The Digital Music Weblog

• PlaysForSure doomed, again
  

  Filed under: News, DRM, Creative, Microsoft, Sandisk, Napster, Rhapsody, Real Networks, Yahoo! Music

  The grapevine says some at CES are being told Microsoft will no longer develop PlaysForSure, its proprietary DRM system, a move Microsoft swore up and down it would never make when the company failed to include PlaysForSure support in the Zune line.
  
  According to PC Pro News,"Microsoft will concentrate exclusively on its Zune platform, which is not...
  



• 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....
  



• Think PlaysForSure is dead? Don't tell Napster
  

  Filed under: News, Napster

  Microsoft's decision to abandon PlaysForSure by not including it in the newly minted Zune hasn't been the death nail many expected. Napster, a PlaysForSure partner who's recently been looking for a new owner, is still managing to rake in subscribers, and grow revenue.
  
  Adding 48,000 subscribers in their fiscal third quarter, the company managed to beat analyst estimates by a bit, and frankly, shock the pants off many naysayers. According to Reuters, "Napster Chief Executive Chris Gorog said the company had significantly...
  



• Rumors of Microsoft buying EMI, "odd and unlikely"
  

  Filed under: News, Microsoft, RIAA, Napster, Rhapsody, Zune Marketplace, Yahoo! Music

  Rumors of Microsoft potentially making a play at becoming a part of the major label system though an aquisition of EMI are "odd and unlikely" one analyist says. This comes after some media speculation that the software giant was interested in a takeover of the music giant.
  
  Microsoft has had a tough time with the labels lately. As the Zune nears retail, details...
  



• Peter Jenner declares DRM-era "dead"
  

  Filed under: News, DRM, RIAA, IFPI, BPI, Napster, eMusic, iTunes, Rhapsody

  Joining the "usual suspects" in decrying DRM is a new voice, but one you'll recognize. UK manager Peter Jenner (The Clash, Pink Floyd, Billy Bragg) is singing a song that many in the industry aren't going to like hearing.
  In an interview with The Register, Jenner goes on to explain how the big winners are going to be the indies....
  



• Cingular takes another direction for music on mobile
  

  Filed under: News, General, Napster, eMusic

  Cingular is set to launch a non-OTA music service for its mobile phones. Details are a bit sketch but, the new Cingular service will be vastly different than that of its mobile phone market competitors. Users will be able to download from three competing web services, Napster, Yahoo! Music and eMusic and transfer those tracks to their Cingular handset of choice via cable connection to a PC (Uh, wasn't 3G supposed to make all these wires go away?...
  



• Napster launches Free Download of the Day
  

  Filed under: News, DRM, Napster

  Napster will begin offering a free (free as in cost and free as in no DRM) download each day as part of a sponsored promotional campaign in conjunction with Intel. The first track, Iron Maiden's seven and a half minute metal ballad "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" is available now.
  
  Napster's VP of Music Services says of the new offering, "Napster's Free Download of the Day will feature the best up-and-coming bands and a few surprises...
  



• EFF points out RIAA hypocrisy over compulsory ringtone licenses
  

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

  I wrote last week about the copyright office's recent ruling that puts ringtones under the same compulsory license terms as the broadly defined phonorecord. I also pointed to the publishers, who aren't exactly thrilled with the new structure of ringtone licensing.
  
  The EFF take a bit deeper look at the rift between the RIAA and the publishing associations on this issue....
  



• USAToday: Closed systems leave music fans in the cold
  

  Filed under: News, DRM, Apple, Microsoft, Sandisk, RIAA, IFPI, BPI, Napster, eMusic, iTunes, Rhapsody

  Could it really be that the anti-DRM message is starting to bubble up to the surface? USAToday, a paper not known for sticking its neck out or producing any ground breaking journalism has a feature today on how eschewing DRM might just allow the majors to wrestle control of the digital music market...
  



• CD sales lose more blood to digital downloads
  

  Filed under: News, IFPI, Napster, iTunes, Rhapsody

  The IFPI has gotten off their duff about releasing some sales figures for the year to date. What a shocker, digital downloads are up 106% over the same period last year, and CD sales are sliding for the 6th straight year.
  
  "The explosion in digital music services, spurred by consumer demand and a widening array of delivery channels, has seen online and mobile music sales grow from $US134 million in the first...