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....
  



• Is the UMG Microsoft deal just a thorn for Apple's side?
  

  Filed under: News, DRM, Apple, Microsoft, Sandisk, RIAA, iTunes, Rhapsody, Real Networks, Zune Marketplace

  When UMG forced Microsoft's hand and extorted gained a deal to get $1 per Zune sold as compensation for what UMG CEO Doug Morris calls "a repository for stolen music", it became a widely held belief that UMG beat Microsoft at the negotiating table. Microsoft, just days away from the Zune's launch _needed_ UMG's extensive...
  



• 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...
  



• Real Networks raking in Real Dollars
  

  Filed under: News, Rhapsody

  Earnings are in for Real Networks third quarter of 2006 and they're checkin' some Real bank. Reporting record revenue of $93.7 million dollars, and a net income of $42.2 million puts them on pretty solid footing moving forward. I'm not hyped about the prospects for Real's attempt to take down Apple in conjunction with Sandisk and Best Buy but, I'm glad someone with a positive cash flow (whose name doesn't start with M S) is there to give Apple a little competition in...
  



• 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....
  



• 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...
  



• USPS rate changes put the squeeze on BMG-Columbia House
  

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

  
  Postal mailing rates aren't exactly sexy, and they're certainly not digital music. However, BMG-ColumbiaHouse have been bilking selling customers CDs through the mail since CDs came into existence, and were quite happily mailing tapes through the mail long before that. So, postal mail actually does have a place in this digital music menagerie.
  
  According to the PostalNewsBlog (there really is a blog about everything), "BMG Columbia House VP Clifton B. Knight Jr. says...