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January 21, 2010
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Michael Robertson: LaLa Puts iTunes Music
"In The Cloud" 
Is Apple preparing to move to a cloud music service in order to beat Amazon and other companies in the highly competitive digital music space? Former MP3 CEO Michael Robertson (right) says Apple's recent acquisition of digital music startup LaLa will allow the company to "leverage [its] digital library, [its] licenses from the major labels, and a management team who cycled through several business models including the ten-cent web song rental." Robertson says this purchase makes it clear that Apple is moving past a long-rumored subscription model and instead paves the way for a major revision of iTunes wherein each user's music catalog will be copied to the Internet, making it available from any browser or 'Net-connected iPod, iTouch, or tablet. Further, the LaLa upload technology will be bundled into a future iTunes upgrade. [Full story: Washington Post]
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 Oz-Based Guvera Secures $20 Million In Funding
Few digital music fans in the U.S. have heard of Guvera, largely because the subscription-only company is based in Australia. But the "digital wonder from down under" recently secured $20 million (U.S.) in funding to build a platform whereby advertisers set up custom-branded entertainment and promotion channels that allow consumers to enjoy content for free without any kind of restriction. Late last year Guvera announced it had arranged $10 million in financing and had signed licensing deals with Universal Music Group, the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA), EMI, and other labels. The additional $20 million comes from AMMA Private Investment, an Australian consortium of private "angel" investors. Current advertising clients include such companies as McDonalds, Johnson & Johnson, and Harley Davidson, and more are expected to be announced soon. [Full story: Washington Post Online Media Daily]
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British Jury Finds OiNK Founder Not Guilty
Alan Ellis (right), the founder of file-sharing website OiNK, has been found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud, in a unanimous verdict in the U.K. Ellis had been accused of facilitating online music sharing, generating approximately $15,000 (U.S.) per month until his operation was shut down in 2007. OiNK was set up as an invitation-only site that gave users access to a large catalogue of digital music files. In order to invite a friend, members had to pay a "donation" to the service. By the time the police raided the operation, OiNK had amassed more than 200,000 members who collectively had downloaded more than 21 million music files. A spokesperson for the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) commented, "This is a hugely disappointing verdict. The defendant made nearly £200,000 by exploiting other people's work without permission. The case shows that artists and music companies need better protection." [Full story: PC World Geek]
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 Microsoft To Launch Zune "Pink" Smart Phone
Look for Microsoft to launch a Zune-based smart phone complete with a digital music player at either the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in mid-February, or the March CTIA conference in Las Vegas. That's the word from Jefferies and Company analyst Katherine Egbert, who this week wrote in a research note that the new Zune - nicknamed "Pink" - will include high-definition video and a 5 megapixel camera. "Pink would be the 'third screen' (after Windows and Xbox) and the final component of Microsoft's '3 screens and a cloud strategy,'" she said. Microsoft's Xbox 360 has become a strong competitor to similar consoles from Sony and Nintendo, and the company believes the Zune "Pink" will make it a dominant player in the mobile marketplace. [Full story: Forbes]
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Survey: Almost One-Third Of Consumers Listen To Internet Radio According to a new Media Consumption Survey conducted by L.E.K. Consulting, 32% of U.S. consumers listen to an average of 5.8 hours of Internet radio a week. Additionally, iPod owners consume 8.9 hours of media per week, while eReader owners consume 18.2 hours of new media per week. Plus, contrary to conventional wisdom, among people online, those aged 50-64 use the Internet 8.3 hours per week compared to 24-39 year olds, who use it for 6.8 hours. The real surprise in L.E.K.'s "Hidden Opportunities in New Media Survey," however, was the sudden surge in eReader usage. "The fact that Amazon sold more Kindle books than printed books on Christmas Day 2009 speaks volumes," says L.E.K. VP Dan Schecter. "We've dubbed the 10% of consumers who own an eReader as the 'EReader Republic,' and think that it is a potential goldmine for content providers and advertisers alike." [Full story: Crunch Gear News Release]
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Alpine Brings Internet Radio To Car Dashboard
The new iDA-X305S car stereo unit recently displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has added a Pandora Internet Radio application that uses an iPhone's 3G connection to stream online audio. Users will be able to log in and access all of the Pandora app's functions using the X305S' 2.2-inch color display and double-action rotary encoder knob, including viewing album artwork and tracking metadata, changing stations, skipping tracks, giving a song the thumbs up and down, and bookmarking songs for later access. No word from Alpine on whether apps for BlackBerry and Android are in the works; pricing for the new stereo is expected to be around $350. [Full story: CNET]
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Al Bell Presents American Soul Music
If you're into classic and contemporary Soul, R&B, Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Hip-Hop Soul, Rap Soul, and Neo-Soul, we invite you to listen to Al Bell Presents American Soul Music. Former Stax Records owner and Motown President Al Bell personally has programmed this awesome radio station online, presenting your favorites from the 1960s and '70s, some of the best new music that's being released today, and some real gems you haven't heard in a long, long time. Come to www.AlBellPresents.Com and hear it for yourself!
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Al Bell Presents:
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer: Al Bell
President: Jonathan Bell
COO (and Digital Music Digest Editor): Reed Bunzel
Director/Special Projects: Emmanuel Sheafe |
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