E-Commerce News: Music

The Audacity of Droid
October 30, 2009

The Android mobile operating system is graduating soon to 2.0 status, and Google gave it a pretty nice present to celebrate: a free turn-by-turn navigation app called "Google Maps Navigation." It'll run on Android 2.0 phones with GPS, and it'll use the phone's cellular Internet connection to get live map information.

Google Breaks Into Song With New Music Search
October 29, 2009

Google's new music search service, announced Wednesday, is in tune with that company's overall goal to make every last bit of information searchable on the Web. After all, "two of our top 10 queries of all time are music-related," according to an introductory video on Google's Discover Music landing page.

Lala Plans to Open Music-Streaming Dime Store on iPhone
October 28, 2009

Online music retailer Lala is preparing to launch an iPhone application that its cofounder says paves the way for the end of downloading songs in the MP3 format. The app allows users to buy the right to stream songs from a digital locker forever for just 10 US cents each. The song quality is lower than what Apple's iTunes offers, but "intelligent caching" lets the tracks load and play in seconds.

Google, MySpace, Facebook Music Options Sprout as CD Sales Wilt
October 22, 2009

Internet power players Google, MySpace and Facebook are adopting strategies to better compete in a music industry that is rapidly shifting online. Google plans to launch a music search service, MySpace said its music videos will be spread on competing social networks, and Facebook said it will now allow friends to send each other song-streaming gifts.

Is Google Dialing Up a Gphone and Cuing Up Gtunes?
October 21, 2009

Conspiracy theorists convinced that Google wants a footprint in every single business category on the planet got some more ammunition Wednesday: reports that detail the company's possible efforts to extend into both branded smartphones and online music. A Google-branded phone may be offered directly to consumers via retail outlets and not traditional wireless carriers, according to analyst Ashok Kumar.

Apple May Be Tuning In on a Big Opportunity
October 16, 2009

Ever since Apple announced its latest iPod nano with a built-in FM radio with live pause and iTunes tagging in September, I've been wondering how long it would take to bring the same feature to the iPhone and iPod touch. In fact, I was kind of surprised it wasn't in the new iPod touch, but as the latest rumor suggests, that's not so surprising after all.

Warner, YouTube Dance to New Music Deal
September 29, 2009

Warner Music Group and Google have come to terms on a revenue-sharing agreement that will allow content from Warner's full music catalog to be used in YouTube videos, according to a blog post by Chris Maxcy, director of YouTube partner development. Warner will be able to sell its own ad inventory and use YouTube's Content ID technology to monetize videos incorporating its content.

Rhapsody Sings in Harmony With iTunes on the iPhone
September 10, 2009

It's been a big week for Apple. CEO Steve Jobs returned to the spotlight Wednesday after a liver transplant, video cameras were added to an iPod nano for the first time ever, and now the iPhone App Store will feature a competing digital music service to iTunes: Real Networks' Rhapsody.

Court Ruling Lets Yahoo Web Radio Avoid Big Licensing Fees
August 24, 2009

Personalized Internet radio stations got a boost Friday when a federal appeals court ruled that Yahoo's LAUNCHcast music service was not interactive enough to be forced to pay hundreds of millions of US dollars in licensing fees. The court said LAUNCHcast did not offer its users so much control over selecting songs for personalized Internet radio stations that the users would choose those webcasts over buying music.

MySpace Makes Room for iLike
August 20, 2009

If LinkedIn is for professionals and Facebook is for friends, then MySpace is still the social network destination for teens/young adults to sing the praises of the rock bands that they love. To that end, MySpace announced Wednesday that it would build on that relationship by acquiring Seattle-based social music application makers iLike.

Battling the Buccaneers of Beijing
August 15, 2009

American companies counting on a favorable trade ruling against China to boost sales of CDs, DVDs, books and video games will need a crackdown on rampant piracy before they can reap big benefits. Chinese incomes are lower than in the United States, and the quality of pirated entertainment there is quite good, making legal goods a tougher sell.

WTO Presses China to Lower Barriers to Media Content
August 13, 2009

China said Thursday it might appeal a major World Trade Organization ruling that told Beijing to ease restrictions on imported movies, music and books in its latest trade dispute with Washington. The Commerce Ministry insisted Beijing does not hamper imports of media products, despite Wednesday's decision by a WTO panel of experts that it violates free-trade rules.

Security, Sanity and Social Networking in the Ranks
August 07, 2009

U.S. military service members who want to keep up with friends and family back home have often turned to social networking Web sites to stay in touch. But the Department of Defense hasn't quite made up its mind whether these kinds of sites are friends or enemies. It definitely loves social networking when it comes to recruiting -- you can follow or friend any and all branches if you're thinking about joining up.

File-Sharing Penalties May Be Scrutinized on Constitutional Grounds
August 03, 2009

The numbers in two recent copyright infringement lawsuits involving downloaded music are enough to get tongues wagging. Is a song really worth $22,500? Or even $80,000? Juries in Massachusetts and Minnesota, respectively, ordered those awards to the recording industry this year in cases involving defendants alleged to have illegally downloaded music from the Internet.

Jury Takes Up Penalty Question in Grad Student's P2P Trial
July 31, 2009

Joel Tenenbaum's fate was probably already sealed before he went to trial for the copyright infringement of 30 songs by Nirvana, Green Day and the Smashing Pumpkins, but the 25-year-old college student made sure of it on Thursday when he admitted on the stand that he did in fact download and share the songs.

Royalty Deal Gets Labels In Tune With Web Radio
July 07, 2009

Pandora Radio Founder Tim Westergren had been one of the most vocal critics of the royalty rates that small online radio broadcasters were forced to pay per government edict. However, Tuesday's announcement of an agreement between those webcasters and SoundExchange, the organization tasked by the recording industry to collect music royalties, has made him change his tune.