UMG Bundles Tunes With Dell
"Universal Music Group is teaming with Dell to give customers the option of adding pre-loaded MP3s from the label's catalog to new computers purchased from the company.The deal does not provide access to the full UMG catalog, but rather a collection of curated playlists organized by various themes - No. 1 songs, Rock Titans, Blues Masters, etc. - as well as music featured in films that Dell also offers as bundled content. A 50-song playlist for $25, and a 100-song playlist for $50, which works out to about half the cost per-track from music purchased online. All files will be DRM-free.
The pre-installed music bundles will be organized under a "Music" icon in Dell's system, which customer can then move to their preferred music management software as they like. UMG says it plans to expand the number and themes of the playlists, as well as update the songs added to each, on a regular basis." [Billboard]
Microsoft celebrates antipiracy day
"Microsoft plans on Tuesday to announce "Global Anti-Piracy Day," an effort to gain attention for the steps the company undertakes in order to thwart those who would profit from illegitimate software. As part of the event, Microsoft is highlighting recent antipiracy efforts in 49 countries, ranging from the filing of lawsuits in the U.S. to a seminar for journalists in Pakistan.
It's the kind of thing that Microsoft does all the time, although the company is aiming for some added ink by grouping together so many actions at once.
"One of the things we want to illustrate with this announcement is the diverse nature of the work," associate general counsel David Finn said in an interview from Singapore" [CNet]
Baidu launches legitimate music channel
"BEIJING - Baidu has partnered with seven record companies to launch a music-streaming channel in an attempt to better combat illegal downloading.
According to Chinese reports, the channel, called New Song Debut, legally pairs Baidu with labels including EMI Music, Emperor Entertainment Group and Rock Records & Tapes to offer albums from nine Chinese artists for streaming.
This comes nearly a year after Beijing courts ruled that Baidu’s music search - which linked to sites that allowed users to illegally download music - was not classified as copyright infringement.
The ruling cleared the Chinese search engine of lawsuits issued in 2005 by seven international record labels, including EMI and Warner Music." [BrandRepublic]
MySpace Music adds more indies
"MySpace Music has signed a deal with leading indie distributor IODA, adding more than 1m tracks from independent labels to the service. The deal, announced this morning, adds labels such as Cooking Vinyl, Demon Music Group, Fat Cat Records and Cherry Red to MySpace Music, which already has content from all four major labels and aggregator The Orchard.
However, Merlin, which represents leading indie players such as Beggars Group and Domino, has still yet to agree a deal with MySpace after a very public war of words, and the announcement is likely to put more pressure on its CEO Charles Caldas MySpace co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe re-affirms the company’s commitment to indie music, saying, “The independent music community has been a cornerstone of MySpace Music. We remain fully committed to building an economy for artists and providing them with the necessary tools to further their careers and better connect with music fans everywhere." [MusicWeek]
MySpace Music Adds IODA
"MySpace Music added thousands of independent labels to its service today (Oct. 23) through a new deal with independent digital distributor IODA. Details of the agreement were not disclosed. MySpace Music has drawn criticism from some in the indie community for striking equity deals with major labels while not offering the same terms to indies.
The service opened Sept. 25 as a joint venture partially owned by the four major record labels, and Sony/ATV Music Publishing. The partners in the joint venture will profit not only from a cut of the same ad and sales revenue, but also in the underlying revenue the venture receives, even from content contributed by other labels.
The service has deals in place with indie digital distributor the Orchard, as well as the indie distribution arms of the four major labels. Merlin, the indie global rights organization that spoke out publicly about what they perceived as unfair treatment by MySpace Music, still has not signed a deal. Merlin says its represents labels that have a 9% share of the U.S. digital recorded music market." [Billboard]
TuneCore, iLike Bundle Indie Services
"TuneCore and iLike have teamed up to offer independent and unsigned artists a package deal on both distributing and promoting their music. The partnership is more of a bundled product than it is a new service, as both companies offer their core services independently. But together, the two hope to present a more complete message than they could marketing their services separately.
TuneCore brings to the table a wide digital distribution platform, which can post clients' music to all the major digital retailers and subscriptions services. Once the music is available, iLike then lets users promote it through full-song streaming applications on social networks like Facebook, Bebo and other channels. Each time their music is played, artists get a royalty from the corresponding service hosting the file.
