Samsung’s story and harmful hashtags: top stories you should read

This week’s instalment of our top tech stories series involves everything from the changing music industry to a man who sold shares in himself. Yes, really. Along the way we also touch on the phone-fuelled bonfires that made Samsung what it is today, the questionable usage of hashtags, the early days of Google Reader and the messaging apps that have industry leaders worried.

The music industry has irreversibly changed — the labels have not

iTunes. Spotify. Pandora. Music no longer involves a CD player and a nice stream of revenue for the artist. But as the shift into digital continues, musicians are complaining that streaming services and digital downloads just aren’t giving them the money they need to survive. Pando Daily ponders whether or not the problem lies with the new age music services or the chunk of revenue demanded by record labels. In the age of KickStarter, social media and digital distribution, are the labels still needed at all?

How Samsung became the world’s no. 1 smartphone maker

Yes, Samsung is having a moment. It used to be all about washing machines and TVs, but now the hype around the next Galaxy launch is palpable. It’s dominating smartphone markets globally, but how did it get to this stage of world domination? Bloomberg goes inside Samsung’s mega offices to find out about the culture, leadership and work ethic that made it such a force to be reckoned with.

The messaging apps taking on Facebook and phone giants

Have you heard of Line? In Japan, it’s the new WhatsApp, and just one of the apps that has telecoms worried about their revenue and players like handset manufacturers and Facebook worried about who is chatting where. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the apps leading the race, and what the other players are doing in an effort to stay in the game.

Hashtags considered #harmful

They’re such an integral part of Twitter, but at least one person doubts their value: and it’s a social media producer at The New York Times, no less. Daniel Victor questions the visual appeal and how much using a hashtag actually increases the chance your tweet will be seen in the stream of millions of updates.

Meet the man who sold his fate to investors at $1 a share

In a story almost too crazy to be true, Wired investigates the aftermath of part-time entrepreneur Mike Merrill who sold shares in himself to friends and strangers. These investors influence everything from his dating prospects to eating habits (Should he go vegetarian? Put it to a shareholder vote) and major life decisions. Like Facebook, he’s now a publicly traded company (ish) — but is also he almost a slave?

The evolution of Google Reader started with a crash

When Google’s RSS reader joined the packed graveyard over at Google HQ, it kicked up quite a fuss. But before it was added to the chopping block, it was an exciting 20% project for a team of Googlers. The founding product manager of Google Reader shares the humble beginnings of the project that became a daily feature in the lives of thousands of web users.