Music

Updated: Earnings: RNWK Q1 Rev Up 14 Percent; Earnings Beat Estimate: Music Up 12 Percent, - 0 Comments
Posted By Staci D. Kramer - Thu 08 May 2008 01:23 PM PST

RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) is playing two this afternoon—announcing Q1 earnings and the spinoff of its casual games business. Revenue rose 14 percent to $147.6 million, compared with $129.5 million in…

@ Needham Digital Media Con: Interview: David Pakman, CEO, eMusic: ‘Adults Still Buy Music’ - 0 Comments
Posted By Joseph Weisenthal - Thu 08 May 2008 11:19 AM PST

For a while there, eMusic was notable as the online music retailer that didn’t have DRM, but that differentiator is pretty much gone. During a panel on the ‘long tail’…

Earnings: WMG Revs Up 2 Percent; Loss Deepens; Digital Up 47.6 Percent; Dividend Cancelled - 0 Comments
Posted By Joseph Weisenthal - Thu 08 May 2008 04:22 AM PST

Another challenging quarter for Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG), which has suspended its dividend in the name of “financial flexibility.” The label announced quarterly revenue of $800 million, up 2…

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Music Bits: Grand Theft Auto’s Easy Button; WMG’s Dynamic-Pricing Test; Sony BMG-EMI-Amazon - 0 Comments
Posted By Staci D. Kramer - Tue 06 May 2008 08:45 AM PST

Music and games have proven a potent combo, particularly when it comes to download sales. Last week, Viacom (NYSE: VIA) announced 1Q earnings considerably boosted by the holiday ‘07 release…

Buzznet Acquires Music Community Absolute Punk - 0 Comments
Posted By Joseph Weisenthal - Tue 06 May 2008 06:00 AM PST

UMG-backed Buzznet continues to roll up independent music sites. The latest acquisition is Absolute Punk an “alternative music” (haven’t heard that phrase in a while) community site. The acquisition, for…

Federal Court Rules AOL, Yahoo, Real Must Pay ASCAP Music Licensing Fees; Could Run $100 Million - 0 Comments
Posted By Staci D. Kramer - Wed 30 Apr 2008 05:37 PM PST

ASCAP is ballyhooing a federal court ruling today that AOL (NYSE: TWX), Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) and RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) must pay higher licensing fees for streaming songs by its 320,000-plus…

Music Community Site Mog Gets $2.8 Strategic Investment From UMG, Sony BMG, And Angels - 0 Comments
Posted By Joseph Weisenthal - Tue 29 Apr 2008 12:00 PM PST

Mog, the Berkeley, CA-based music community site, has taken a $2.8 million strategic investment from Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, as well as various angels. The site, which competes with…

@ EconSM: MTVN’s Social Media Challenge: Growing Digital Revenues - 0 Comments
Posted By David Kaplan - Tue 29 Apr 2008 10:26 AM PST

Alluding to Viacom’s (NYSE: VIA) decision to pass on buying MySpace, Staci D. Kramer, co-editor/EVP for paidContent parent ContentNext Media, asked a panel of MTV Network executives about missed opportunities…

Starbucks Cedes Management Of Hear Music Label To Partner; Will Focus On Digital; Lombard Out - 0 Comments
Posted By Staci D. Kramer - Thu 24 Apr 2008 05:22 PM PST

Once again, Starbucks is changing course when it comes to entertainment. The company announced today it is pulling out of direct management of the Hear Music label and instead will…

MSN Music Decision Cuts Off Buyers’ Options After August - 0 Comments
Posted By Staci D. Kramer - Wed 23 Apr 2008 10:35 PM PST

MSN Music users have already dealt with the shutdown of the Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) service; now they’re hearing the Mission Impossible theme as the music they acquired will self-destruct if…

Sony Buys Media Metadata And Tech Firm Gracenote For $260 Million Plus - 3 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Tue 22 Apr 2008 02:13 PM PST

So it has finally happened: Gracenote, the media metadata and tech firm which has been around since 1998, has been bought by Sony (NYSE: SNE) Corp of America, for about…

Sony BMG Joins Nokia’s Comes With Music Program - 0 Comments
Posted By Robert Andrews - Tue 22 Apr 2008 04:19 AM PST

Sony (NYSE: SNE) BMG is the second record label to join Nokia’s (NYSE: NOK) Comes With Music pre-bundled music initiative. At a London joint press conference, the pair said Nokia…

