The Digital Music Weblog

• Atlantic Monthly : Mp3 = VHS / DRM = Betamax
  

  Filed under: General, DRM, Apple, RIAA, IFPI, BPI, iTunes

  Michael Hirchshorn of The Atlantic Monthly takes a look at Web 2.0 music services and while drawing lines though a connect the dots progression comes up with several gems of inference. The highlight of which is a comparison of Mp3 to DRM "protected" media that contrasts VHS and Betamax, "One next step could be a move by the labels to make more pay-per-download music available without...
  



• Digital sales healthy, holiday sales figures may hang around
  

  Filed under: News, RIAA, IFPI, BPI

  I'm always enlightened when Glenn Coolfer grabs his calculator and starts making sense of the sales figures Billboard and Nielsen throw around. Often you find that when Coolfer works over the numbers he gleans insight that no one else is spouting.
  
  This week is no different. While the nay-sayers are forecasting the demise of the music business (once again), Coolfer shows us that optimisim may be the better track, "Last week, digital track...
  



• Online consumers re-energizing music business?
  

  Filed under: News, RIAA, IFPI, BPI, Music

  A new survey by The Digital Media Association says online consumers are driving music in new ways, and causing a renaissance among music fans.
  
  According to the survey, "The vast majority of online music service users report that enjoying music over the Internet has expanded their musical tastes, allowing them to discover new artists and explore new music genres. About 25 percent reported having discovered a lot of new artists, while...
  



• Jupiter predicts digital sales through 2011
  

  Filed under: News, RIAA, IFPI, BPI, Napster, eMusic, iTunes, Rhapsody, Zune Marketplace, Yahoo! Music

  Jupiter Research has done some prognosticatin' and come to the conclusion that digital sales are going to keep on growing. In fact, if predictions hold true, digital sales will grow at a compounded rate of 16% per year, to a total of 2.5 billion dollars, or just over 22% of total US consumer spending on music....
  



• Eulogizing the CD, the ills of disposable music
  

  Filed under: General, DRM, RIAA, IFPI, BPI

  "The CD as it stands is dead", that's what Alain Levy of EMI told a packed room at London School of Business in October (Lomax's article says different but, we checked). John Nova Lomax of Houston Press is taking the time to eulogize it, examine why it's dying and take a cursory look at where the format is heading.
  
  Lomax writes, "Looking back over the past 45 years, it...
  



• The first week of 2007 in review
  

  Filed under: News, DRM, Microsoft, RIAA, BPI

  
  
  
  A video look at the Digital Music highlights from the first week of 2007. Featuring music from The Blackhorse Remix Project featuring Musetta.
  
  There's also a YouTube version.
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• BPI encouraging young musicians to sign away rights
  

  Filed under: News, BPI

  Having followed the digital music scene for years, I think I can say without any disclaimer that if you're looking for the most evil among the RIAA, BPI and IFPI, you really can't go wrong with the Brits. I thought I'd seen everything, from copyright extension lobbying, asking for tax credits for A&R costs, crazy attacks on ISPs to demands that British police spend more time fighting P2P and less time fighting crime. This story, however, really shows the...
  



• LA Times wakes up, realizes that music biz is changing
  

  Filed under: News, RIAA, IFPI, BPI, eMusic, iTunes

  It's the democratization of the music business, and it's becoming a trend to large to ignore. The LA Times reports on artists who've given up (or never wanted) a major label deal, and are instead finding success online.
  
  "It's nice to have the deep pockets and clout of a major record company. [...] Nonetheless, the Web is turning into a viable alternative with which bands can develop a...
  



• AllofMp3 says "We're not going anywhere"
  

  Filed under: News, RIAA, IFPI, BPI

  
  This week we told you the US Trade Representative is calling for AllofMp3's head on a pike. The flipside to that argument has surfaced, and it appears AllofMp3 has lawyered up, and retained the counsel of John Kheit, an IP attorney for Chadbourne & Parke in New York.
  
  Ars Technica spoke with Kheit and has this gem of a quote, "AllofMP3 is legal, and it's not going anywhere," adding, "Legality is not...
  



• US and Russia target AllofMp3 for shutdown. Really, we swear.
  

  Filed under: News, RIAA, IFPI, BPI

  
  It's back again. The seemingly never-ending speculation about AllofMp3 and its entanglement with Russia's desire to join the World Trade Organization. This time there's some evidence of the validity of those claims, and a little bit of light shed on when AllofMp3 might be gone for good.
  
  A document released by the US trade representative to Russia clearly spells out that AllofMp3 has been and still remains a concern for US trade officials, and lays...