Channel - Music | paidContent.org

Speculation Continues on Napster’s Fate; Could Be Bought By, Well, Anyone - 1 Comment
Posted By Rafat Ali - Fri 18 Jul 2008 06:22 PM PST

The speculation about Napster’s (NSDQ: NAPS) fate has been going on ever since it relaunched under the new management, and once again, some new fuel to it: Bloomberg did a…

@ MusicTank: Weekend Video: Terry McBride, CEO, Nettwerk Music Group - 0 Comments
Posted By Robert Andrews - Fri 18 Jul 2008 05:00 PM PST

Terry McBride’s Nettwerk is perhaps best known for funding the legal defense for a 15-year-old music downloader sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). But the label, which…

@ MusicTank: Lavigne To Rake $2 Million From YouTube Plays - 0 Comments
Posted By Robert Andrews - Thu 17 Jul 2008 09:17 AM PST

Avril Lavigne is set to score a big pay day thanks to YouTube revenue. Nettwerk Management CEO Terry McBride told MusicTank’s Face To Face With The Millennials in London today:…

EU-Wide Licenses Approved For Music Sites; Services Applaud Reforms; Artists, Not So Much - 0 Comments
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Wed 16 Jul 2008 09:36 AM PST

Digital music providers welcomed today’s EC decision to end Europe’s country-by-country royalties collection system, a move that will make it easier for them to license songs for online use. 7Digital…

MTV Gets Back Into Music Recommendation With ‘Soundtrack’; Rhapsody To Handle Download Sales - 0 Comments
Posted By David Kaplan - Tue 15 Jul 2008 09:01 PM PST

MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA), now better known for creating series like The Hills than bringing the world the next Thriller video, is launching a new social net site tomorrow called…

Italian Social Media’s Dada Buying Music Box TV Channel - 1 Comment
Posted By Robert Andrews - Wed 09 Jul 2008 03:48 PM PST

You’re reading it here first... Italian social media entertainment operator Dada has bought a 10 percent stake in the owner of interactive on-demand TV channel Music Box for €750,000, as…

Last.fm’s Indie Talks Stall, Labels Protest ‘Illegal’ Use Of Repertoire - 0 Comments
Posted By Robert Andrews - Wed 09 Jul 2008 12:45 PM PST

Independent labels are taking legal advice over what they say is illegal use of their repertoire by CBS’ (NYSE: CBS) Last.fm, after efforts to strike a royalty accord stalled, paidContent.org…

Topspin Media Gets Second Round For Online Music Marketing - 0 Comments
Posted By Joseph Weisenthal - Mon 07 Jul 2008 07:54 PM PST

Topspin Media, a music marketing firm helmed by ex-Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) Ian Rogers, has raised a second round of funding led by Foundry Group. In April Last September, the company…

Digital Won’t Halt Music Downfall, Radiohead Go Free Again - 0 Comments
Posted By Robert Andrews - Wed 02 Jul 2008 07:41 AM PST

The growing importance of online and mobile won’t stop music spending’s decline over the next few years, according to an eMarketer survey of published forecasts. The research aggregator says online/mobile’s…

RealNetworks Launches MP3 Store; Unlimited Music in Verizon Wireless - 0 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Sun 29 Jun 2008 10:00 PM PST

RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK), among the early proponents on DRM-free music, has finally been able to launch an MP3 store, joining the likes of Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN), Napster…

U2’s Bono: Our Manager Wrong On Radiohead, But ISP Profiteering ‘Disturbing’; New RED Music Service - 1 Comment
Posted By Robert Andrews - Sun 29 Jun 2008 04:19 PM PST

U2 manager Paul McGuinness may this year have become one of the music industry’s biggest advocates of action against ISPs and social networks, but not all of his comments have…

Concert Rec Engine Songkick Closes First Round - 0 Comments
Posted By Staci D. Kramer - Thu 26 Jun 2008 09:56 PM PST

Songkick, a US-UK concert recommendation engine, has closed its first round, estimated by VentureBeat at $1.1 million from the Accelerator Group’s Saul Klein. Based in Brooklyn and London, the company…

