Cupertino, Calif. - Apple (NASD: AAPL) said on Tuesday that it will begin offering exclusive audio and video downloads of every performance from the top 24 semifinalists on Fox's "American Idol." Song versions will cost $0.99 each, while videos will sell for $1.99 each. Fans will also be able to subscribe to automatic downloads of performances from favorite contestants the day after they after their on-air broadcast.

Los Angeles - deviantART, an eight-year-old online art community with over 7 million registered users, has announced that it recently received its 50 millionth artist-generated submission. The site received more than 23 million unique visitors in January, averages over 70,000 art submissions daily, and attracts more than 1.5 billion page views a month. Los Angeles-based deviantART features more than 1,600 categories of user-submitted artwork, ranging from photography, to artisan crafts and manga/anime, and offers a merchandising interface where artists can sell reprints of their works on canvas, posters, calendars and other media.

Los Angeles - Madonna is in talks to distribute her directorial debut film, "Filth and Wisdom," through Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iTunes Store in the U.S. and U.K., Variety reports. The pop star self-financed, co-wrote and directed the comedy, which stars Eugene Hutz, also of the rock band Gogol Bordello. "I've been speaking to iTunes about releasing it through them," Madonna told Variety. "I want the most amount of people to see it as possible. ... I don't like to do anything conventionally."

London - The BBC announced on Tuesday that it has added several of its TV programs to the offering at the U.K. iTunes Store, including episodes of "Torchwood," "Little Britain" and "Life On Mars." The programs, which will cost about $3.69 each, are not scheduled to be made available on iTunes in the U.S. "With more people now choosing to watch TV shows on their iPods, fans of series such as The Mighty Boosh and The Catherine Tate Show can now enjoy those shows wherever they are," said Simon Danker, director of digital media at BBC Worldwide.

New York - Video-sharing site Dailymotion on Tuesday introduced a high-definition video player, which will be available to users in the company's Motionmaker program "for the most creative UGC," as well as the to the company's professional content partners. The company said the site will automatically detect and deliver HD-quality video to users with the appropriate bandwidth.

Los Angeles - Hollywood trade publication Variety on Tuesday announced the launch of The Biz, a social networking site for entertainment professionals and enthusiasts in the U.S. The site was created in partnership with Jobster, and aims to offer interested parties a place to "network, pitch products, exchange ideas, and search for jobs among peers and industry experts."

San Francisco - Vollee, the developer of an application that can stream console-quality video games to 3G mobile phones, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Linden Lab to offer a mobile version of its Second Life 3D virtual world. Beta trials for the Second Life Grid platform are now open for pre-registration, and are expected to commence in May. Vollee's other publisher partners include Activision and Codemasters.

San Francisco - DoubleTwist, a start-up launched by notorious Norwegian hacker Jon Lech Johansen (aka DVD Jon) and partner Monique Farantzos, on Monday announced the launch of its platform for media-sharing and the closing of a first round of venture capital financing, from Index Ventures and Northzone Ventures.

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple (NASD: AAPL) on Tuesday introduced a new 2GB model of its tiny iPod shuffle portable music player, and reduced its standard 1GB model in price to just $49.

Rockville, Md. - WeddingWire, a start-up that operates an online marketplace for wedding planning and a related social community, said on Tuesday that it has sold a 40% stake in the company to New York-based Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO).

Washington - One year after announcing plans to merge with rival Sirius (NASD: SIRI), XM Satellite Radio (NASD: XMSR) continues to spend large amounts of money in an effort to land regulatory approval to complete the proposed $5 billion deal, the Associated Press reported.

Cambridge, Mass. - Sales of digital music downloads will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 23% over the next five years, reaching $4.8 billion in revenue by 2012 -- when they will overtake CD sales, according to a new report from Forrester Research (NASD: FORR). Despite the rise, digital will still not compensate for falling CD sales, which will drop off to just $3.8 billion in 2012. "This is the end of the music industry as we know it," said Forrester principal analyst James L. McQuivey.

Brussels - Financial news and information publisher Thomson (NYSE: TOC) has won conditional approval from the European Commission to acquire international news agency Reuters (NASD: RTRSY), agreeing to divest certain businesses that include databases with financial information products before the deal proceeds.

San Francisco - Peanut Labs, a provider of Generation Y (13-25 year-olds) market research for social networks and other youth-oriented Web platforms, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $3.2 million in its first round of funding, led by Leapfrog Ventures and BV Capital.

San Francisco - Bleacher Report, a community-driven online sports network, on Tuesday announced its official launch, and said it has raised a first round of funding led by Hillsven Capital.

Day -1095: Waiting for a Macintosh that comes close to a Vaio in size, weight, and, most importantly, battery life. Day -60: Rumors start circulating about a super-cool, super-thin MacBook. Day -30: Go into Apple store and tell them to put one of these rumored super-cool, super-thin MacBooks aside for me if the rumors are true. Day 0: Steve announces MacBook Air at Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

Wayne, N.J. - Following several high-profile withdrawals of support from retailers and movie studios, Japan's Toshiba announced on Tuesday that it will discontinue its next-generation HD DVD format, handing victory in the much-hyped "format war" to Sony's rival (NYSE: SNE) Blu-ray technology. "While we continue to believe HD DVD is the best format for consumers, based on its technological advancements and the value and quality inherent in our player offerings, recent market developments have led us to the decision to choose new and different paths," said Yoshi Uchiyama, group VP of Toshiba's digital A/V marketing group.

The Brit Awards take place tomorrow evening and there are three awards up for the public vote: best British Breakthrough Act, best British Live Act, and best British Single. The latter is tricky to analyze using search data, but I thought I’d have a look at the first two. The chart below illustrates weekly UK Internet searches for the five acts nominated for British Breakthrough Act in the weeks since the nominations were announced.