Spotify, Hulu and the Connected TV

It was once said that the U.S. arms of big music labels would never agree to support a service like Spotify. But in doing so, they have helped to produce a service far more compelling than homegrown free music download effort Spiralfrog that spiraled downward in 2009. For years Spotify and Hulu have been two of the most beloved streaming entertainment services available; however, now that Spotify is finally available stateside, the freemium music service provides an interesting contrast with Hulu. Read more »

Tunnels To The Television

At the DisplaySearch blog, my colleague Paul Gagnon examines the proposed Hulu subscription service and expresses concern that the service could be jeopardized by fearful cable stakeholders. Indeed, cable companies, such as Comcast, have likely been pressuring broadcasters such as NBC, which have in turn pressured Hulu to vigilantly block access to any device or software that is designed to display content on the television, as arbitrary as this “line in the sand” may be. A recent example of this was Hillcrest Labs’ Kylo TV browser that debuted at this year’s spring DEMO Conference, but which landed on its face because Hulu suddenly decided to block it.

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