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MusicsMusic Recommendation Software Firm MusicStrands Raises $2.3 MillionAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 6, 2006 - 6:32am.
Corvallis, Ore. - MusicStrands, a developer of music recommendation and organization software for PCs and cell phones, has raised $2.3 million in a recent round of financing, from GCR Venture Capital. MusicStrands has now raised a total of $6 million to date. The Oregon-based company recently displayed its prototype Music Guru social music player, which was developed with Vodafone Group and Adobe, at the 3GSM World Congress -- and next plans to offer the technology to U.S. carriers. The player combines music recommendation software with community building features like playlist sharing and song tagging.
Nimrod Productions to Produce Soundtrack for Atari's "Driver: Parallel Lines"Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 6, 2006 - 6:13am.
New York - Atari said on Monday that it partnered with Nimrod Productions to produce the in-game soundtrack for its "Driver: Parallel Lines" game. Artists who will provide new exclusive material include Public Enemy, Suicide and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs; other featured artists will include David Bowie, Blondie, Iggy Pop, Marvin Gaye and LCD Soundsystem. Developed by Reflections Interactive, the latest installment in Atari's "Driver" will be released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
Justice Dept. Launches Digital Music Pricing Probe, Following Spitzer's LeadAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 3, 2006 - 7:16am.
Washington - Likely spurred by a similar probe launched by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the U.S. Justice Department announced that it has opened an investigation into possible collusion between the major record labels on digital music pricing. "The Antitrust Division is looking at the possibility of anti-competitive practices in the music download industry," Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona told Reuters. The investigations from Spitzer and the Justice Dept. both relate to the possible fixing of wholesale prices for digital music, industry sources told Reuters. Currently, the industry standard price for a digital song is 99 cents on services like iTunes and Napster, although label executives have said publicly they would like to initiate variable pricing for song downloads. Billboard reported that sources said Spitzer was investigating alleged "most favored nation" status that labels have with digital music services, such that no label can receive a deal worse than its competitors, effectively fixing prices. Record labels declined comment to both Billboard and Reuters, but sources close to the labels told Billboard that Justice Dept. subpoenas are expected to be forthcoming.
Sony Media Software Launches New Sound Effects Box SetAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 3, 2006 - 6:55am.
Madison, Wisc. - Sony Media Software said on Friday that it has released a second box set collection of royalty-free sound effects for use in video productions. The $399 Sony Pictures Sound Effects Series, volumes six through ten, will be available at retail and through Sony's website.
Digital Music Service Providers Say Songwriters' Cut Too LargeAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2006 - 9:04am.
New York - The Digital Media Association (DiMA), a trade group representing the digital music services of Apple, AOL, Yahoo, Napster and RealNetworks, among others, believes that music publishers are taking too large a share of digital music revenue. While record labels claim about 65% of the revenue from digital songs, songwriters' share of the revenue from each song has risen from 7.5% to 9.1%. "Our pie was shrinking but we were paying more and more to the publishers," DiMA executive director Jonathan Potter told attendees of the Digital Music Forum, a two-day event in New York produced by Digital Media Wire. "This made the economics as upside down as the zero price point -- it didn't allow people to do reasonable forecasting or price points."
United Airlines Adds XM Music Channels to In-Flight EntertainmentAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2006 - 7:43am.
Chicago - United Airlines announced on Thursday that it will add music programming from XM Satellite Radio to its in-flight entertainment. Beginning this month, United passengers will be able to access up to 19 channels of XM programming, which will be promoted in United's "Hemispheres" in-flight magazine.
Avis Rent A Car Offers iTunes Downloads PromotionAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2006 - 7:41am.
Parsippany, N.J. - Avis Rent A Car announced on Thursday that it has signed a long-term agreement with Apple, to offer car rental customers at least five free song downloads on iTunes every time they rent through Avis.com. Under the Avis Music Giveaway program, rentals of at least five days in length will receive ten free downloads.
The Register: Universal's Larry Kenswil on Threats to Legitimate Digital MusicAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2006 - 7:19am.
