Washington - U.S. CD sales were down 13%, and CD shipments to retailers down 12.8% in 2006, while sales of digital albums doubled and overall digital music sales increased 74.4%, according to figures published by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). [more..]

San Francisco - While traffic to "Web 2.0" sites -- like YouTube, Flickr and others that encourage users to upload their own media -- has increased dramatically, the percentage of these users actually contributing content to such sites remains slim, according to a new study from website ratings firm Hitwise. [more..]

New York - A survey of senior media and entertainment executives has found that user-generated content, on sites like YouTube, MySpace and blogs, is considered one of the biggest threats to their businesses. [more..]

Los Angeles - Nintendo has announced that U.S. pre-orders for its forthcoming "Pokemon Diamond" and "Pokemon Pearl" games for the DS handheld system have topped 533,000, and are already expected to be two of the top-selling titles overall for 2007. [more..]

From The Millennials Conference: Stardoll, the virtual doll community, today sell their own 12 brand of virtual doll clothes to its 6 million members. The company’s CEO Mattias Miksche told the audience that the next step is to introduce virtual clothes from established fashion brands. [more..]

Stamford, Conn. - GE Media, Communications & Entertainment, a unit of GE Commercial Finance, and NBC Universal on Wednesday announced they have launched a $250 million equity fund to invest in media and technology companies. [more..]

Los Angeles - U.S. sales of standalone HD DVD players have now surpassed 100,000 units, topping sales of players in the rival Blu-ray format and making HD DVD the first format to reach the milestone, according to a report from the North American HD DVD Promotional Group. [more..]

London - By 2012, 70% of European homes will own at least one HD-capable TV, up from 8% in 2006, according to a report from market research firm Strategy Analytics. [more..]

Palo Alto, Calif. - Mobixell Networks, a developer of mobile multimedia technology, said on Wednesday that it has acquired key assets of Adamind, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based supplier of media adaptation software for the mobile messaging services market. [more..]

New York - PR Newswire, a provider of electronic press release distribution, targeting, measurement and broadcast services, on Wednesday announced that it has acquired Vintage Filings, a New York-based company that provides SEC filing capabilities, typesetting and financial printing to more than 1,000 public companies, mutual funds, investment management firms, law firms and individuals. [more..]

London - ROK Entertainment, a provider of on-demand mobile TV services, has raised $7 million in new financing from undisclosed European institutions, in anticipation of its initial public offering later this year. [more..]

New York - CBS Corporation on Wednesday announced the formation of CBS Connections, a new marketing division that will enable advertisers to buy ads across the company's broadcast TV, cable, radio, Internet and outdoor properties. The company named Fred Sawabini to head the new unit, which will encompass CBS Entertainment, CBS News, CBS Interactive, CBS Sports, CBS Paramount Television, CBS Television Distribution, CSTV, Showtime, CBS Radio and CBS Outdoor. CBS said Connections was created in partial response to a survey of advertisers that found that integrated marketing communications now rivals return on investment as a top issue confronting marketers. [more..]

Tokyo - Japanese electronics firm Toshiba announced that it has developed a 16GB capacity solution for consumer electronics devices, by combining eight 2GB elements onto a single chip that fits into current devices. The 16GB chip will begin mass production in the fourth quarter. Toshiba has in the past supplied flash memory to Apple for its iPod nano players. [more..]

Los Angeles - Japanese wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo plans to introduce a mobile music service in May that offers unlimited downloads to cell phones for about $17 per month, Billboard reported, citing Japan's Nikkei newspaper. However, the service will offer a more limited catalog than the network's existing pay-per-song service. [more..]

San Francisco - Facebook, the second-largest online social network behind MySpace, plans to allow its users to embed widgets from third-party providers, Wired reported, citing an unnamed source. Rival MySpace has drawn criticism from some for banning third-party widgets from certain companies, including a high-profile widget from Indie911 being used to sell a single from MySpace sensation Tila Tequila. Last week, MySpace stopped allowing users to upload videos hosted by Photobucket. [more..]

Seattle - Amazon.com announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with more than 30 independent record labels to launch "Go Indie," a section of its Indie music store that will showcase music videos and some 700 albums -- with 150 titles discounted to $9.99. Participating labels include Astralwerks, Barsuk, Beggars Group, Domino, Fat Possum, Matador and Sub Pop. [more..]

Beijing - MobiTV, a provider of mobile TV and music delivery services, announced that it has partnered with Intel to optimize its service for use on Intel chip-powered laptops, Ultra Mobile Personal Computers and mobile devices. MobiTV and Intel also expect to work on next-generation platforms and services to personalize and improve the user experience. [more..]

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts said on Wednesday that it has signed Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young as the cover athlete of its "Madden NFL 08" game. Young, the NFL's Rookie of the Year last season, will become the youngest NFL player to grace the game's cover. "Madden NFL 08" will be available for purchase beginning August 14. [more..]

New York - Comic book publisher Marvel Entertainment announced on Wednesday that it has expanded its agreement with Japanese game developer Sega, to include the rights to develop and publish games based on Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and Thor. The deal follows on Sega's creation of an "Iron Man" game, slated to be released alongside the film next May. All of the new franchises will see games released alongside feature films, with "The Incredible Hulk" coming first in June 2008. [more..]

Edison, N.J. - Video game publisher Majesco said on Wednesday that it has signed a deal with fellow publisher Eidos Interactive, which will distribute a number of new Majesco titles in the European market. The agreement focuses on Nintendo DS titles, including "Cake Mania" and "MechAssault: Phantom War," and includes several Wii titles. Eight games are due out this summer, with 15 others also in the pipeline. [more..]