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Breaking Digital Music News

E.U. to Allow "3-Strikes" Laws in New Telecoms Regulation

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 12:35pm.
Brussels - The European Union has dropped language from proposed telecoms regulation that would have established Internet access as a "fundamental right," providing new leeway for countries like France and Great Britain that have enacted or are considering "three-strikes" laws that suspend repeat copyright infringers' Internet connections, according to published reports. The issue had been a sticking point holding up the telecoms regulation, and the new version represents a compromise between copyright and consumer interests.
tags: Video | Law | Policy | Music | Copyright | European Union | Three-Strikes | La Quad | Viviane Reding |

No Doubt Sues Activision Over Avatars in "Band Hero"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 11:13am.
Los Angeles - The rock band No Doubt has filed a lawsuit against "Band Hero" video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI), alleging the company overstepped the permission granted by the band to include their likenesses within the game, Reuters reported. According to the lawsuit, the band did authorize its likenesses to be used to create avatars to perform its own songs within the game, but did not authorize the No Doubt avatars to perform songs by other bands.
tags: Games | Law | Lawsuits | Music | Activision | Band Hero | No Doubt |

Beatles to Release Re-mastered Catalog on $279 USB Drive

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 10:38am.
London - The Beatles' record label, Apple Corps, and EMI Music have announced plans to release a limited edition apple-shaped USB drive, containing the entire Beatles re-mastered catalog in FLAC and MP3 format. The 30,000 USB apples will become available on Dec. 7 in the U.K. and Dec. 8 in North America, with a price tag of $279.
tags: Law | Lawsuits | Music | Copyright | EMI | Apple Corps | The Beatles | BlueBeat | Hank Risan |

Report: Doug Morris to Step Down as Universal Music CEO

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 3, 2009 - 8:02am.
New York - Universal Music Group chairman and chief executive Doug Morris intends to step down from his CEO role next summer, BusinessWeek reports. The company is reportedly grooming international CEO Lucian Grainge to replace Morris, 71, who is expected to remain chairman of the world's largest record label.
tags: Music | Moves | Universal Music | Doug Morris | Lucian Grainge |

China's Baidu Qualifies Partnership with Music Service Qtrax

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 10:41am.
Los Angeles - Chinese search giant Baidu (NASD: BIDU) has issued a statement indicating that it will not in fact be directing users searching for music on the site to ad-supported downloads available from U.S.-based Qtrax -- as that company announced earlier this week, IDG News Service reported. "The partnership with Qtrax regards text-based information, such as singer backgrounds; it has nothing to do with the music itself," a Baidu spokesperson told IDG. Qtrax said in its announcement that Baidu would direct users to Qtrax "wherever Qtrax has the queried...song in its catalogue."

tags: Music | China | Search | Qtrax | Baidu |

Norwegian Court: ISP Telenor Need Not Block The Pirate Bay

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 9:57am.
Oslo, Norway - International record label trade group IFPI has lost its court case that sought to compel Norwegian ISP Telenor to block its subscribers' access to file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay, TorrentFreak reported.
tags: Video | Law | Lawsuits | P2P | Music | Copyright | IFPI | The Pirate Bay | Telenor |

Judge Orders Site Selling Beatles Tracks to Cease

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 9:04am.
Los Angeles - A federal judge has ordered BlueBeat, a company selling unauthorized Beatles recordings online, to immediately cease the practice.
tags: Law | Lawsuits | Music | Beatles | Copyright | BlueBeat | Hank Risan |

Streaming Service Deezer Adds Premium Subscription Plans

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 1:27pm.
Paris - Deezer, a France-based, ad-supported streaming music service with 11 million members, on Thursday announced the launch of a new subscription-based offering. Deezer Premium, which will first be available in France before expanding to the rest of Europe, will provide ad-free streaming, mobile access, and the ability to download tracks and playlists. A $7.42 per month tier will provide higher-quality, ad-free streams, while a $14.85 per month tier will provide downloads and mobile access. Deezer recently raised $9.6 million in new financing.

tags: Advertising | Music | Deezer |

Nokia Inks Promotional Deal With Universal Music, Rihanna

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 1:26pm.
Los Angeles - Nokia (NYSE: NOK) on Thursday announced a promotional partnership with Island Def Jam Music Group and Universal Music Group International, which will exclusively premiere tracks from Rihanna's forthcoming album with Nokia. The deal includes an exclusive, live streamed concert on Nokia websites. Additionally, Comes With Music customers will receive a version of the album with a bonus track and other additional content, while the Ovi Store will offer a Rihanna application with exclusive content.

tags: Mobile | Marketing | Music | Universal Music | Nokia | Island Def Jam | Rihanna |

