Euro Websites Rock Recording Industry

Daniel Ek creating a revolutionary 'music ecosystem': Forbes

(NEWSER) - Ever since Napster, the music industry has been desperate for a fix—and Daniel Ek may have finally found it. The 28-year-old Swedish founder and CEO of Spotify is, according to Forbes , "the most important man in music." His service amounts to a profitable way to give people what they want for free. Its easy-to-use social interface manages to be more attractive than piracy, writes Steven Bertoni. Ek wants Spotify to be to music what Google is to search and Amazon is to retail. It seems to be on its way. More»

Streaming music gets a foothold among listeners

(NEWSER) - The wide world of online music now offers a range of ways to stream your tunes, from pay sites to musical social-networking services. It’s hard to tell which will stick around, but experts say they may help save the music industry, CNN reports. A sampling:

• Napster: It’s back and it’s legal, and for $5 a month, you can stream 7 million songs and download five.

Eagerly awaited projects debut on MySpace—free

(NEWSER) - Fans can get an early online taste—legally—of the latest albums from Guns N’ Roses and Paul McCartney thanks to MySpace, Reuters reports. Members can stream the music free starting today but can't download it. Early reaction to the first GN'R album in 17 years is generally positive; Entertainment Weekly calls it "unapologetically huge music, not fit for tiny iPod earbuds." More»

Social networking site turns to recording labels in effort to broaden appeal

(NEWSER) - MySpace has spent the past few weeks approaching major record labels, trying to hammer out a deal for a new online music service, the Wall Street Journal reports. The deal—tentatively MySpace Music—would likely let users stream unlimited music for free, and buy downloads that could be played on mp3 players, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

Lauryn Hill, Jeff Buckley, and the Sex Pistols make the list

(NEWSER) - It's one way to avoid the sophomore slump: Paste counts down 10 singers or bands whose first album set the music world abuzz and whose official second album simply never materialized: More»