UK Music Biz Got $11 Million PRS Royalties From Digital In Q1 - 0 Comments
Posted By Robert Andrews - Mon 21 Apr 2008 12:06 PM PST

From our sister site paidContent:UK: Musicians got only five percent of their performance royalties from online and mobile in the first three months of the year in UK. The Performing…

Nokia Denies Paying Universal Music Group High Fees For Comes With Music - 0 Comments
Posted By Staci D. Kramer - Fri 18 Apr 2008 11:02 AM PST

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is denying reports—including ours—of a deal to pay Universal Music Group $33-35 per handset for access to its music on the handset maker’s upcoming Comes With Music.…

MTV’s Rock Band Video Game Preps Full Album Download Sales - 1 Comment
Posted By David Kaplan - Fri 18 Apr 2008 10:11 AM PST

Having proved that it can sell individual song downloads in the millions after only five months in operation, MTVN’s (NYSE: VIA) Rock Band video game will begin selling full-length albums…

Universal Music Confirms Buzznet Investment; Revenue Share - 0 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Thu 17 Apr 2008 10:47 AM PST

As we reported first two weeks ago, Universal Music has officially announced its investment in music social network and destination Buzznet...the size was not disclosed, but we reported a total…

Broadband Content Bits: Discovery’s Planet Green; TommyTV; Alicia in Africa; myLifetime - 1 Comment
Posted By Amanda Natividad - Thu 17 Apr 2008 09:55 AM PST

-- Discovery’s Planet Green Launches Shows with TreeHugger.com to Blog in Tandem: In a bid to generate new media buzz before turning Discovery Home into Planet Green, Discovery’s Planet Green…

Updated: Nokia Paying Universal Music $35 Per User For Comes With Music? - 1 Comment
Posted By James Quintana Pearce - Wed 16 Apr 2008 01:25 PM PST

More unconfirmed rumors as to how much Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is paying Universal Music Group for its music to be a part of Nokia’s “Comes With Music” service, from THR:…

Will Smith And Others Invest About $2 Million In Music Video Startup PluggedIn - 0 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Tue 15 Apr 2008 05:15 PM PST

A new music video destination is launching tonight, and yes, another one. PluggedIn, a new site based in Santa Monica, is launching with about $2 million in venture funding from…

Music Bits: California Taxes; Chrysalis Off Market; AmazonMP3 Growth; TheFilter - 0 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Tue 15 Apr 2008 04:45 PM PST

-- Potential California Taxes on Digital Music: Didn’t really happen, but could: a controversial proposal in the California State Assembly would have extended the state’s sales tax to include digital…

Music Social Net Imeem Gets More From Sequoia - 0 Comments
Posted By Joseph Weisenthal - Tue 15 Apr 2008 01:10 PM PST

Imeem, the music-based social net, has taken an unspecified follow-on investment from Sequoia Capital, according to Tech Confidential. Details are scant, and it’s not known whether past backer Morgenthaler Ventures…

UK Music Biz Would Rather Tax iPods Than Legitimize Format Shifting - 0 Comments
Posted By Robert Andrews - Tue 15 Apr 2008 08:26 AM PST

The British record industry has challenged a UK government proposal that would legalize “format shifting” from CD to gadgets like iPods - and instead demanded portable music device makers pay…

EU Parliament Warns Against ISP Monitoring In Music Piracy Fight - 0 Comments
Posted By Robert Andrews - Fri 11 Apr 2008 02:48 AM PST

This could put the cat amongst the pigeons. European Parliament members have voted in favour of outlawing the kind of ISP disconnection policy the French government introduced to fight illegal…

Last.fm’s Free Music ‘Boosts Sales’; Unlimited Services ‘To Kick In By 2012’ - 3 Comments
Posted By Robert Andrews - Wed 09 Apr 2008 09:21 AM PST

Last.fm claims its 12-week-old free, full-track music streams have resulted in 119 percent more CD and download sales through its Amazon.com (NSDQ: AMZN) click-through partnership. Some of that is attributable…

Wal-Mart Going Hardline on DRM-Free Online Music Store; SonyBMG and WMG Holdouts - 0 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Tue 08 Apr 2008 10:41 PM PST

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), whose online music efforts haven’t exactly caught fire among consumers, is now trying a hardline stance on MP3 downloads, ditching Windows DRM-laden downloads that it used to…