Drop in MySpace Traffic to Cut $100M Off Google Ad Deal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 1:00pm.
New York - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace may lose out on at least $100 million of the $900 million it was contracted to receive from a search advertising agreement with Google (NASD: GOOG), due to lackluster traffic to the website, the Financial Times reported.
tags: Advertising | Social Networking | MySpace | Google | Facebook | News Corp. |

Offerpal Names New CEO in Wake of "Scam" Allegations

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 11:46am.
Fremont, Calif. - Offerpal Media, a provider of monetization services for online game and social application developers, announced that it has replaced its CEO, after a controversy erupted over the past week concerning whether some of its practices qualify as "scams."
tags: Games | Marketing | Advertising | Social Networking | MySpace | Moves | Offerpal Media | Anu Shukla | George Garrick |

Apple: App Store Counts 100,000 Apps, Hits 2 Billion Downloads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 12:32pm.
Cupertino, Calif. - Apple (NASD: AAPL) said on Wednesday that there are now more than 100,000 applications available for download by iPhone and iPod touch owners at its App Store. The company said that users from 77 countries have downloaded more than 2 billion apps since the store's inception.

tags: Mobile | Apple | Retail | iPhone | iPod Touch | App Store |

Report: Apple Stores to Utilize iPod Touch as Checkout Scanner

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 12:31pm.
Los Angeles - Apple (NASD: AAPL) plans to switch from using Microsoft Windows-based computers to register customers' checkout transactions in its retail stores to using its own iPod touch, Apple Insider reported. The device will be used to scan barcodes and swipe credit cards, while customers will sign for credit card purchases right on the iPod touch's screen, using the Pogo stylus accessory.

tags: Mobile | Apple | Microsoft | iPod Touch |

EMI to Sell Instant Live Recordings at Concerts

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 10:48am.
London - Major record label EMI Music on Wednesday announced the launch of Abbey Road Live, a live music recording and instant production service that will offer fans digital recordings of concerts at the conclusion of the show.
tags: Music | EMI Music | Abbey Road Live |

Foo Fighters Live Concert Webcast Serves 440,000 Streams

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 3, 2009 - 10:28am.
Los Angeles - A live webcast of a performance by the Foo Fighters from their Los Angeles studio drew 440,000 live streams and a total of more than 150,000 viewers from around the world, NewTeeVee reported. The webcast was produced by Livestream, and available online via the band's site, Livestream, Facebook, and the iPhone. A recent live webcast of a U2 concert on YouTube drew a reported near 10 million viewers.

tags: Video | Music | Webcasting | Livestream | Foo Fighters |

MOG Online Music Service to Tap Echo Nest Platform

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 3, 2009 - 10:27am.
Somerville, Mass. - The Echo Nest, the provider of a "machine learning platform that listens to and reads about music all over the Web to enable better music search, recommendation and interactivity," said on Tuesday that its technology will be integrated into MOG's forthcoming All Access online music service. The All Access service from MOG -- a network of and user-created music blogs -- is scheduled to launch later this month.

tags: Music | MOG | Recommendations | The Echo Nest |

INgrooves to Offer Labels RightsFlow Licensing Services

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 3, 2009 - 10:26am.
New York - INgrooves, a provider of digital music distribution, marketing and promotion services, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with RightsFlow, to provide INgrooves' clients with access to RightsFlow's licensing, accounting and royalty payment platform.

tags: Licensing | Music | Copyright | INgrooves | RightsFlow |

Apple Sells 5,000 iPhones in China Debut

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 3, 2009 - 8:52am.
Hong Kong - Apple (NASD: AAPL) has sold just 5,000 iPhones in China since its launch there last week with carrier partner China Unicom, Bloomberg reported, citing comments from China Unicom president Lu Yimin.
tags: Mobile | Apple | China | Retail | iPhone | China Unicom |

eMusic Parent Makes Bid for The Orchard

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 3, 2009 - 7:36am.
New York - Dimensional Associates, the private equity unit of JDS Capital that owns digital music service eMusic, is in talks to acquire all of the shares of digital music and video distributor The Orchard (NASD: ORCD) it does not already own, PaidContent reported, citing an SEC filing.
tags: Deals | Music | Moves | eMusic | Acquisitions | The Orchard | Greg Scholl | Dimensional Associates | JDS Capital | Brad Navin | Daniel Stein |

Lala to Offer Artists More Customized Google Music Search

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 2, 2009 - 11:41am.
San Francisco - Artists will eventually be able to use online music service Lala's platform to point users searching Google (NASD: GOOG) to specific content of their choosing, as well as sell products other than MP3s via search results, Lala co-founder Bill Nguyen told CNET News.com. Lala, along with iLike and several other online music services, recently partnered with Google to provide streaming songs and links to their services within Google search results.

tags: Music | Search | Google | Lala |
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