New York - Threats to legitimate digital music sales today include makers of satellite radios that can record streams, ISPs offering tiered Internet pricing, and "the capitalism-is-evil crowd," like the Slashdot online community, according to Larry Kenswil, president of major label Universal Music Group's digital division. Kenswil made the comments at the Digital Music Forum, a two-day event in New York produced by Digital Media Wire, The Register reported. The Universal executive also criticized the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital civil liberties group, and similar-minded groups Zeropaid and Downhill Battle. "One wonders if they haven't got anything better to do," said Kenswil. "With all the crap going on in the world, is Sony BMG the worst corporation in the world? Is it worse than the spammers, or the people who write viruses on purpose?"
Jamster to Distribute UrbanWorld Wireless "Street Beatz" RingtonesAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 1, 2006 - 9:24am.
Los Angeles - Mobile entertainment publisher UrbanWorld Wireless said on Wednesday that ringtone distributor Jamster will offer its Street Beatz ringtone service, which includes original ringtones produced by hip-hop deejays, producers and unsigned artists.
Nareos Launches P2P Service With CD Baby, INgrooves SongsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 28, 2005 - 10:14am.
Beverly Hills, Calif. - Nareos, a California-based start-up with development facilities in Israel, announced on Monday the launch of its PeerReach peer-to-peer file-sharing service. The company has signed distribution agreements with online music store CD Baby, online label INgrooves and the Digital Rights Agency, which will provide over 1 million tracks to the service. Nareos said that PeerReach will push legitimate, licensed content to the top of its P2P search results, and sell songs for 99 cents each.
Microsoft to Let Users Stream Songs from iPod to Xbox 360Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2005 - 3:10am.
San Francisco - CNET News.com reported on Friday that Microsoft will offer a feature on its forthcoming Xbox 360 video game console that allows users to stream tracks from their iPod digital music player, to serve as an alternate soundtrack while playing games. Microsoft did not work with Apple on the iPod-Xbox compatibility, which utilizes the standard USB connector that ships with the iPod; the company said Apple rejected an invitation to collaborate. Microsoft would not say whether it reverse-engineered the iPod in any way to achieve the connection. One analyst told News.com he expects Apple to update its iPod software shortly after the Xbox 360's release to remove iPod compatibility with the game console.
Social Networking Site Flukiest Launches Music FeaturesAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 1, 2005 - 4:34am.
Los Angeles - Social networking site Flukiest.com on Tuesday announced the launch of Flukiest Music, a service that lets bands post songs, interviews, tour dates, blogs and pictures to stay in touch with fans. The service enables instant sharing of photos and videos from mobile devices. Los Angeles-based Flukiest is headed by CEO Duc Chau, who founded the company after helping to develop fellow social networking service MySpace.com.
New Sony Car Stereos Feature Faceplate MP3 Player InputAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 17, 2005 - 2:42am.
San Diego - Sony Electronics on Monday introduced two new Xplod in-dash car CD receiver models, both of which include the ability to connect a portable music player directly through an auxiliary input on the faceplate. The $100 CDX-GT100 CD and $130 CDX-GT200 CD/MP3 receivers let MP3 player owners connect them to their car stereos via a standard 1/8-inch mini jack cord.
Mashboxx Licenses Sony BMG Songs for Legal File-Sharing ServiceAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on June 29, 2005 - 7:20am.
Virginia Beach, Va. -- Mashboxx, an authorized peer-to-peer music file-sharing service being developed by the former head of Grokster, announced on Wednesday that it has licensed major label Sony BMG's songs for inclusion on the service. "Sony BMG has done the heretofore unthinkable: embrace file sharing," said Wayne Rosso, CEO of Mashboxx and former head of Grokster -- which lost its landmark Supreme Court copyright infringement case earlier this week. Mashboxx said that negotiations are currently under way with other labels to license songs for its service, which will place protected versions of their songs for sale on major existing file-sharing networks. Users will pay 99 cents per track, and will be able to listen to several full-track previews before purchasing a song. Mashboxx is using Napster founder Shawn Fanning's Snocap "acoustic fingerprinting" song ID service to ensure that only authorized tracks are made available. Snocap has already signed additional deals with Universal, EMI and Warner to include their songs in its authorized database. Virginia-based Mashboxx said it plans to soon begin beta testing of its legal peer-to-peer service.
AOL to Offer Exclusive Video, Music Content for FreeAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on June 14, 2005 - 9:42am.
