San Francisco - The top-selling album of 2008 on Amazon MP3 (NASD: AMZN) was "Ghosts I-IV," notable in that the instrumental album from Nine Inch Nails was also made available entirely for free by the band on file-sharing networks. The Creative Commons-licensed album also sold over $1.6 million at retail, and garnered two Grammy nominations.

London - Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) on Wednesday launched its MP3 store in the U.K., Music Ally reports. The store is offering several albums, from artists including Coldplay and Kings of Leon, for an introductory promotional price of about $4.43, while many other new albums are priced at about $9.59. Individual tracks at the store range in price from about $0.87 to more than $1.20. Music Ally noted that at launch, the store is lacking some big U.K. artists' music, including Arctic Monkeys, Oasis and Franz Ferdinand

New York - While Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iTunes Store continues to dominate the digital music market, Amazon's (NASD: AMZN) MP3 store and RealNetworks' (NASD: RNWK) Rhapsody made strides in terms of brand awareness and user preference over the past year, according to a report from market research firm Ipsos. Among users who were aware of more than one source for digital music purchases, 57% preferred iTunes -- an increase of 7% from a year ago. Meanwhile, 9% favored Amazon MP3, which has only been around a year, and 7% preferred Rhapsody, a 3% increase from a year ago.

San Bruno, Calif. - Google's (NASD: GOOG) YouTube has begun placing links to purchase music and games on the pages of related videos on its site in the U.S., with initial partners that include Amazon (NASD: AMZN) MP3, Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iTunes Store, record label EMI and game developer Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS). The "click-to-buy" links to purchase media at Amazon's MP3 store and Apple's iTunes Store can currently be found on pages for music videos by EMI artists, and pages related to Electronic Arts' new universe-building game, "Spore."

London - Amazon.com has held a series of talks with U.K. record labels, and plans to launch its MP3 download store in the U.K. next month, New Media Age reports. The store was launched a year ago in the U.S., and currently offers over 5 million songs, from all four major labels and a bevy of independents.

San Francisco - The forthcoming MySpace Music joint venture service with the major labels is "likely" to partner with Amazon to power its e-commerce sales of digital music, although Apple and Rhapsody are also in the running, TechCrunch reported, citing an anonymous source. MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe said earlier this week that the joint venture, which will sell music downloads, offer subscription plans, and sell other things like ringtones and concert tickets, will launch in September.

Los Angeles - Paul Westerberg, frontman for the 80's alternative rock band, has made his latest solo album, "49," available for download from the Amazon MP3 and TuneCore stores for just 49 cents. "He finished it on Monday, sent it to me on Tuesday and it was out this weekend," Westerberg manager Darren Hill told Billboard.com. "It's just wonderful that you can actually do this. The freedom an artist can enjoy these days is fantastic. Can you imagine me pitching this idea to a label?"

London - Amazon (NASD: AMZN) is preparing to bring its MP3 store to the U.K., the Telegraph reports, and Amazon executives met with British record label heads last week to firm up the details. People familiar with the matter told the Telegraph that the store, which launched in the U.S. last year and is the only digital retailer to offer DRM-free MP3 tracks from all the major labels, is due to launch in the U.K. before the final quarter of the year.

Seattle - Online retail giant Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) on Tuesday began publicizing a pair of ongoing promotions that offer customers deeply discounted albums from its MP3 store.

Los Angeles - Napster (NASD: NAPS) on Tuesday announced the launch of its new, DRM-free MP3 store, which it claims is 50% larger than any similar store, at 6 million tracks, with the largest major label MP3 catalog and the largest library of independent music. "Music fans have spoken and it's clear they need the convenience, ease of use and broad interoperability of the DRM-free MP3 format, and they want to be able to find both major label artists and independent music all in one place. Napster is delighted to deliver all of this and more with the world's largest MP3 catalog," said Napster chairman and CEO Chris Gorog.

Seattle - Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) on Thursday launched the Amazon MP3 Clips Widget, which bloggers and website owners can post on their sites to offer song samples from the catalog of over 5 million tracks at the Amazon MP3 store. Users can also generate revenue if they join the Amazon Associates program, which offers up to 10% in referral fees when visitors click through the widget to purchase songs from Amazon.

Los Angeles - A 2006 album from current "American Idol" contestant David Cook that was the top-seller at Amazon.com's (NASD: AMZN) MP3 store over the weekend, besting even Mariah Carey's new album, has now been removed from the store, FoxNews.com reported. Whether the album was taken down by Cook himself or at the behest of someone else remains a mystery.