Posts Tagged ‘BetaBeat’

Kanye and Gaga Invest in Turntable.fm

Turntable Logo

Turntable.fm, you beautiful creature. So many of us thought that you had disappeared but here you are again, getting back to business and, reportedly, being funded by two of the biggest names in contemporary pop music: Lady Gaga and Kanye West.

Although the news is still only a well-founded rumour at this point, all signs point to an incoming sum of cash arriving from the (deep, deep) pockets of the Fame Monster and ‘Ye. As valulations of the social music/game company have skyrocketed, some $7.5 million has been drawn up by Union Square Ventures, West and Gaga. Neither musicians’ camps have officially commented on the deal but its validty seems extremely likely, given that Union Square Ventures has gone on record regarding their part in the business’ financing.

West and Gaga aren’t the only ones likely to become interested in Turntable.fm either. The recent financing round that drew the two artist’s attention has led to the service being valued at a formidable $37.5 million (surely more than enough to design a few more loudly coloured player avatars).

With licensing arrangements already having been made with industry giants, BMI and ASCAP, the future looks bright for Turntable.fm. An influx of cash and a solution to the site’s previous legal quagmires are probably all it will take to get the music giant into the right position to enjoy a massive, wide-scale launch.

Turntable.fm is currently in invite-only beta mode right now but, if you’d like to look through the window at what the cool kids are up to, you can go ahead and click on this link. We’ll be keeping a close watch on what happens next as Turntable.fm moves closer to public release.

They’ve Got the BetaBeat: Observer.com to Launch Tech Spinoff Wednesday

The New York Observer will take on the New York City tech scene with Wednesday’s launch of BetaBeat, an Observer.com spinoff with a Twitter feed and Facebook page.

BetaBeat will focus on ventures, startups, investments, and personalities in the area, along with offering social scorecards ranking the top players, and analyzing trends and new products. It will be led by Observer Media Group editor-in-chief Elizabeth Spiers, who said:

BetaBeat will allow us to go into greater, in-depth coverage of the movers and shakers in the tech world. This is an exciting new venture for us.

The founding editor of BetaBeat will be Ben Popper, who has written for The New York Times, Fast Company, Slate, and The Atlantic. Former ReadWriteWeb blogger Adrianne Jeffries is also on board.

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