Napster Activists: Company Worth At Least As Much As Last.Fm - 2 Comments
Posted By Joseph Weisenthal - Thu 26 Jun 2008 12:26 PM PST

Back in May we mentioned that three subscribers/shareholders of Napster had launched an improbable proxy fight hoping to get themselves representation on the company’s board. That still looks like a…

Starbucks Continues Entertainment Pullback; Dropping Most CDs From Stores - 0 Comments
Posted By Staci D. Kramer - Wed 25 Jun 2008 09:33 PM PST

Guess I owe Howard Schultz a thank you for helping me cut back on CD purchases ... Starbucks is dramatically reducing the number of CDs carried in its stores, promising…

Forget Digital Music, Beatles In Talks For Video Games - 1 Comment
Posted By Rafat Ali - Sun 22 Jun 2008 06:46 PM PST

Beatles representatives, who haven’t yet reached a deal to offer the band’s music online, are now in talks with two video games companies for a Beatles-themed video game, in a…

The Orchard Buys TVT Records Out of Bankruptcy - 0 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Sun 22 Jun 2008 10:54 AM PST

The Orchard (NSDQ: ORCD), the digital music label, has bought out TVT Records after a New York bankruptcy court declared its bid the winner on Thursday. The company will gain…

Apple: A Flat Five Billion - 2 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Sat 21 Jun 2008 07:36 PM PST

[by Paul Resnikoff, Publisher, DigitalMusicNews] Five billion is a large number, in virtually any context. Five billion people is a lot of people; five billion dollars (or pounds or euros)…

Apple Says It Sold 5 Billion Songs; Could Movies Become A $100M Business? - 2 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Thu 19 Jun 2008 10:51 AM PST

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) announced today that it has sold a total of about 5 billion songs, up from the 4 billion mark it announced in Jan this year. The more…

@ BMO Media: Michael Eggers, CFO, RNWK: Preparing For Games Spin; Growing Subscription Revs - 1 Comment
Posted By Joseph Weisenthal - Thu 19 Jun 2008 08:56 AM PST

Back in May, RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) announced plans to spin off its casual games business and make a filing on that sometime by the end of the year. So why…

Soul Train Franchise Bought By Intermedia-Backed MadVision; Multiplatform Plans - 0 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Wed 18 Jun 2008 10:16 PM PST

Don Cornelius, founder of the once-famed music and dance program Soul Train has sold the show to MadVision Entertainment, an LA-based company backed by PE firm InterMedia Partners. The iconic…

Global Online Ad Revs To Grow 19.5 Annually To 2012: PwC - 0 Comments
Posted By David Kaplan - Wed 18 Jun 2008 08:32 AM PST

Despite daily evidence of slowing online ad growth, internet revenues will represent the highest growth levels of overall media worldwide, averaging 19.5 percent annually through 2012, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ annual…

MP3 Blogs Have Hipster Readers; Make For A Perfect Ad Network - 0 Comments
Posted By Joseph Weisenthal - Mon 16 Jun 2008 07:56 PM PST

Here’s a quick summary of Fortune’s look at the world of MP3 blogs: Sites like Peter Rojas’ RCRD LBL and TheFader.com attract hip readers that advertisers salivate over. But on…

BMG Could Retain Some Euro Assets in SonyBMG Sale; Could Sell For Around $1 Billion - 0 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Fri 13 Jun 2008 08:06 PM PST

In the permutations being worked out for the sale of BMG part of music label SonyBMG, Bertelsmann is looking to retain a stake in the European part of the business,…

Bertelsmann Wants $1.5 Billion For Sony BMG Stake, Talks ‘Advanced’: Report - 0 Comments
Posted By Robert Andrews - Wed 11 Jun 2008 02:08 AM PST

Finally, some meat on the bone of the “Bertelsmann wants to quit music” story. An unnamed source tells FT Deutschland the German media group wants to sell its 50 percent…

‘Fifth Major’ Label Merlin Finally Bears Down On Subscription Music Services - 0 Comments
Posted By Robert Andrews - Wed 11 Jun 2008 12:34 AM PST

What exactly has Merlin, the much-promised “fifth major” for indie labels, been doing since its launch at last year’s Midem? After spending months getting its fledgling board in order and…