News
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YouTube And PRS Resolve 'Complex' Dispute Over Royalties Thanks to new deal...
By Jason Gregory on 3 September 2009
Thousands of official music videos are to return to YouTube after the video-sharing website resolved a dispute with the songwriters' association, PRS for Music.
YouTube stripped the videos from its UK website in March after it failed to reach an agreement with PRS over royalties.
But the dispute, which attracted widespread criticism, has ended after the website agreed to pay an undisclosed lump sum to PRS as part of a deal lasting until 2012.
"We are pleased to announce that an agreement for a licence has been reached and both PRS for Music and YouTube are happy that the negotiations resulted in a mutually acceptable deal,” YouTube said in a statement.
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'Hardcore' File-Sharers Face Internet Cut Off Under new measures...
By Jason Gregory on 25 August 2009
Internet users who persistently download music and films illegally could be cut off, according to new measures outlined by the government.
The proposal, which marks a radical amendment to existing policy, is set to tackle “hardcore copyright pirates”.
In June, Digital Britain report gave regulator Ofcom until 2012 to decide whether a ban on persistent pirates was adequate.
But this has now been brought forward following an intervention from the Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, who is understood to want tougher measures.
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Live Nation And Ticketmaster Merger 'Would Be Detrimental' Former managing director warns...
By Jason Gregory on 31 July 2009
Stuart Galbraith, former managing director of Live Nation, has warned against the company's proposed merger with Ticketmaster.
The deal, which has been referred to the Competition Commission in the UK, would bring together the world's biggest ticket retailer and concert promoter.
Speaking to BBC 6 Music, Galbraith said the potential monopoly would have a “detrimental effect”.
"I don't think it would be a good thing,” he added. “I think competition is good for the customer and good for everybody that participates in live music."
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Apple Attempts To Boost Full-Length Album Sales Rather than users buying individual tracks...
By Andrew Almond on 28 July 2009
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Apple is working with major record labels in a bid to devise ways kick start sales of full-length albums.
With plans to add interactive booklets to full-length albums that are bought, the companies are seeking to reverse the modern trend that sees internet users simply download individual tracks, instead of a full album.
The interactive booklets are also set to allow music to be played on computers without the use of iTunes, as well as including videos and photos along with lyrics and are due for a September launch.
The talks, that are reportedly codenamed “cocktail”, are trying to recreate “the heyday of the album when you would sit around with friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to the music” according to one spokesperson.
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Spotify: Coming To An iPhone Near You But only if you're a Spotify Premium subscriber...
By Andrew Almond on 27 July 2009
The people behind Spotify, the Swedish music streaming site with a library containing millions songs, have unveiled an application for the iPhone which is set to launch in the near future.
On their blog earlier today it was announced that Spotify had “put the finishing touches to a very special project” which will eventually allow the potential for users to download content directly onto their iPhones and therefore seemingly place itself in direct competition with iTunes.
The free music streaming site which launched in the UK in February now has over one million in users in the UK alone and looks to expand upon this through the move into the iPhone market.
Spotify users have the choice to sign up to “Spotify Premium” a service that for £9.99 allows playback without adverts and Spotify have announced that the iPhone application will only initially be available for those subscribers.
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Apple Fans Braced For Arrival Of New Video iPhone Will it appear today?...
By Jason Gregory on 8 June 2009
Apple are expected to unveil a new iPhone today which will enable users to capture video for the first time.
The device, reported to be named either the iPhone Video or iPhone 3GS, will also boast more memory and improved battery life.
It is thought the camera will be improved from 2 megapixel to 3.2 megapixel in order to cope with the addition of video.
The device, which will cost £125, will prompt Apple to slash the price of the existing 3G model, reports claim.
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Spotify Unveils Mobile Phone Version Of Music Streaming Service They call it a "work in progress"...
By Daniel Melia on 28 May 2009
Spotify have unveiled the first details of an application that will take their music streaming service on to mobile phones.
The app was demonstrated at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco yesterday (May 27), with developers calling it a “work in progress”.
The mobile phone service will allow users to listen to tracks offline with a new sync function, transfer songs and playlists to their phone from a laptop and search for tracks in the Spotify database.
On a possible release date of the application, the company commented: "To head off the inevitable questions, we don't have any more details on when it will be available, etc.
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YouTube Remains Defiant As PRS Unveils Enticing New Pricing Plan They won't comment...
By Jason Gregory on 26 May 2009
YouTube are still locked in talks with the PRS over their decision to ban access to music videos in the UK, despite the music collection society's decision to cut rates on streamed music.
The video-sharing website began making thousands of videos unavailable to users in March after the PRS proposed plans to raise licensing fees.
However, the music collection society today announced a surprise 0.22p rate cut, which means from July firms will have to pay 0.085p per track.
The company said the new pricing scheme would allow the digital market to expand.
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Livenation And Ticketmaster Merger Moves Close To Completion It is expected to be finalised by the autumn...
By Daniel Melia on 13 May 2009
The merger of music industry giants Live Nation and Ticketmaster has taken a step forward - a majority of lenders have given the green light for the deal to go ahead.
Plans for the the concert promoter and the ticketing website to join forces were put into place in February of this year.
The merger would create a ticketing industry super-company in a deal estimated to be worth a staggering $575 million, and has been backed by musicians including Seal, Shakira and Eddie Van Halen.
But before the merger can go ahead, executives at both companies must justify the move to the US's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, the case is currently under consideration.
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The Music Industry Set To Receive 26m Pounds To Help Create New Jobs As part of a new initiative by the UK government...
By Daniel Melia on 11 May 2009
The music industry is set to be given a £26 million windfall by the government to help creates placements for the jobless during the recession.
According to Music Week the music industry will get over half the money with the initial aim of creating 200 placements in the 'festival' sector.
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