The partnership between the two firms lets artists sign up for both services at the same time, rather than requiring separate agreements." [Billboard]
Facebook Music Redux
"Facebook doesn't seem ready to give up its music-service aspirations just yet. After first approaching the major labels with the idea back in March of this year, the company is now reportedly reaching out to existing streaming services as part of an outsourcing strategy.
The New York Post, citing unnamed sources, reports that Rhapsody, Imeem, iLike and Lala are all potential targets.
Tapping an existing provider to turnkey its music strategy would allow Facebook to avoid striking its own licensing deals with labels, not to mention give the winning service a huge marketing boost by promoting it via the massive Facebook platform." [Billboard]
Click here to read more from the Music News Bulletin
Showing posts with label Tunecore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tunecore. Show all posts
9/19/08
Music News Bulletin - 19/09/08
Legal digital music is commercial suicide
"Opinion Lala, for those who don't know, is a free streaming music venture. Invested in by Warner Music group to the tune of $20m it streams about five million songs, but also offers 89 cent MP3 sales, and song rentals for 10 cents each. But why is almost nobody using their well-designed, expansive, free streaming service?" [TheRegister]
Best Buy snaffles Napster 15/09/08
"Napster's board has unanimously accepted a takeover bid from US retail behemoth Best Buy, worth $120m. Thus ends a bumpy four-year ride as an independent company. Like Frankenstein's monster, the reanimated Napster was constructed from the parts of formerly deceased music companies. Software vendor Roxio acquired the assets of the bankrupt rebel P2P outfit for just $5m in late 2002, and acquired the remains of Sony's unsuccessful music service PressPlay six months later. After the injection of electricity, and $20m, Napster went live five years ago this month." [TheRegister]
China's nonstop music machine: Baidu versus business
"Exclusive Baidu is renowned as China's glittering internet success story, and as the start-up that gave Google a bloody nose. It dominates the web in the world's second biggest economy with 70 per cent market share, and on Wall Street carries a market cap of almost $12bn. But Baidu's success comes at a price, for the legitimate music business, for the development of China and of its intellectual property (IP) law, and for any internet company wishing to do business in China." [TheRegister]
12th century thinking haunts digital music: On serfs, fanbois and bandits 17/09/08
"British digital music company 7Digital claimed a coup yesterday by becoming the first online music store to carry DRM-free catalog from the "Big Four" major record labels. Calling it a coup is misleading, however. It's really further confirmation that the top of the music business is run along feudal lines: closer to the 12th century than the 21st." [TheRegister]
Media standard backers attempt Apple-less solo run: 'We don't need no stinkin' iTunes' 17/09/08
"Computer and entertainment companies have announced a plan to standardise video and music files so that they play on any device. The ambitious plan has not been backed by the dominant force in digital downloads, Apple." [TheRegister]
Yahoo Search Adds Free Streaming 18/09/08
"As a part of its "play the web" mission, Yahoo has partnered with Rhapsody to offer free audio streams to Yahoo search results (read press release). Search results for some artists -- 10,00 at the time, reports Alley Insider -- will have an artist short cut at the top of the page. There are also links to lyrics (Yahoo has licensed lyrics from GraceNote), videos and albums." [Coolfer]
Research on Student Piracy Confirms Market Research and Anecdotes 17/09/08
"Now it's even more official. A professor at the University of Idaho has for years studied students and piracy. His findings echo what everybody else says. According to Woolley, who has been analyzing piracy among university students for several years, students aren’t even ashamed to admit illegally downloading music off the Internet. More than 95 percent of respondents in his research freely admitted to illegally downloading music, and some 63 percent admitted to copying a CD. Students indicate that they expect the trend to continue after they graduate and move into the workplace." [Coolfer]
MySpace Music Already Faces Legal Challenge 19/09/08
"MySpace Music hasn't even launched yet, but already it is facing anti-trust allegations from independent record labels. MySpace Music has the backing of its parent company, News Corp., as well as three of the four major labels, and the joint venture is being billed as the biggest music retail launch of the year. Together, the three major labels involved - Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony BMG - account for 70 percent of the U.S. recorded music business. Meanwhile, smaller independent labels feel that they are being frozen out of selling their music on the site, which expects to become the MTV of the Internet. This has the indies crying foul." [FMQB]
A Conversation With Tunecore's Jeff Price
