What is the effect of repetetive airplay?

If there is one thing music marketers know, it's that sometimes it's not that first spin of a record that a listener hears that wins them over on a song. Sometimes it takes a couple of spins before the listener really catches on, and the song ultimately grows on them.

I certainly know this is true of my own interest in music. There have been countless dozens of songs that when I heard them the first time I thought to myself, that was just okay. Only to have the song stuck in my head after a few times hearing it and actually liking it.

Music marketers will go to great lengths to have their music spun multiple times in rotations in radio airplay because they know that eventually the song may just catch on even if it might not initially.

Of course, the song still has to be good. It still has to be solid. You can play a horrible tune over and over again and if it's simply garbage no one is ever going to care about it.

Do you think it is fair FanDuel employees cannot play?

The short answer is yes. I think it simply makes perfect sense that employees of FanDuel should be banned from playing the popular fan sports game. The ban came about as a result of one employee who apparently won $350,000 playing, and after the results of an internal probe which suggested that the employee may have gotten his winnings due to some inside knowledge other players outside of FanDuel were not privy to.

Whenever there is the possibility of someone knowing something, rules must be in place where money is to potentially be gained from it to curb that. Pardon the pun, but it's a matter of gaming the system. It's fine to make money when you are doing it honestly and fairly. And let's not forget that the winnings at FanDuel are from monies paid by other players. So playing with knowledge that other players do not have is essentially stealing.

I think the ban is fair, and is a good thing.

What are your thoughts on proposed AB InBev, SABMiller merger?

To be totally honest, despite my definite capitalistic nature, I am somewhat saddened by the state of the beer industry wherein currently the big breweries are no longer technically United States companies. InBev, which is now AB InBev is a Belgian company. And SABMiller is part of a joint venture between Canadian Molson Coors, and South African SAB. While it is true that a large part of these operations are still active in the U.S., and so there are still plenty of jobs that are supported by these companies, the truth is that I think America loses something more in the way of what was once a vibrant system of breweries.

The last standing largest American brewer is The Boston Beer Company which brews the popular, hoppy brand Samuel Adams.

There is also the thought that I have that as these companies become more melded into one, what we also lose more of is the ability of new, smaller players to emerge and compete. Granted, the craft beer industry and the traditional beer industry are not necessarily one in the same, and neither are their customers. Still, the proposed merger between AB InBev and SABMiller could mean that the combined company would control approximately 70% of the entire beer market. While that happens to be a great deal for the company and its shareholders, I am not sure it is a great deal for consumers since this large behemoth of a company will be able to have more control over its distributors, and I think ultimately this means that the combined company will also have the strength to control prices in a way that puts consumers at a disadvantage.

All in all I don't think the merger is one that will not happen with a few tweaks. For example, an adjustment to the MillerCoors company deal may have to happen. It would not be totally bad for the market. But I definitely would like to see some new, smaller companies emerge who can one day at least challenge a company such as what we will have with this combined one.