Sports & Entertainment Beat

We have written in the past about patents in the entertainment field, such as one received by the entertainer Michael Jackson for a shoe for his moonwalking. Patents in the entertainment field can also be directed to devices related to musical instruments, such as tuners or supports, or even new ways of recording. But as the Internet and mobile devices have become more prolific, uses of the Internet and mobile devices lend themselves to new entertainment-related ideas and implementations. Generally, these ideas and implementations have been related to music artists, but these technological developments lend themselves to improvements for fans as well.

YouTube Music Pass, the new Google-owned music service, has indicated that it intends to block content from independent labels that have not signed up for its subscription music service from its current free service.  YouTube Music Pass is a new streaming service that will allow people to download music to their mobile devices and watch and listen to music videos without ads, even when not online.  On June 17th, YouTube’s head of content and business operations, Robert Kyncl, confirmed that independent artists could disappear from YouTube if their labels do not sign up for the new service.

Billboard, the leader in the music industry for charting top artists and music, has partnered with Twitter and unveiled two new charts this week - the Billboard Twitter Trending 140 and the Billboard Twitter Emerging Artists.  Since its inception, Billboard has regularly developed new charts in response to changes in the music industry, specifically in the way that fans interact with and consume music.  According to Mashable, music is the most discussed topic on Twitter, with around one billion music-related tweets in 2013.