Dulles, Va. -- Looking for a way to boost its advertising revenue, America Online plans to make the bulk of its subscription music and video offerings available for free, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. The Internet company, which has seen its subscriber base dwindle with the rise of broadband access, plans to go live with a new test version of its AOL.com portal on June 21, and formally launch it next month amidst a blitz of online, radio and print advertising. Subscribers will still have exclusive access to some content, including sections for kids and teens, and other features such as e-mail security, parental controls, software and support. With internal studies showing that AOL's exclusive content wasn't having a major effect on its ability to retain subscribers, "the company decided to make that available to a wider audience for free in hopes of gaining more online real estate to sell to advertisers," the AP reported. AOL's revenue dropped 3% in the first quarter, and its subscriber base -- once approaching 27 million -- has now fallen below 22 million.
CNET: Microsoft Plans Music Subscription ServiceAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on June 10, 2005 - 10:06am.
San Francisco -- Microsoft is planning to introduce a subscription-based digital music service, to compete both with rival Apple's dominant song store and other subscription models from Yahoo and RealNetworks, CNET News.com reported, citing sources familiar with the plans. "We think that the subscription model is very interesting," MSN lead product manager Christine Andrews told News.com. "It is something that we will continue to look into." Microsoft is reportedly asking record labels for the rights to offer prospective subscribers to its service a Microsoft-formatted version of any song they purchase from the iTunes Store, so they can be played on devices other than an iPod. The company is also planning introductory pricing for the subscription service in line with Yahoo's offering; at $6.99 per month, the current pricing of Yahoo's service undercuts competing services from Napster and ReaNetworks, which charge $15 a month.
MusicNet, MusicGremlin to Offer Direct-to-Device Song DownloadsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on June 7, 2005 - 10:38am.
New York -- MusicGremlin, the developer of a direct-to-device digital music download service, announced on Tuesday that MusicNet -- a major label-backed digital music distributor -- will provide technology for its music store, as well as its 1.5 million track library for sale on MusicGremlin devices. New York-based MusicGremlin's technology adds Wi-Fi software to MP3 players, so they can download songs directly over a wireless Internet connection, without the need of a separate computer. The first generation of MusicGremlin-enabled MP3 players are scheduled to launch in the second half of 2005, offering both a monthly subscription service with unlimited downloads, and an a la carte store for permanent downloads. MusicGremlin said its devices will also allow owners to share music wirelessly with other users.
Mercora Adds Song Search Feature to P2P Streaming Radio NetworkAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on June 7, 2005 - 10:37am.
Santa Clara, Calif. -- Mercora, a provider of a peer-to-peer streaming radio network, on Tuesday launched a new service that lets users search for songs offered on Mercora users' individual radio stations, and play them on demand. The search engine, which Mercora is offering for free to website and blog operators to place on their own sites, returns results from the repository of over 30 million tracks from over 6 million artists offered by Mercora's network of users. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Mercora maintains the service is legal; it does not offer downloads, and the songs are streamed from one user's computer to another single user. "We're looking at their more recent offerings to see if they're in compliance with the (law)," John Simson, executive director of SoundExchange, the group that collects and distributes royalties from Web radio stations, told CNET News.com. "We haven't come to a conclusion yet."
Yahoo, Pepsi Team to Offer Music Concert WebcastsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on June 2, 2005 - 2:57am.
Santa Monica, Calif. -- Yahoo announced on Thursday that it has partnered with Pepsi to give a new online home to "Pepsi Smash," a live concert series that originally aired on TV. "Smash on Yahoo Music" will feature on-demand video of live performances, in addition to lifestyle segments, interviews and other footage from artists including Coldplay, Kanye West, Gwen Stefani, Billy Corgan and Mark Hoppus. The site will also offer features on cover song performances, electronic music DJs, emerging hip-hop, music news and promotional contests.
Sweden Bans Downloading of Copyrighted Films and MusicAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on May 31, 2005 - 6:10am.
Stockholm -- The Swedish parliament announced that it has passed a new law that prohibits the downloading of copyrighted material such as films and music from the Internet. "The decision means that a clear ban has been introduced against downloading music, pictures and other material on the Internet for private use without the copyright holder's permission," parliament said. Until now, Sweden has permitted the downloading of copyrighted material, while at the same time banning the uploading of material. Pressure from Hollywood to crack down on rampant peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, however, has led the country to change the law. Parliament said the new law would go into effect on July 1.
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