Music Business Times Tech and Telephony http://app.feed.informer.com/digest3/RVN7RVFVUL.html Respective post owners and feed distributors http://feed.informer.com/ Puretracks is a leading North America digital music provider with a library of 3.4 million songs licensed from all four major music labels and several independent companies. With 2008 revenue of $5.6 million, Puretracks has MP3 and WMA licensing rights for both the United States and Canada. It focuses on the development and delivery of customized music solutions for top-tier companies. The Puretracks platform is supports a wide range of digital music programs. As a leader in this growing market, Puretracks provides incentive and loyalty programs for major brands, private label download stores, album card redemption platforms, and subscription services as well as its own online music store.... http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/marketwire/article.jsp?content=20090703_163505_5_ccn_ccn Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/marketwire/article.jsp?content=20090703_163505_5_ccn_ccn? Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:51 GMT Broadcasters call the Performance Rights Act a tax. To the music industry, it's more like a royalty fee. But the legislation, which is gaining momentum in both the House and the Senate, is making radio stations nervous. For more than 80 years, commercial stations have aired songs without paying royalties to musicians. Sound recordings were exempted from performance rights fees even after they became copyrightable in 1972; and the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act, passed in 1995, applied only to new technologies such as cable, satellite and Internet radio. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-radio3-2009jul03,0,6937549.story?track=rss Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-radio3-2009jul03,0,6937549.story?track=rss? Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:48 GMT For major label Sony Music, the idea of distributing artists from the fat part of the long tail has proven too tempting to resist. The media giant announced on Wednesday that it acquired an undisclosed percentage of longtime independent music bastion IODA, short for Independent Online Distribution Alliance. Sony now stands to profit from the distribution of music formerly considered too niche to garner major label interest... http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/07/sony-buys-part-of-the-long-tail/ Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/07/sony-buys-part-of-the-long-tail/? Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:39 GMT The world's biggest distributor of links to copyright infringing material is to be bought by a software entrepreneur and turned into a legitimate business, the site has announced. The Pirate Bay has agreed to be acquired for £4.8 million. Swedish company Global Gaming Factory (GGF) has agreed to buy the site, which has been at the centre of political, legal and cultural storms all its life. It was the biggest repository of links to pirated content, though it hosted none itself. Its founders were found guilty earlier this year of facilitating copyright infringement in Sweden. http://www.out-law.com/page-10139 Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.out-law.com/page-10139? Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:59 GMT Microsoft, Yahoo and RealNetworks were hit this week with a copyright infringement suit filed on behalf of the composers of 950 songs offered by the companies through on-demand streaming or downloads that last only for the duration of a subscription. While the amount of damages available under the law if the composers win is very large — as much as $150,000 per violation deemed to be 'willful' — a more likely outcome is a settlement for less than the penny-per-play right recently established for streaming royalties... http://blogs.ft.com/techblog/2009/07/music-copyright-holders-sue-microsoft-yahoo/ Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://blogs.ft.com/techblog/2009/07/music-copyright-holders-sue-microsoft-yahoo/? Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:47 GMT With its independent distribution subsidiary RED, Sony Music currently provides award winning sales and marketing services to independent labels and artists. IODA now brings its proven digital distribution platform for the independent sector into the Sony Music network. With distinct areas of expertise and market focus, RED and IODA will build on their complementary technologies and increase the scope of sales and promotional opportunities that each currently offers its existing and growing customer base worldwide. Both companies will also leverage the global marketing and financial strength of Sony Music to continue expanding their businesses and providing best in class service. http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/latest.jsp?resourceid=4017269&access=EH Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/latest.jsp?resourceid=4017269&access=EH? Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:15 GMT It’s a major release, and a big deal for the company. When most people think of RealNetworks, they think of media delivery software, multimedia formats, music, and gaming services (and also its recent dispute with Hollywood studios over digital rights management with its RealDVD product)—not necessarily mobile devices... http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2009/06/24/realnetworks-rolls-out-novel-media-player-moves-deeper-into-mobile-and-social-space/ Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2009/06/24/realnetworks-rolls-out-novel-media-player-moves-deeper-into-mobile-and-social-space/? Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:30 GMT There are major differences between the big music download shops, particularly when it comes to selection. That was the findings of chip.de, a Munich-based technology portal. Because it is difficult to determine how many songs in total are offered by any given shop, the testers selected 50 representative artists... http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/275131,big-differences-between-online-music-stores.html Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/275131,big-differences-between-online-music-stores.html? Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:28 GMT As news spread about Michael Jackson's death on Thursday, fans and curiosity seekers inundated the Internet for information, slowing several major news sites to a crawl, according to website performance measurement firm Keynote Systems. The firm said that during the early evening hours, sites including ABC, CBS, AOL... http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2009/06/26/death-michael-jackson-spikes-news-traffic%2C-music-sales Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2009/06/26/death-michael-jackson-spikes-news-traffic%2C-music-sales? Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:04 GMT I don't know of many pundits who think that the digital economy should be a new wild west at all. I think that many of them are actually just focused on preserving individual rights against a constant landgrab by an industry whose history has shown it to not be above removing right after right after right from people. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090623/1651345334.shtml Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090623/1651345334.shtml? Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:25 GMT U.K. retail store chain Woolworths, which shuttered its more than 800 stores after declaring bankruptcy late last year, has been relaunched as a retail site selling media including CDs, DVDs and video games. The site is operated by Shop Direct Group, which acquired the brand during administration... http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2009/06/25/u.k.-retail-brand-woolworths-becomes-web-media-store Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2009/06/25/u.k.-retail-brand-woolworths-becomes-web-media-store? Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:21 GMT The killer features of FriendFeed continue. Today, the service has just added a way to share files on the service. So now it’s just as easy to share a PDF or text file as it is to share a picture. 'You can attach (almost) any file to your FriendFeed posts via the web interface or by emailing file attachments to... http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/24/friendfeed-adds-file-sharing-no-movies-but-mp3s-are-fine/ Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/24/friendfeed-adds-file-sharing-no-movies-but-mp3s-are-fine/? Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:18 GMT A Swedish court ruled today that the judge overseeing The Pirate Bay trial earlier this year was not biased by belonging to various pro-copyright organizations. The unanimous decision means that there will be no retrial; the defendants must hope for a successful appeal instead. Judge Tomas Norstrom is a... http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/pirate-bay-retrial-denied-judge-declared-unbiased.ars Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/pirate-bay-retrial-denied-judge-declared-unbiased.ars? Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:16 GMT The Echo Nest, a music intelligence platform providing data-driven solutions to the digital music industry, today announced the launch of its Fanalytics platform. Fanalytics applies patented web crawling, machine learning and semantic web technology to help artists and labels better understand, locate and build their http://sev.prnewswire.com/music/20090624/NE3727924062009-1.html Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://sev.prnewswire.com/music/20090624/NE3727924062009-1.html? Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:19 GMT Twitter users are more likely to buy music online than non-users. An NPD report says that 33% of Twitter users bought a CD in the last three months, compared to 23% of all Internet users, and 34% of Twitterers purchased a digital download, which is considerably more than the 16% of overall... http://beatcrave.com/2009-06-23/twitter-is-helping-the-music-industry/ Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://beatcrave.com/2009-06-23/twitter-is-helping-the-music-industry/? Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:36 GMT It's bad enough being dumped by a client. But imagine being publicly jilted on Twitter in front of your client's 19,305 followers. That's what happened to Atlanta-based celebrity attorney Randall Kessler, who was representing Tameka Foster-Raymond in a divorce initiated by her soon-to-be ex, R+B singer Usher. http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2009/06/client-dumps-divorce-lawyer-on-twitter.html Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2009/06/client-dumps-divorce-lawyer-on-twitter.html? Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:30 GMT Interested in purchasing seeqpod.com? The asking price is $125,000, but the buyer gets more than just and url and some residual traffic. According to information shared Friday morning by broker Sedo with Digital Music News, the transfer also includes about one million former user emails, an archive of 400,00 now-def http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/061909seeqpod Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/061909seeqpod? Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:28 GMT If there's something that gets people's attention, it's news that you can now carry music around with you on a T-shirt! Now, before you get too excited, it will come as a big disappointment to learn that the said T-shirt...doesn't actually play any music?!? At this point, you may be wondering if it's all just a... http://mp3.about.com/b/2009/06/19/forget-portables-why-not-wear-your-music.htm Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://mp3.about.com/b/2009/06/19/forget-portables-why-not-wear-your-music.htm? Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:15 GMT Alas, poor CDs and DVDs, we hardly knew ye. After an all-too-brief relationship, your shiny-silver, coaster-size discs are being replaced by an invisible stream of numbers hidden away on some faceless hard drive. Tangible is giving way to convenience. http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090621/ART16/906209966/-1/RSS05 Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090621/ART16/906209966/-1/RSS05? Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:13 GMT A High Court battle is looming between the big four companies in the music industry and two of Europes biggest telecoms firms. EMI, Universal, Sony and WEA have filed an action in the High Court against BT and UPC, which owns NTL and Chorus. The music companies claim that BT and UPC are refusing to clamp down on... http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=news-qqqid=42589-qqqx=1.asp Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=news-qqqid=42589-qqqx=1.asp? Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:10 GMT Chart bosses are considering a huge shake up of the music industry by incorporating the amount of plays on music streaming services into the weekly Top 40 countdown. With largely free services like Spotify and We7 currently all the rage, and a darn site cheaper than buying the MP3, the new chart would offer a more accurate picture of what folks are listening to over the course of the week. However, plays on streaming portals would still carry less weight in than purchases from Apple's iTunes Store and other download sites. The new system is inevitable according to the Official UK Charts Company, but not for at least another year. http://www.t3.com/news/top-40-music-charts-to-include-spotify-streaming-plays?=39253 Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.t3.com/news/top-40-music-charts-to-include-spotify-streaming-plays?=39253? Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:08 GMT Digital sheet music publisher Virtual Sheet Music Inc. is making more than 12,000 audio Mp3 files available to musicians to play accompanied by their computer or iPod, and plans to create Mp3 accompaniment files for all of its high quality digital sheet music titles. Included are previously impossible to find... http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2552504.htm Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2552504.htm? Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:43 GMT ASCAP (the sa­me folks who went after Girl Scouts for singing around a campfire) appears to believe that every time your musical ringtone rings in public, you're violating copyright law by 'publicly performing' it without a license. At least that's the import of a brief it filed in ASCAP's court battle with mobile phone giant AT+T. http://www.cellular-news.com/story/38104.php Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.cellular-news.com/story/38104.php? Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:39 GMT Can the sheer size of the damages could lead to a backlash against an industry that is already portrayed in some quarters as overreaching? Sony BMG attorney Wade Leak, who testified at the trial, said he was shocked by the damages award. No one expects that the labels will collect the entire amount from Jammie Thomas... http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSTRE55K07E20090621 Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSTRE55K07E20090621? Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:30 GMT So far, U.S. music fans can only read about the much-hyped service, as it isn't yet available domestically. But as the company prepares to launch the service stateside before the end of the year, let's examine why Spotify has been anointed the iTunes of streaming music. Compared with its competitors in the... http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSTRE55K07U20090621 Delicious/mbtimes/tticker http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSTRE55K07U20090621? Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:22 GMT