Breaking Digital Music News

Michael Jackson Breaks Digital Song Sales Records

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 1, 2009 - 7:50am.
Los Angeles - Michael Jackson has sold a record 2.6 million digital songs in one week, up from 48,000 a week ago, according to sales data compiled by SoundScan. The feat makes Jackson the first artist to sell over a million downloads in a single week.

MCS Music Files Copyright Suit Against Yahoo, Microsoft, Real

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 1, 2009 - 7:24am.
Nashville, Tenn. - MCS Music America, a company that provides administration and manages copyrights for some 45,000 music tracks, has filed copyright infringement claims against Yahoo (NASD: YHOO), Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) and RealNetworks (NASD: RNWK), alleging the companies did not obtain all the proper permissions for using its tracks on their service, Techdirt reported. On its website, MCS Music America says it administers copyrights for artists including Elvis Presley, Tina Turner, Mariah Carey, Metallica and Moby, among others.

RIAA Wins Copyright Judgment Against Usenet.com

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 1, 2009 - 6:00am.
Los Angeles - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced on Wednesday that a federal court has ruled in its favor in a copyright infringement lawsuit it filed against Usenet.com. According to CNET's coverage, U.S. District Judge Harold Baer of the Southern District of New York found Usenet.com -- which offers access to the twenty-year-old Usenet network -- guilty of direct, contributory and vicarious copyright infringement.

Sony Music, RED in Talks With IODA for Distribution, Marketing

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 1, 2009 - 9:25am.
Los Angeles - Major record label Sony Music Entertainment and its RED Distribution arm are in talks to partner with IODA, a provider of digital distribution services for independent artists, Digital Music News reported. The proposed deal reportedly centers on use of IODA's Rightsholder Dashboard, an online tool that artists, managers and labels can use to track sales and related data.

Hype Machine Outs Bands it Thinks Manipulated Charts

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 1, 2009 - 9:22am.
Los Angeles - Hype Machine, an aggregator of music based on coverage and buzz generated on blogs, has made changes to its chart of popular songs after it found allege manipulation of some of the placements. The company found that multiple fake accounts had been created whose only actions were to favorite a single band's songs, upping their ranking. Hype Machine also went as far as to name the bands "who (or their managers, promoters, interns, determined fans, there is no way to ultimately know) we believe have attempted to manipulate the charts on the Hype Machine."

Lime Wire Store to Stock CD Baby Digital Catalog

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 1, 2009 - 9:20am.
New York - Lime Wire, a provider of peer-to-peer file-sharing software and an online media store, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with online CD retailer CD Baby. Under the deal, the LimeWire Store will now sell CD Baby's digital catalog, boosting its library to over 3.5 million songs. CD Baby offers recordings from over 240,000 artists.

tags: P2P | Music | CD Baby | Lime Wire |

Insider Trading Probe Launched on Pirate Bay Buyer

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 1, 2009 - 8:24am.
Stockholm, Sweden - An investigation has been launched into suspected insider trading of shares in Sweden-based Global Gaming Factory, following irregular volume was seen a week before the company acquired file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay for $7.8 million, TorrentFreak reported.

Pandora Requires Indie Artists to Have CDs Listed on Amazon

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 30, 2009 - 8:35am.
San Francisco - Streaming radio service Pandora is now requiring independent artists to stock a physical CD for sale at Amazon.com before adding their songs to the service, Hypebot reported. Submissions must be available as a physical CD, and include cover art and a UPC code, in part due to a deal to display album art on Pandora via Amazon's servers. Artists are also encouraged to joint the Amazon Advantage Program, which costs $29.95 per year and gives Amazon a 55% cut of profits from CD sales.

tags: Music | Indie | Pandora | Amazon.com |

Will Pirate Bay Be Successful As A Legit Music Downloading Service?

Authored by Jay Baage on June 30, 2009 - 6:59am.

Report: Jammie Thomas-Rasset Rejects RIAA Settlement Offer

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 30, 2009 - 6:10am.
Los Angeles - Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the woman recently found guilty of copyright infringement on a file-sharing network and ordered to pay $1.9 million in damages, has rejected a settlement offer from the record labels, CNET News.com reported.

