Nielsen to Integrate "Top Swaps" P2P Download Data from BigChampagne -- Media ratings provider Nielsen Entertainment on Wednesday announced a partnership with Big Champagne, to integrate the company's peer-to-peer file-sharing network monitoring data into Nielsen radio airplay ratings. The addition will place data on top swaps alongside Nielsen's radio airplay data on the company's BDSRadio.com -- to provide record labels, artists and radio stations with a new source of information on music trends. "The linkage of Nielsen Entertainment's Actionable Entertainment Intelligence in music with Big Champagne's P2P charts is the beginning of a broader new landscape we plan to map, detailing the interrelationship between technology and consumption," said Nielsen Entertainment president and CEO Andrew Wing. Beverly Hills, California-based BigChampagne's data is culled from monitoring P2P networks like Kazaa, and is also syndicated by Entertainment Weekly and E! Entertainment Television.
Try to imagine this scenario, that General Motors and Ford were given exclusive franchises to build America's interstate highway system, and also all the highways that connect local communities. Now imagine that, based upon a financial crisis, these troubled companies decided to convert all "their" local arteries into toll-roads -- they then use incremental toll fees to severely limit all travel to and from small businesses. Why? This handicapping process reduced the need to invest in building better new roads, or repairing the dilapidated ones. But, wouldn't that short-sighted decision have a detrimental impact on the overall national economy? It's a moot point -- pure fantasy -- you say. The U.S. political leadership would never knowingly risk the nation's social and economic future on the financial viability of a restrictive duopoly. Or, would they? The 21st century Global Networked Economy travels across essential broadband infrastructure. The forced intro...