“The Bond movies belong to the world,” Sony domestic distribution president Rory Bruer said. “They’re popular around the world, so getting the dates right — whether domestic or elsewhere — was particularly important.”

Initially, “Solace” was to bow Nov. 7 in the U.S. and Canada, with only the U.K. and a handful of markets getting the film first. But when Warner Bros. bounced “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” from November to July, executives at Sony and MGM decided to hold back the Bond film one week domestically to open “Solace” closer to the lucrative Thanksgiving period.

Bruer said the film’s established international success should help boost must-see interest among domestic moviegoers.

“I certainly believe the buzz is out there, with regard to what it’s doing throughout the world,” he said. “The world is a much smaller place, and that resonates back to the U.S. as well.”

“Solace” has yet to unspool in several overseas markets and won’t travel to Japan until January. But its early bow in China and other piracy-prone territories has helped keep unauthorized copies of “Solace” from circulating on the Internet or elsewhere, Bruer said.

It’s unusual for movies to make the bulk of their money overseas before hitting the US, especially a bulk like that. Mother of Mercy, is this the end of the US as a global superpower? Will it mean more American Bond Villains? Can I bittorrent the movie now? So many questions, so few answers.

-daniel k.

When I was at the New Media Expo last week, I noticed the presence of the Zune music player - they have decided that they should promote the Zune as a device you can listen to podcasts on. “Podcasts!” How did internet-specific audio content ever get a name like that? Oh yeah, about five years ago the iPod staked out that territory.

Thus it’s characteristic that Microsoft announced today that they’re going to pay Jerry Seinfeld $10 million to star in a series of commercials promoting the unpopular Vista operating system. A series of humorous commercials, promoting a computing platform… they probably came up with the idea the same day that the first Justin Long/John Hodgman spot for Apple played, and they’re just getting around to signing the contracts now.

The Wall Street Journal says Seinfeld will appear with Bill Gates in the ads. They’ve also got plans for ads with Chris Rock and Wil Ferrell. Seinfeld is a known Mac enthusiast; Ferrell appeared in one of the Mac “switch” ads a few years ago. I have no idea what OS Rock uses, though I like to think he’s a Linux guy.

COMPLETELY UNRELATED: Two years ago I was having dinner with some friends at a Denny’s on Sunset in Hollywood, and Justin Long was eating at the very next table! This was before LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, but man, I hope someone talked to that kid about image eating.

-daniel k

This is not how the music biz actually works, of course. Actually, sometimes it did: In the Teen Idol days (Fabian, Annette, Frankie Avalon, etc.) the production and distribution system was so well controlled that talent could be cycled in and out and custom-tuned for record buyers like hemlines. This top-down control resurfaced about a decade ago with Lou Pearlman’s boy-band creations (•NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, etc.) which did very well until his whole empire imploded.

These exceptions aside, for most part the music industry is in total chaos. Nobody is making money, illegal downloads make a joke of unit-sale accountability, and the quality of original music continues it’s general decline.

Chaos aside, the industry IS controlled by cold executives, who sometimes are able to exercise an uncanny reach. Take for example the Amy Winehouse problem, and the way it has been fixed.

Ms. Winehouse is a fine singing talent, but one that is weighed down with a stupendous amount of personal problems. As noted here months ago, from my perch in the US I heard about her f***ups long before I heard any of her music. But her talent and the huge public appeal of her retro-soul singing style put her right on top. Five Grammys– proof of either her unique talent, the popularity of her sound, or an industry that is so chaotically disconnected that it would allow such a trainwreck to be so awarded.

But some cold executive quantified her appeal, and found a replacement.

Duffy, a Welsh singer-songwriter, is in the middle of a ferocious climb up the UK charts. Her debut album Rockferry is selling well in Europe, and is catching on here in the US as well.

Duffy’s sound, her vocal stylings and instrumentation, make her a dead ringer for Amy Winehouse. The UK press even called her one of the “New Amys,” along with Adele and Gabriella Cilmi. Duffy has a cleaner, slightly thinner voice than Amy’s two-packs-of-Dunhills-a-day growl, but around the edges it’s a close match.

This is proof that what the public wants, as a consumable pop-music brand, is a British female retro-soul singer. Not Amy Winehouse in particular, apparently. And Duffy is a clear and purposeful improvement on that brand: Blond, fair, freckled and curvy as opposed to black beehived, tattooed, needle tracked and gangly. From a big family in a modest Welsh village, rather than a dissolute broken home in London. And, best of all, Duffy has an extremely quiet personal life and no known substance abuse problems.

Even better, Duffy has some range. Check out the video for her song “Warwick Avenue” and watch the waterworks. Impressive singing, impressive acting, and a glimpse of real vulnerability to her persona. Can’t imagine Amy Winehouse ever crying– she’d ruin that weird space-alien eyeliner. (”Warwick Avenue” is also a brilliant song, one I predict will break through here in the US. Like Winehouse’s “Rehab,” it has a great hook, rich arrangements and it sticks in your head for hours.)

If Amy and the “New Amy” are indeed executive creations, Winehouse can be seen as a sort of lucky accident, a failed first experiment in creating a British retro-soul chanteuse. She’s a shambling Frankenstein monster, a robot on the fritz who managed to capture the public’s imagination while simultaneously wrecking up the place. Refinements now in place, there is talk of the sleek, clean-living Model 2 to take more Grammys next year. I’m sure she can even get a visa for the occasion.

–Skot C.

Full disclosure - we do have a Scottish woman playing cockney, but she’s the exception.

-daniel k.

Yep, in September Starbucks is getting out of the music distribution business, at least in the signifigant way it had been. Those big racks of music? Gone like a cup of robusto. Bad news for Sting and Norah Jones; good news for Starbucks shareholders.

To quote the article

…the coffee chain will offer just four CD “slots” per store. But it will also continue to offer free Wi-fi access to Apple’s online music store and may continue to try to sell entertainment online.

This means Starbucks has failed in film production (AKEELA AND THE BEE, anyone? No?) and is pulling out of the music business. Can their involvement in Starbucks marital aids, prothstetics and branded political candidates be far behind? Soon they may be reduced to selling coffee!

-daniel k.

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