The Pirate Bay Acquired for $7.8 Million; Will Go Legit

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 30, 2009 - 5:11am.
Stockholm, Sweden - Swedish software firm Global Gaming Factory (GGF) announced on Tuesday that it has paid $7.8 million to acquire notorious file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay, and will turn the site into a legitimate business that compensates copyright holders. Under the term, the operators of The Pirate Bay -- who were recently found guilty of copyright infringement, sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay fines totaling $3.9 million -- will receive half of the payment in cash and half in GGF shares.

Sirius XM Debuts Michael Jackson Tribute Channel

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 29, 2009 - 10:58am.
New York - Sirius XM (NASD: SIRI), the satellite radio firm with major operations in DC, on Saturday launched The Michael Jackson Tribute Channel, honoring the pop music icon who died last week. The limited-run channel, featuring Jackson's music, as well as interviews and stories from other artists, will air through midnight Monday on Sirius channel 51 and XM channel 62.

RIAA P2P Case Tally in Court Brief Differs With Estimates

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 29, 2009 - 10:49am.
Boston - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said in court documents filed this month that it had settled with 4,000 of the 18,000 people it contacted about their alleged infringements on file-sharing networks, although other estimates peg the total number of proceedings at nearly double that figure, Digital Music News reported.
tags: Law | Lawsuits | P2P | Music | RIAA | Copyright |

Sirius XM Passing Music Royalty Rate Hike on to Subscribers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 26, 2009 - 10:32am.
New York - Sirius XM (NASD: SIRI) plans to pass on higher royalty rates it has to pay to broadcast music to its subscribers in the U.S., in the form of a $1.98 per month fee increase for primary subscriptions and $0.97 per month fee for multi-receiver subscriptions, SiriusXMNews reported.
tags: Law | Policy | Music | Copyright | CRB | Sirius XM |

Apple Sued Over iTunes Gift Cards, Price Hike to $1.29 Songs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 26, 2009 - 8:39am.
San Francisco - Apple (NASD: AAPL) has been sued for breach of contract and consumer fraud by two Illinois residents, who claim the company misled them by marketing its gift cards for the iTunes Store as redeemable for 99-cent songs, when in fact some songs now cost $1.29 each, CNET News.com reported.

Death of Michael Jackson Spikes News Traffic, Music Sales

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 26, 2009 - 8:07am.
San Mateo, Calif. - 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, the L.A. Times and AOL became nearly unavailable (down to nearly 10% availability).

FriendFeed Adds Ability to Share MP3s, Other Files

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 25, 2009 - 12:35pm.
Mountain View, Calif. - FriendFeed, a social content-sharing platform, has added the ability for users to share files with one another, including MP3 and PDF formats. The service previously allowed only photo file formats to be directly shared into a user's feed. Uploads for audio files are limited to three per day, and may either be downloaded or streamed from FriendFeed servers. The company told TechCrunch it would deal with copyright issues by removing files per the request of the copyright holder.

U.K. Retail Brand Woolworths Becomes Web Media Store

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 25, 2009 - 12:34pm.
London - 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, Billboard reported. The site is operated by Shop Direct Group, which acquired the brand during administration proceedings.

tags: Music | Movies | Retail | Woolworths |

Swedish Court Rejects Bias Charges Against Pirate Bay Judge

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 25, 2009 - 7:57am.
Stockholm, Sweden - A Swedish appellate court has rejected charges from the administrators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay that the judge who found them guilty of copyright infringement was biased because of his ties to several pro-copyright groups, Ars Technica reported. Judge Tomas Norström is a member of the Swedish Copyright Association, and sits on the board of the Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property, which the Pirate Bay administrators charged would bias him in the case against them.

ReverbNation Offers Artists Cash in 'Sponsored Songs' Promotion

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 24, 2009 - 12:03pm.
New York - ReverbNation, a provider of online music marketing services, on Wednesday announced a new Sponsored Songs program that will provide up to 1,000 artists the opportunity to earn money when their songs are downloaded by fans. Each song will incorporate "a small section of branded messaging within the digital cover art," with the artist paid 50 cents for each qualified download. The songs will also be "tracked as they are passed from fan to fan allowing the brand sponsor to capture ongoing value as the music is shared virally."