andPOP » Amazon

Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ 99 Cents Again On Amazon

Christian Allaire — Thu, 26 May 2011 15:16:47 +0000

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Today Amazon.com put Lady Gaga’s new album ‘Born This Way’ on sale for a discounted price of 99 cents, for the second time this week.

The announcement came in an early-morning tweet in which the online retailer said: “We’re doing it again and this time we’re ready. Get @ladygaga’s Born This Way album for $0.99 today,” with a link to the Amazon sale page.

The reference to being “ready” refers to the many delays and server problems consumers experienced on Monday, when the online store basically crashed due to overwhelmingly high demands. People love Gaga, and they love a bargain even more.

In a press release, Craig Pape, Director of Music for Amazon, said, “Clearly customers are really excited for Lady Gaga’s new album – we saw extraordinary response to Monday’s promotion – far above what we expected – she definitely melted some servers. So we’re doing it again, and this time we’re ready.”

I think this promotion is a great idea. It not only promotes her album and increases sales, but it also makes up for the crappy technical service fans experienced on monday. I already bought the album, but I’m really debating on ordering a second one just because I can.

Bristol Palin Writes Memoir

Megan MacKay — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:57:01 +0000

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This is an example of why teenage pregnancy is bad!

Just when you think you’ve seen the last of the Palins, at least until 2012, 20-year-old Bristol churns out 304 pages of pure, uncensored memoir!

Yes, that’s right. The queen of all teen moms has officially signed a deal with publishing house William Morrow & Co. to release the “Untitled Bristol Palin Memoir,” a riveting tale of televised dancing competitions, evil exes posing in Playgirl, and having a child named after an uncommonly specific verb.

Sounds relatable!

The book is listed on Amazon and can be preordered to ensure you get your very own copy for the June 21^st release.

Memoirs are written for one of four reasons: to quell nostalgia, to boost egos, to stuff pockets, or to celebrate an important person’s life. We wonder what Bristol’s motivation was… hmm…

Amazon.com Launches a Movie Studio

Lauren Treihaft — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:45:24 +0000

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Amazon.com the world class website for buying and selling a wide assortment of things has launched a movie studio. As reported by perezhilton.com, Amazon Studios will feature monthly contests and a plethora of community feedback in reference to films.

The studio, which will be run by users, is currently in negotiations with Warner Brothers, but it is the first deal they will look at. If Warner Bros. does not pick up the deal Amazon will try a different studio. It’s an interesting proposal. Perhaps it would be a good decision for Warner Bros who have a number of great film titles under their belt.

Amazon has announced that they will offer $2.7 million total in awards to the top submissions they receive by Dec. 31, 2011. For those who are not involved in the technical aspect of filmmaking, the site will also offer a chance for writers to submit their screenplays. Right now the site is accepting “Test Movie” submissions. The films are required to be be over 70 minutes long, and can be based on any original or submitted script on the website.

I wonder what caused Amazon to develop the idea. Maybe they are facing financial problems due to the gargantuan amount of illegal downloading. Like itunes, Amazon offers a video on-demand service where you can stream movies and tv shows directly to your computer. The new studio also seems like it could be a youtube competitor. So far youtube has been an insurmountable entity.

With all of the young and aspiring filmmakers out there, this is a good opportunity to get material online and possibly recognized by big names. I guess we’ll have to wait for upcoming “Amazon Sensations.”

Omarion Set to Unveil His ‘Ollusion’

Joelle Tomlinson — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:38:22 +0000

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After learning of Omarion’s impressive resume of singing, acting, songwriting and producing, it’s hard to believe that he is only 25 years old. He’s what you would call a veteran in the entertainment field, and his latest album, Ollusion, could prove he’s got staying power.

Omarion’s self-described “aggressive, energetic, exciting and passionate” sound that will be demonstrated in Ollusion, out Tuesday (Jan. 12), has already excited his fans, after the recent release of the single, “I Get It In” featuring Gucci Mane. The video features Omarion’s slick dance moves in a simple black-and-white contrast that compliments the catchy beat.

“I wrote every song,” Omarion tells andPOP. “I think people can connect with personal moments in the album. When you’re singing about something that’s true to you, it’s like talking about something that’s true to you. So that’s the reason why the whole album is really personal I guess. I think it’s better that way.”

So what led this talented performer to his success?

“I would say my mom,” Omarion admits humbly. “She was a dancer, and overall she was a huge influence so I would definitely credit her for that. I was actually a rapper before I was a singer and she was like ‘you should sing.’ So I tried it out. And it’s my soul, it’s my passion, it’s everything that I am.”

Along with influence from both parents, Omarion lists Michael Jackson, his peers and old-school artists such as the unflappable Stevie Wonder as inspirations. What really makes these influences stand out are their passions for their crafts, and that’s where Omarion feels he parallels that emotion, love and dedication. “They’re just so passionate,” he says.

