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Spotify Makes US Debut

Digital music service poised to upend business

(Newser) - Europe's hottest digital music service has just made its American debut and some analysts are already saying that the download industry is as good as dead. Spotify has a catalog of 15 million songs which users can stream instead of buy. Users can access Spotify for a small monthly... More »

New Radiohead Album Hits Web Saturday

Band continues to self-release; download available Saturday

(Newser) - Radiohead is rolling out new album The King of Limbs this Saturday in digital format, the Telegraph reports, and it's once again forgoing a trifling thing like a record label. (The band notably self-released 2007's In Rainbows.) Fans eager to hear the album ASAP will have to take advantage... More »

Sarkozy Will Go Halvsies on That Digital Song

France will subsidize downloads, fight piracy

(Newser) - France is launching what Ars Technica thinks is a "novel" approach to steer young people away from musical piracy. It's going to help them pay for legal downloads. The government has earmarked $70 million over the next two years for half-priced download cards usable on a number of online... More »

Mellencamp: Internet Is Like an A-Bomb

Even so, his latest album is available on it

(Newser) - “The Internet is the most dangerous thing invented since the atomic bomb,” according to rocker John Mellencamp. “It's destroyed the music business. It's going to destroy the movie business,” and it could lead “some smart people, the China-Russians or something,” to conquer us by... More »

If You Buy CDs, You're Probably an Oldster

The over-40 set is the mainstay of album sales

(Newser) - These days, if you want to sell CDs, you're best off targeting the over-40 crowd. In a bizarre twist on music industry logic, older buyers have become a relatively potent force in music sales. The reason: "Adults don’t steal, because we don’t know how to," one... More »

Best Buy Noses Into Online Movie Market

Streaming service will come pre-loaded on gadgets

(Newser) - Best Buy has partnered with online provider CinemaNow to develop a movie downloading service that will come preloaded on the bulk of its Internet-capable electronics. The move follows a 13% slump in DVD sales for the year that has had the company casting about for a new revenue stream. It... More »

Libraries Embrace E-Book Lending

Compatibility issues and reticent publishing industry slow progress

(Newser) - More than 1 million e-books books were checked out of libraries this year—25% more than all of last year—as libraries offer more and more digital lending. Borrowers can check the book out online—obviating the trip to the library—and can read them on a computer or Sony... More »

Watch an Ad, Get an MP3 Download: Genius or Goof?

Free All Music is innovative, but still might not work

(Newser) - A new site thinks it has the answer the music industry’s woes: Free All Music will allow users to download a high-quality mp3 with no copy restrictions in exchange for watching a 15-second video ad of their choosing. The site then takes a user’s handle and uses it... More »

Apple Sells 1.5B iPhone Apps in First Year

App Store is the leading retailer of mobile programs

(Newser) - Apple’s App Store has had a pretty good year—since its inception, the store has sold 1.5 billion applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch, making it the leading retailer of mobile applications, CNet reports. Not only has the App Store done well, its success seems to be... More »

Goodies Await as Apple App Store Nears 1B Downloads

(Newser) - Apple has sold 928 million programs to mobile users and plans to celebrate its billionth App Store download by awarding a random customer a huge haul of merchandise, CNET reports. The lucky customer will walk away with a MacBook Pro, a 32GB iPod Touch, and a $10,000 iTunes gift... More »

Clarkson Soars to Top of Charts

New single rocketed from 97th spot in Hot 100

(Newser) - Kelly Clarkson’s new single has jumped from No. 97 to No. 1 , breaking the record held by Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” for the largest leap to the top spot, Billboard reports. “My Life Would Suck Without You” sold 280,000 digital downloads in one week and is climbing... More »

iTunes to Sell Music Without Copy Protection

Prices change: They'll range from $0.69 to $1.29

(Newser) - Apple will remove DRM anti-piracy software from the music it sells on the iTunes store, the New York Times reports. As part of a new deal reached between Apple, Sony BMG, the Universal Music Group and the Warner Music Group, songs will be DRM-free and will be priced differently. New... More »

Hard Day's Night for Beatles iTunes Deal

Apple vs. Apple talks fall through

(Newser) - Don't expect to download Hey Jude any time soon. Negotiations between the Beatles' label, EMI, their holding company, Apple Corps, and Apple Inc. to release the legendary band's hits on iTunes and other internet music services have stalled, reports AP. Bad feelings remain between the two Apples over their long-running... More »

HBO: Coming to a Hard Drive Near You

iTunes will sell shows and movies, but they may be pricey

(Newser) - Apple and HBO are close to an agreement that would let iTunes sell episodes of HBO shows, Portfolio reports. Sources say HBO has cut a good deal—either by breaking iTunes' $1.99 video price ceiling or getting a bigger share of the same rate. But at least one HBO... More »

Amazon MP3 Sales Aren’t Hurting iTunes

New download service taps into unique demographic

(Newser) - Amazon.com’s digital music download store isn’t stealing iTunes customers—the six-month-old service is attracting a new consumer demographic, analysts say. A market research firm found that only 10 percent of Amazon MP3 customers surveyed in February previously bought iTunes music, AppleInsider reports. That’s a “healthy... More »

Amazon Keeps Building on Digital Transformation

Firm develops download stores for books, music and movies

(Newser) - Sales of downloadable digital media continue to gain ground on conventional formats—last week, Apple’s iTunes passed Wal-Mart as top US music seller. Not to be outdone, Amazon.com is rapidly expanding its venues for digital Web delivery, the New York Times reports. This year, the company debuted a... More »

Audio Books Lose Copy Protection

Major publishers' downloads can be played on all devices

(Newser) - Some major book publishers are planning to remove anticopying protections from digital audio books, allowing customers who download them to transfer the files between their computers and portable players. The world’s biggest publisher, Random House, will offer all its audio books as unrestricted MP3s this month, reports the New ... More »

Hollywood Shouldn't Fear the Internet

Viewers will flock to online movie downloads: Economist

(Newser) - Hollywood is ignoring the public's desire to download films at its own peril, the Economist reports. It's no surprise that studios are sticking to their business model, especially with huge DVD profits, but the industry could reap fine earnings from downloads. Meanwhile, pirate sites like the surprisingly spiffy ZML.com... More »

Vicious Bugs Lurk in Digital Photo Frames

Cute photos can be latest back-door way to destroy files

(Newser) - Digital photo frames of the kids on shelves across America are cute and trendy—but they can hide computer heartbreak, warns the San Francisco Chronicle. Destructive bugs can lurk in the software and wipe out entire files as photos are being downloaded. "It was the nastiest virus I've ever... More »

Amazon Will Sell Sony BMG Music Sans Copyright Curbs

Fourth major label to join up

(Newser) - Amazon will sell songs from Sony BMG free of digital rights management, making it the first online music store to offer tunes without copyright enforcement mechanisms from all four of the major labels. Many consumers have long opposed the use of DRM because of its potential to hinder playback on... More »

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