Music News Bulletin - 29/09/08

Industry Groups Reach Agreement On Internet Royalties 23/09/08
"In an agreement that ends some cases of litigation and encourages new ways for consumers to listen to music online, a number of key industry groups have reached an agreement on digital royalties and have sent the recommendations to the Copyright Royalty judges. This agreement was necessary to encourage new models without scaring away current and future entrepreneurs and enthusiasts." [Coolfer]

Survey Reveals Opportunities, Threats of Unlimited Music Services 29/09/08
"Today's music industry is often one step forward, one or two steps back. As progress is made in new formats, products and services, revenue is lost in the abandonment of older formats and products. With unlimited mobile music services on the horizon, now is the time to ponder their impact." [Coolfer]

CEO David Pakman to Depart eMusic 29/09/08
"eMusic, the world's largest retailer of independent music and the world's second-largest digital music service after iTunes, today announced that President and Chief Executive Officer David Pakman will depart the company. Pakman will become a partner at a premier venture capital firm. The name of the firm is undisclosed. eMusic has retained the Barlow Group, a Connecticut-based executive search firm to recruit a new chief executive." [MarketWatch]

Free Music: Good or Bad and/or Inevitable? 29/09/08
"While reading the comments to Michael Arrington's positive review of MySpace Music at TechCrunch (seen via Idolator), I came across two comments that perfectly sum up the worries about free music. The move toward free music (free streaming, actually, not free everything) is an inevitable and positive step, but it brings with it permanent changes. Both comments point to the public's attention going to the most popular artists at the expense of everyone else." [Coolfer]

So Long, Music Week 29/09/08
"As of today, I'm a former reader of the Music Week website. Amidst changes to the print publication and a redesign of the website, articles have been hidden behind a subscription wall. Not just its charts and features are inaccessible. The previously accessible short daily news bites are behind a subscription wall. The only free content I could find is the infrequently updated A&R Blog. The UK trade publication offers news that gets overlooked in the U.S. and it's unfortunate that I will no longer be able to read and link to their articles." [Coolfer]

High Drama Over Digital Royalties 28/09/08
"There was a high level of drama this weekend as supporters of Internet radio, spurred by a plea from Pandora, voiced their support for the law passed by the House on Saturday. The Webcaster Settlement Act authorizes SoundExchange to negotiate new royalty agreements for Internet radio through February 15, 2009." [Coolfer]

New organisation to represent industry 26/09/08
"An historic agreement was reached yesterday afternoon with eight industry bodies, including the BPI and AIM, signing up to launch a new umbrella organisation that will “present a unified industry voice” to be headed by BMR chairman Andy Heath and chief executive Feargal Sharkey." [MusicWeek]

Pirate Bay Wins Court Case, Italian Block Lifted 25/09/08
"The Pirate Bay has successfully appealed the decision of an Italian judge who had ordered ISPs to block access to the popular BitTorrent tracker last month. The Court of Bergamo decided that this block was unlawful, and that Italian users should regain access to the site." [TorrentFreak]

A Chat With Merlin CEO Charles Caldas 25/09/08
"Earlier this month, MySpace finalized deals with three of the four majors -- only EMI has yet to join -- to create MySpace Music. The majors will receive equity in the standalone company and will receive a share of its ad revenue." [Coolfer]

Poptastic MySpace Music launches, without indies: Big splash for Big Music 26/09/08
"MySpace Music, the ambitious new joint venture between the major record labels and News Corporation, has finally gone live. Don't let the name mislead you - the only thing it has in common with the scrappy ethos of the original "MySpace" is the name.

Executives have said they want the service to be "the new MTV", and the launch offering certainly lives up to those low ambitions." [TheRegister]