“And that’s how I sing, from my gut. The reason why I say my peers is because I believe the gang should have a level of, not just competition, but competitiveness. I really like when I see Usher or Chris Brown come up with something dope, and that they took a lot of time to be creative and I appreciate what they have come up with. And I’ll see that and be like ‘hmm, okay, now watch this,’ you know? I think that’s what keeps the game interesting and alive. I love it, I love it all.”

Omarion’s enthusiasm transfers over to other aspects of his life. When he’s not busy writing, recording or essentially being immersed in the entertainment labyrinth, he enjoys other competitive activities on the side. “I’m naturally competitive,” he reveals. “Bowling, basketball, all kinds of sports. Video games are always fun too. For the most part I just try to relax and enjoy myself.”

This is easier said than done.

With Ollusion hitting the stories soon, Omarion is excited to see how fans will react to his newest creation. “Ollusion is by far my best work,” he raves.

“I’m so excited about Ollusion because I feel like since I’ve been in the game as long as I have, it’s amazing to be this involved in my career at this point. To have my own company, StarWorld Entertainment, and to be in this position is just amazing. The thing about this position is the responsibility that is granted with it and I think that I am ready for this responsibility of personally writing for my audience, along with some other really great writers, that will be shown in my album. The interesting thing about that is when you’re an artist, sometimes you get writers or producers that will dictate to you what kind of music you want to do. This is different, and I feel like that’s the reason that Ollusion is my best work, because it’s from Omarion, it’s completley me.”

This raw approach to the young singer’s viewpoints on life, love and relationships is shown through a song on the album entitled “Temptation.”

“So in the song, there’s this particular girl that I work with, and she’s always like ‘you know, Omarion, if you want to come get this, you can come get this’,” he laughs. “I kind of go through in my mind how it could happen, how sexy she is, she’s rubbing my arm, stuff like that. But then I’m thinking to myself, I have a girl at home, and at the end of the song, I go home to my girl. I don’t touch the girl.”

Don’t worry though ladies, this song isn’t completley representative of his personal life, because Omarion is currently single, and “very much so” as he so eloquently describes it. As for everyone else, when asked about advice for staying in the game, Omarion has learned from his success in the music business. “I think timing is everything, and I always tell people even Kobe has to sit on the bench every now and then. At the end of the day, I think it’s all what you put out there, and if you want to survive and you want to be an entertainer for the rest of your life, it’s all about paying attention and being true to yourself. People may not like it, but that’s what being expressive is about, being true to you.”

As an additional bonus, Ollusion is being offered on Amazon for only $3.99 on the first day of sales. “I love my fans, I love everybody,” says Omarion. “Holla’ at me on Twitter, check my website at omariononline.com, and let me know what you think about Ollusion!”

Amazon Beats Apple For Super Bowl ‘Berth’

andPOP Staff — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:43:45 +0000

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In a Super Bowl commercial four years ago featuring the music of Green Day, a promotion between the major record labels, PepsiCo and Apple was unveiled to give away 100 million songs through a then-fledgling iTunes. Now, four years later, the Pepsi promotion is back and they’ve dropped Green Day and Apple in favour of JT (Justin Timberlake) and Amazon.

As reported by Jeff Leeds of The New York Times, “the switch is an indicator of the continuing tension between the music industry and Apple.” Pepsi’s previous Super Bowl ad encouraged music fans to ditch their pirating ways in favour of legal purchases and led to iTunes’ eventual dominance as the leading digital-music store. In a twist of irony, however, the music industry has taken a liking to Amazon’s rival music service, introduced in September, and is teaming up with Pepsi to shake the scene up a bit.

All the controversy surrounds DRM, or digital rights management software. Though it was Apple CEO Steve Jobs who, in February, called on the industry to drop its perpetual insistence that the software be used citing DRM’s failure to rein in piracy, the major record companies still require Apple to sell their music wrapped in the software. Amazon’s service will gain an enormous edge: the companies have agreed to offer their music catalogs for sale in the MP3 format, without the digital locks that restrict users from making copies of the songs.

DRM has been accused by some consumers of creating confusing problems, such as a lack of compatibility between most songs and the devices sold by Apple and Microsoft. Apple sells all single tracks for 99 cents, while Amazon sells them from 89 cents and up.

One Million Orders Placed for Harry Potter Book

andPOP Staff — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 12:53:23 +0000

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Worldwide orders for the upcoming sixth Harry Potter book have topped one million, according to online retailer Amazon.

With just 19 days to go until the book is released, 500,000 orders for J.K. Rowling’s book about the boy wizard have come from the United States and 200,000 from the UK. It’s possible the book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, could become the best selling novel ever.

The novel topped Amazon’s best sellers list just 24 hours after buyers were made aware they could pre-order the book.

The wizard love is global, with an amazing 265 million copies of the first five books sold in 200 countries worldwide and translated into 62 languages.

The book will be unveiled by Rowling at a ceremony at Edinburgh Castle at midnight on July 16.