Breaking Digital Music News

Sony to Launch Online Entertainment Store in 2010

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 11:23am.
Tokyo - Sony (NYSE: SNE) announced plans on Friday to launch a new online store next year that will sell books, music and movies next year, and deliver content to networked televisions and other devices. The company did not provide many details about the "Sony Online Service," as it is tentatively being called, but is expected to be positioned as a competitor to Apple's iTunes Store.

MySpace to Acquire imeem Music Streaming Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 9:29am.
Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace has agreed to acquire streaming music service imeem for an undisclosed sum, although sources told CNET News.com that the deal is valued at about $8 million. The deal reportedly includes a payment of $1 million in cash, as well as earn outs and accounts receivable.

Studios Sue Swedish ISP, Demand Closure of OpenBitTorrent

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 11:54am.
Los Angeles - Several Hollywood movie studios have filed suit against a Swedish ISP that is hosting OpenBitTorrent, an independent BitTorrent file-sharing tracker site that was launched in the wake of the The Pirate Bay's announced sale to Global Gaming Factory, TorrentFreak reported. The studios sued hosting provider Portlane, demanding that it shutter the OpenBitTorrent website.

The Pirate Bay Permanently Shutters File-Sharing Tracker

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 8:41am.
Stockholm, Sweden - Marking "the end of an era," the operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay on Tuesday shut down their BitTorrent tracker, which grew over six years to become the largest hub for finding copyrighted materials for download in the world, TorrentFreak reported. "Now that the decentralized system for finding peers is so well developed, TPB has decided that there is no need to run a tracker anymore, so it will remain down! It's the end of an era, but the era is no longer up2date," the Pirate Bay wrote on its blog. "We have put a server in a museum already, and now the tracking can be put there as well."

Report: MySpace in Talks to Acquire Music Streamer imeem

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 8:23am.
Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace online social network is in "late stage negotiations" to acquire the music streaming service imeem, TechCrunch reported, citing multiple unnamed sources. Founded in 2003, San Francisco-based imeem started off as a music-focused social network application, but later shifted focus to concentrate on music streaming.

Report: Video Viewing on Social Media Sites Doubles in Year

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 9:56am.
New York - Internet users now spend nearly double the amount of time watching videos on social networking sites than they did just one year ago, according to newly released figures from Nielsen.

Digital Media Association Head Jon Potter Resigns

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 12:09pm.
Washington - Jonathan Potter has resigned as executive director of the Digital Media Association (DiMA), a trade group representing the interests of larger webcasters and technology firms that he founded in 1998. "I am grateful to DiMA's member companies for allowing me to serve them -- and their innovative technologies and services and their passionate people -- for so long and in so many exciting ways. I hope that my next adventure is as challenging and rewarding," said Potter. DiMA general counsel Lee Knife will serve as interim executive director while the organization searches for a replacement.

Report: U.S. Labels Concerned on Spotify Premium Conversions

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 12:02pm.
London - The major record labels are reportedly concerned about the percentage of U.S. users likely to pay for ad-supported streaming music service Spotify's for-pay premium version, the Financial Times reported. Spotify, which is available in several European countries, had planned to launch in the U.S. in the fall, but recently said it would delay the launch to 2010. "We think Spotify is a great service but they're going to have to convince us they can convert enough people from free to paid subscriptions to make it worth our while," one label executive told FT.

Susan Boyle CD Breaks Amazon.com Pre-Order Record

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 11:58am.
Seattle - Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) said on Thursday that reality TV singing star Susan Boyle's forthcoming album, "I Dreamed a Dream," has become the largest global pre-order CD in the company's history. Boyle racked up millions of views on YouTube for her performances on "Britain's Got Talent."

BBC to Launch All-U.K. Radio Station Streamer Next Year

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 11:55am.
London - The BBC announced on Thursday that it has partnered with a number of U.K. radio broadcasters to launch an online radio player application that includes streams from every licensed station in the U.K. Set to launch early next year, the UK Radioplayer will offered live and on-demand content from more than 400 stations. Partners in the venture include RadioCentre, Global Radio and Guardian Media Group.

tags: Radio | Music | BBC | UK Radioplayer |

MySpace Debuts Music Charts

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 11:54am.
Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace on Thursday introduced its own MySpace Music Charts, which will provide data on the most popular music amongst MySpace Music users. The charts will run across all genres, and include real-time data on current trends.

Judge Shutters Websites Selling "Re-Recorded" Beatles Tunes

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 11:17am.
Los Angeles - A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against two websites, BlueBeat.com and Basebeat.com, that had been selling unauthorized downloads of songs from the Beatles and other artists on the cheap, the Associated Press reported.

Vevo to Debut Music Video Portal on Dec. 8

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 1:23pm.
New York - Vevo, the music video joint venture between Sony Music and Universal Music that will use technology from Google's (NASD: GOOG) YouTube, is set to launch on Dec. 8, the company announced via its Twitter feed. The labels hope the standalone site will help them further monetize their music videos -- which are the most-watched content on all of YouTube.

Universal Music Licenses Ad-Supported Download Site Guvera

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 1:21pm.
New York - Universal Music Group on Wednesday announced a deal to provide free, legal downloads to Guvera, an Australia-based, ad-supported download site that plans to launch in the U.S. in February. Launched in 2008, Guvera asks users to fill out demographic profiles and brand preferences, and in turn receive free downloads accompanied by targeted advertisements.

RealNetworks to Power Mobile Music for France's SFR

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 1:20pm.
Seattle - RealNetworks (NASD: RNWK) announced on Wednesday that it has signed a three-year deal to power the mobile music service for France-based mobile network operator SFR. Real said its mobile music services are now deployed with 15 providers in 14 countries, including 11 in Europe.

tags: Mobile | Music | RealNetworks | SFR |

EMI First Record Label to Bring Music Videos to Hulu

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 1:03pm.
London - U.K.-based EMI has signed a deal to become the first major record label to feature its music videos on Hulu, the video portal joint venture between NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and Disney (NYSE: DIS).
tags: Video | Music | Music Videos | EMI | Hulu | Vevo |

Digimarc Files Patent Claims Against Music ID Firm Shazam

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 11:49am.
Beaverton, Ore. - Digimarc (NASD: DMRC), a developer of digital watermarking and other technologies, has filed patent infringement claims against Shazam, the maker of mobile music identification software.

Terra Firma Writes Down 90% of Investment in EMI

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 8:09am.
London - Terra Firma, the private equity firm that acquired major record label EMI for $4.8 billion in 2007, has written its investment in the firm down by 90%, the Financial Times reported. An offer from Terra Firm to inject another $1.68 billion into EMI, in return for lender Citigroup writing off $1.68 billion of its $4.4 billion loan that helped finance the deal, was rejected by Citigroup.

Digonex Introduces Dynamic Pricing System for Event Tickets

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 16, 2009 - 1:19pm.
Indianapolis, Ind. - Digonex Technologies, a provider of "dynamic pricing" software, on Monday introduced a new dynamic pricing system for event ticketing. The company said its new SEATS platform takes into account "dozens" of parameters to determine the price of a ticket in real-time, including "seat quality, number of performances, rival performances, third-party offerings and sales patterns." Digonex's dynamic pricing model has been tested by the major labels, and online music services including PassAlong Networks.

Report: Despite Economy, Entertainment Subscriptions Hold Up

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 16, 2009 - 12:48pm.
Port Washington, N.Y. - While fewer Americans subscribe to newspapers and magazines, the subscription model continues to either maintain popularity or grow in areas including television, music, games and mobile services, according to a report from market research firm NPD Group.