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New Media News Every Morning

Apple to sell music via Bebo

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bebo.jpgStarting today, Bebo users in Ireland and the UK will be able to buy music from the iTunes store directly through the artist’s Bebo profile. The deal is a first for Apple and the second for Bebo after joining last year with online music store 7Digital.

The San Francisco-based Bebo network has nearly 9 million users and 500,000 musicians in UK and Ireland.

“The deal with Bebo will give Apple a deeper reach into the market segment of 16- to 24-year-olds, who are both keen users of social networking sites, and key consumers of music,” the Financial Times reported. “Some 32 percent of 16- to 24-year-old internet users visit social networking sites at least once a month, making the demographic the leader of the social networking trend.”

Originally posted on June 13, 2007 @ 7:54 am

PassAlong Networks to feature EMI Muic’s DRM-free catalog

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tn-343279_emi_screenshot_home.jpgPassAlong Networks announced that the network of online music stores powered by its StoreBlocks technology will feature EMI Music’s entire digital catalog in EMI’s premium download offering that is free of digital rights management (DRM) technology and available in a higher-quality bit rate. M

“We applaud EMI Music’s bold decision to test the DRM-free waters,” said PassAlong Networks’ co-founder and CEO Dave Jaworski. “Music consumers have demanded interoperability and ease of use and we hope that by offering EMI Music’s DRM-free music files, we will simplify and improve their digital music experience.”

StoreBlocks includes one of the industry’s largest music catalogs of nearly 3 million songs, innovative viral marketing tools and extensive store-building options. Included in its music catalog are 2 million independent songs in MP3 format. EMI Music’s premium download offering will add more than 100,000 MP3 tracks to this catalog.

Originally posted on June 13, 2007 @ 8:25 am

nuTsie brings iTunes to your mobile… sort of

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nutsie.jpgMelodeo has introduced nuTsie, a new service which lets you stream iTunes music from your home computer (sort of – read on) to your compatible wireless mobile phone. The beta of nuTsie is currently free.

nuTsie, assuming it survives what will probably be an Apple lawsuit soon, says it lets you enjoy “hi-fi quality music” and offers you the ability to shuffle your iTunes playlists and songs from your phone. The way it works is that you export the metadata about your iTunes music collection and upload that data to the online service. nuTsie “compares the list of the songs in your iTunes library and playlists with all the music already stored on nuTsie’s Web servers, and then streams those same songs to your mobile phone. It plays all the songs in a shuffle mode. nuTsie pays the artists and recording industry based on your listening to their music.”

What’s interesting to note about this service is that it does not in fact stream your iTunes music collection from your home computer, which gives you the ability to enjoy music even if your PC is turned off. The potential major downside of all of this is that if you have a lot of fringe music in your collection you may not be able to enjoy it if it doesn’t exist on nuTsie’s servers.

A social element also exists with nuTsie in that you can share your music tastes and playlists with friends through a Web page. Melodeo hopes to expand this sharing to your mobile soon.

Originally posted on June 5, 2007 @ 1:37 pm

Lala.com sends unprotected digital tracks directly to iPods

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Lala.com's business developer John KuchLala.com jumps into the current online music revolution as it transforms its CD-swapping site into a music portal where songs can be downloaded without copy-protection, and directly to members’ iPods without having to go through computer hard drives.

“This is a turning point for music companies and the entire industry,” Lala.com’s co-founder Bill Nguyen said. “I have no idea if it will work — this is a bet,” he added.

This Silicon Valley-based company aims to sell about 200,000 songs from Warner Music for 99 cents each, starting Tuesday. Members will be able to play Warner songs through Lala.com’s web browser for free, and the company will pay Warner a penny every time someone listens to a song. Lala’s executives are currently aiming to make deals with other big labels such as Sony BMG, EMI and Universal as well.

Currently, Lala.com’s member subscription is free, and the site does not have advertisements, hence, revenue comes solely from new CDs purchased or used CDs swapped through their site. Lala.com has over 300,000 members to date.

According to analysts, this is a move that might be detrimental to Lala.com. Aside from having to compete with Apple’s official iTunes music site, Lala has to face equally powerful e-commerce businesses such as Amazon.com and eBay.com which also caters to the online music market.

Originally posted on June 5, 2007 @ 5:27 am

CMA launches new podcast series on CMAfest.com

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cma.jpgIn time for CMA Music Festival, CMA is launching a new series of podcasts that explore life on the road for up-and-coming and established Country Music artists called “CMA Road Stories” at CMAfest.com.

“If we have discovered one thing after presenting CMA Music Festival for 36 years it is that our fans really enjoy a behind-the-footlights glimpse at the lives and careers of our artists,” said CMA Chief Operating Officer Tammy Genovese. “This series will offer them an opportunity to get to know these artists and their music in a new and exciting way.”

Originally posted on June 2, 2007 @ 8:08 am