Social Media Newsfeed: Simon Cowell YouTube Contest | Pinterest Redesign

Click here to receive the Morning Social Media Newsfeed via email. Simon Cowell to Launch Global Talent Search on YouTube This Wednesday (SocialTimes) Simon Cowell says that YouTube “has literally changed the music business for the good,” and he’s tapping into YouTube in a major way with The You Generation, the world’s first global audition channel on YouTube. The You Generation officially launches Wednesday, and, according to Virgin Media, an official statement from Cowell’s record label, Syco, said, “The channel offers people with unconventional and original talents the opportunity to become the next internet star.” Mashable Over the next 12 months, YouTubers will be able to upload a video to reveal their skills and talents — from cooking and fashion styling to singing and dancing. Each winner will receive a cash prize (of an undisclosed amount) and of course, gain recognition on a global platform. The winners will finally compete against one another for the not-yet-announced grand prize. The Huffington Post No further details were available, but winners of Cowell's singing contest, "The X Factor," win a recording contract. Up to 69,000 people had subscribed to the channel by Monday. CNN Cowell, who signed One Direction to Syco Records, added that YouTube has drastically changed the way record labels operate and stars are discovered. “Years ago you’d have these awful showcases,” he said. “You’d have to trek across London, all the record companies would be there; the acts were normally terrible. The system’s changed now, we have people looking at YouTube all the time. It’s a fantastic vehicle, it’s changed everything! It has literally changed the music business for the good." Social News Daily The international competition will go live in 26 countries starting Wednesday, March 20. “Every submission will be judged by Syco executives and experts in the relevant field,” said YouTube in an official release. “Finalists will be chosen every two weeks with the winner being announced on the second Friday of every contest.” Four Things You Need to Know About the New Pinterest (SocialTimes) Pinterest released to all users Monday a redesigned layout with bigger pictures and enhanced search tools. The team completely rebuilt the online inspiration board at its foundation to make it more reliable, the company said, but the most noticeable differences for users will be the changes to the search results. The Next Web The first noticeable change is to the close-up view of pins. Now, when a user looks at a webpage for a specific photo or web clipping, they’ll be able to see other pins from the same board on the right-hand side. CNET The company, fresh off landing $200 million in new funding, is describing the new look as a way to help members discover more of what they love, which is just a fluffy way of saying it wants to keep people on its site for longer. The startup, now valued at $2.5 billion, will likely soon want to monetize member attention, and has hinted at this intent with the release of business-friendly tools including web analytics for site owners, launched last week. Twitter Releases New Ad Targeting Tools: Interest, Platform, Fans and Gender (VentureBeat) Twitter announced new self-service ad tools Monday with much finer-grained targeting controls that will allow small advertisers to craft ad campaigns to exactly the audience they want … and give them access to Twitter’s full advanced control panel for reporting, analytics and optimization. The 140-character social news network is saying that you can target users who are similar to those who follow certain accounts. Facebook Acqhires Team from Trust Verification Startup Legit (TechCrunch) Legit, a startup working on a universal reputation system that could help sharing economy services verify whether users are trustworthy, has just announced its team will join Facebook. Legit’s exit blog post offered little details, but we’re awaiting a response from the founders. Jack Dorsey on Twitter’s History, its Future and Why He Wants to Be Mayor Of New York City [Video] (AllTwitter) Lara Logan interviewed Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey for "60 Minutes" on CBS, and, for fans of Twitter, quite a few little gems were unearthed from the soft-spoken Dorsey, including his ambition to run for mayor of New York City. Dorsey speaks about the history of Twitter, and his part therein – how he came up with the idea for the micro-blogging network, why he was kicked out of the company he started (and how that made him feel) and how he doesn’t hold grudges. New Research: Music Piracy Should Not be a 'Concern for Copyright Holders' (ars technica) Less than two weeks after a study showing that Internet movie piracy displaces digital film sales, new research by two European Commission researchers arrived at the opposite conclusion with respect to music sales. In short, they find that “digital music piracy should not be viewed as a growing concern for copyright holders in the digital era. In addition, our results indicate that new music consumption channels such as online streaming positively affect copyrights owners.” Twitter to Tip Off Instant Replays for March Madness (USA Today) Twitter is bringing March Madness to the mobile masses. Starting Tuesday, when the NCAA men's basketball tournament tips off, hoops junkies will be able to view highlights from all 67 games within a few minutes of them happening via Twitter. Facebook Adds Cover Photo Capabilities to iOS App (AllFacebook) Facebook pushed its latest iOS native application update Monday, giving users the ability to change their cover photos from their phones or tablets. The latest version of the iOS app also improved group messaging features. #ObamaIsNotSatan Shows Random Side of Twitter Ads (Adweek) In the latest example of how marketers are using Twitter's Promoted Tweets to jump on digital chatter as it happens, the AARP and Seamless this afternoon have gotten numerous ad impressions from consumers clicking on an #ObamaIsNotSatan hashtag. But this one has an unusually bizarre twist — even beyond the hashtag's content — in that the marketers who purchased the ads probably only bid on the keyword "Obama" rather than the randomness that is "ObamaIsNotSatan."

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Social Media Newsfeed: Simon Cowell YouTube Contest | Pinterest Redesign

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