twitter-only thing, the concept is now spreading into Instagram.
Across the pond, big questions continue to surround Sequoia-backed Songkick, both in terms of competitive threats and broader model assumptions. But this seems so perfectly innovative: called Detour, the Songkick-cooked concept lets the artist test demand at venues prior to actually committing dates (and ticketing against those dates). Andrew Bird is about the test the concept in an upcoming, South American jaunt.
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