music

The social music discovery service iLike has unveiled a new deal with Real Networks' Rhapsody digital music service. iLike users will now be able to listen to full-length song playbacks on their profiles, and on iLike's Facebook application. There ... are limitations, however: iLike users will only be able to access unlimited playbacks if they are also a Rhapsody Unlimited member, otherwise users are limited to 25 playbacks per month (Rhapsody also offers a free account on its own site with the same limitations). After the limit is reached you can choose between signing up for your own Rhapsody ... (view more)

For most music fans that download their tunes from illegal sources, once than mp3 hits the iPod or laptop all is deemed 'free' and clear. That comfy feeling might be pretty 'flighty' in the near future; the world's most powerful governments are ... exploring the idea of scanning music devices, cell phones, and computers for non-copyrighted material in airports. The measure is just one of many considered by G8 government officials last week. Each form part of a broader international agreement between them all on putting the kibosh on piracy. The G8 way of thinking matches that of the European ... (view more)

A music service run by MTV and the creators of RealPlayer is launching a digital download store that could be the most credible challenger yet to Apple's iTunes store. Rhapsody America offers five million songs in MP3 format and mirrors the iTunes ... pricing structure of 99c per track and $9.99 per album. But unlike iTunes, the songs are available without the shackles of Digital Rights Management. That's a restriction designed to fight piracy by limiting or preventing users from copying the file to multiple computers or handheld devices. Rhapsody has signed deals with all four major record ... (view more)

Grand Theft Auto IV ("GTA IV") is a retail phenomenon. By all accounts, it has raked in more sales than any game in history, making GTA IV a retailer's dream come true. However, the buck may not end there -- in fact, GTA IV is now acting as a prime ... marketing tool for music artists. When it shipped last week, Grand Theft Auto IV hit retailers like a sports car through a shop window (uh, you can do that in the game). Long midnight line ups and millions of pre-orders soon gave way to top-ranking reviews, with many experts calling the game the best ever released. With that kind of attention, it ... (view more)

Wal-Mart's online store has undergone a major redesign that makes its massive catalogue of songs entirely DRM-free. Digital rights management (DRM) is a term used to identify restrictions placed on digital media to prevent piracy. Wal-Mart's online ... store had previously made use of the Windows Media DRM, limiting the playback of songs to devices sanctioned by Microsoft. However, the growing popularity of mobile media devices such as the iPod, which cannot play songs limited to the Windows Media DRM, has forced the retailer to carry out a complete switch-over. Wal-Mart had announced its ... (view more)

After weeks of speculation, MySpace announced on Thursday that it would launch a retail music store. In partnership with the three biggest record labels -- Universal, Warner and Sony BMG -- the social networking site will form a new company called ... MySpace Music. EMI, the smallest of the four music companies, has yet to sign on, but is expected to in the coming months. (Source: informationweek.com ) The new company, while a separate entity, will be fully integrated into the existing online platform providing users with ad-supported audio and video streams, DRM-free downloads, and ringtones. ... (view more)

Apple has become the second largest seller of music in America, behind only Wal-Mart. The statistic comes from market research group NPD; its chart is based on the number of sales rather than the actual revenue. To make for a fair comparison, it ... counts 12 individual song downloads on Apple's iTunes service as equivalent to one sale of a physical CD album. Apple was ranked fourth in the same study last year, but has now leapfrogged both Target and Best Buy. A spokesman for NPD said the change was "fairly understandable given the pressure that's been on CDs and the almost 50-percent growth in ... (view more)

There's no denying that Apple's got itself a bountiful hold on the digital music market. The company's hardware retails for more than comparably-equipped devices from the competition, and yet the Touch, Nano, and Shuffle all manage to maintain the ... company's massive lead. However, that advantage might be threatened where Apple seems strongest: online. For some time, Apple's virtual music store, iTunes, has been the front-runner in offering individual songs or entire albums for a reasonable price. Buying one song at a time has proven a dynamite marketing dynamic for Apple, which clearly ... (view more)

Last week, Apple announced that it will be lowering prices on its UK iTunes store to reflect standardized pricing in Europe. The company currently pays more in Britain than to European record companies in order to sell music. (Source: apple.com ) ... "This is an important step towards a pan-European marketplace for music," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, in a statement. "We hope every major record label will take a pan-European view of pricing." And what happens if the music labels refuse the price reduction? In the same statement, Apple said it will, "reconsider its continuing relationship in the ... (view more)

Music and movie retailers in the United Kingdom claim digital copy protection is hurting, rather than protecting sales. The Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) says album sales are down 11% this year. Its director-general Kim Bayley said copy ... protection is "stifling growth and working against the consumer interest." The drop in CD sales is not matched by a rise in downloads. According to the ERA, only 150 million tracks have been legally downloaded in the UK in the past three years, fewer than one track per person each year. The ERA says consumer confusion over incompatible formats used ... (view more)