"Tunecore In this exclusive Hypebot interview, Ethan Bauley sits down with Jeff Price for a wide ranging conversation between two creative thinkers who know the industry. Price ran successfull indie label spinArt (Pixies, Apples In Stereo) before founding TuneCore which is democratizing digital distribution with its low cost flat fee model. Ethan Bauley is a musician and Director of Social Media Strategy at M80, a WPP agency. M80's sister company, m80 Music, is Dengue Fever's record label." Part One [HypeBot] Part Two [HypeBot] Part Three [HypeBot]
"Opinion Lala, for those who don't know, is a free streaming music venture. Invested in by Warner Music group to the tune of $20m it streams about five million songs, but also offers 89 cent MP3 sales, and song rentals for 10 cents each. But why is almost nobody using their well-designed, expansive, free streaming service?" [TheRegister]
Best Buy snaffles Napster 15/09/08
"Napster's board has unanimously accepted a takeover bid from US retail behemoth Best Buy, worth $120m. Thus ends a bumpy four-year ride as an independent company. Like Frankenstein's monster, the reanimated Napster was constructed from the parts of formerly deceased music companies. Software vendor Roxio acquired the assets of the bankrupt rebel P2P outfit for just $5m in late 2002, and acquired the remains of Sony's unsuccessful music service PressPlay six months later. After the injection of electricity, and $20m, Napster went live five years ago this month." [TheRegister]
China's nonstop music machine: Baidu versus business
"Exclusive Baidu is renowned as China's glittering internet success story, and as the start-up that gave Google a bloody nose. It dominates the web in the world's second biggest economy with 70 per cent market share, and on Wall Street carries a market cap of almost $12bn. But Baidu's success comes at a price, for the legitimate music business, for the development of China and of its intellectual property (IP) law, and for any internet company wishing to do business in China." [TheRegister]
12th century thinking haunts digital music: On serfs, fanbois and bandits 17/09/08
"British digital music company 7Digital claimed a coup yesterday by becoming the first online music store to carry DRM-free catalog from the "Big Four" major record labels. Calling it a coup is misleading, however. It's really further confirmation that the top of the music business is run along feudal lines: closer to the 12th century than the 21st." [TheRegister]
Media standard backers attempt Apple-less solo run: 'We don't need no stinkin' iTunes' 17/09/08
"Computer and entertainment companies have announced a plan to standardise video and music files so that they play on any device. The ambitious plan has not been backed by the dominant force in digital downloads, Apple." [TheRegister]
Yahoo Search Adds Free Streaming 18/09/08
"As a part of its "play the web" mission, Yahoo has partnered with Rhapsody to offer free audio streams to Yahoo search results (read press release). Search results for some artists -- 10,00 at the time, reports Alley Insider -- will have an artist short cut at the top of the page. There are also links to lyrics (Yahoo has licensed lyrics from GraceNote), videos and albums." [Coolfer]
Research on Student Piracy Confirms Market Research and Anecdotes 17/09/08
"Now it's even more official. A professor at the University of Idaho has for years studied students and piracy. His findings echo what everybody else says. According to Woolley, who has been analyzing piracy among university students for several years, students aren’t even ashamed to admit illegally downloading music off the Internet. More than 95 percent of respondents in his research freely admitted to illegally downloading music, and some 63 percent admitted to copying a CD. Students indicate that they expect the trend to continue after they graduate and move into the workplace." [Coolfer]
MySpace Music Already Faces Legal Challenge 19/09/08
"MySpace Music hasn't even launched yet, but already it is facing anti-trust allegations from independent record labels. MySpace Music has the backing of its parent company, News Corp., as well as three of the four major labels, and the joint venture is being billed as the biggest music retail launch of the year. Together, the three major labels involved - Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony BMG - account for 70 percent of the U.S. recorded music business. Meanwhile, smaller independent labels feel that they are being frozen out of selling their music on the site, which expects to become the MTV of the Internet. This has the indies crying foul." [FMQB]
A Conversation With Tunecore's Jeff Price
"Tunecore In this exclusive Hypebot interview, Ethan Bauley sits down with Jeff Price for a wide ranging conversation between two creative thinkers who know the industry. Price ran successfull indie label spinArt (Pixies, Apples In Stereo) before founding TuneCore which is democratizing digital distribution with its low cost flat fee model. Ethan Bauley is a musician and Director of Social Media Strategy at M80, a WPP agency. M80's sister company, m80 Music, is Dengue Fever's record label." Part One [HypeBot] Part Two [HypeBot] Part Three [HypeBot]
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