Digital Media Wire - Music

Facebook Hits 250 Million Users Worldwide

Mark Hefflinger — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:17:35 -0500

Palo Alto, Calif. - Facebook, which recently passed News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace as the most-visited social network in the U.S., now counts 250 million users, having added 50 million since early April, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a blog post on Wednesday. "The rapid pace of our growth is humbling and exciting for us, and it affirms that people everywhere are realizing the power of staying connected to everything they care about on Facebook," wrote Zuckerberg. "

Guns N' Roses Uploader Gets Probation; Will Star in PSAs

Mark Hefflinger — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:04:15 -0500

Los Angeles - Blogger Kevin Cogill, who was convicted of misdemeanor copyright infringement after admitting to posting tracks from the then-unreleased Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" online, has been sentenced to two months of home confinement and a year of probation, the Associated Press reported. Prosecutors had initially sought a six-month prison term and a fine of $371,000; the maximum sentence for the crime is a year in prison.

Analysis: MySpace - Returning to Entertainment?

Bill Tancer — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:34:04 -0500

I was living vicariously through WSJ's Julia Angwin's Mogul-fest tweets last week (ironically throughout the week she tweeted that several moguls didn't see the future in Twitter). While in Sun Valley, Angwin reported a brief interchange with Murdoch regarding the future direction of MySpace. Murdoch stated that MySpace needed to be re-focused "as an entertainment portal."

Report: Microsoft to Launch Spotify-Like Music Service

Mark Hefflinger — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:07:56 -0500

London - Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) is preparing to launch a streaming music service similar to the popular European ad-supported service Spotify, the Daily Telegraph reports. "We are looking at launching a music streaming service imminently. It will be a similar principle to Spotify but we are still examining how the business model will work," MSN executive producer Peter Bale told the Telegraph.

Report: Spotify to Launch Music Service in U.S. This Summer

Mark Hefflinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:09:21 -0500

London - Spotify, the ad-supported streaming music service available in the U.K. and parts of Europe, plans to launch in the U.S. this summer, co-founder Daniel Ek told Forbes.com. While Spotify, which claims 4 million users in Europe, has deals with labels to offer over 5 million songs where it is available, it has not yet signed any deals with labels for the U.S. In addition to selling ads, Spotify generates revenue through premium subscriptions that strip away ads and offer higher-quality streams -- and also plans to begin selling song downloads.

Coldplay First to Sell 1 Million Digital Albums in U.S.

Mark Hefflinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:07:55 -0500

London - Coldplay has become the first band to sell over 1 million digital albums in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan data. The band's "Viva La Vida" album has sold 1.358 million digital copies in the U.S. Coldplay has to date sold more than 2 million digital copies worldwide of its four studio albums, live album and EP worldwide.

Digital Distributor WaTunes Offers Artists Daily iTunes Data

Mark Hefflinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:02:27 -0500

Detroit - WaTunes, a provider of digital distribution services for independent artists and record labels, on Friday announced the launch of its iTunes Daily Trending Service. For $1.99 per report, artists using WaTunes can receive reports on how their music sales are doing on a day-to-day basis.

MTV to Let Artists Upload Own Songs to "Rock Band" Game

Mark Hefflinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:11:59 -0500

New York - Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) MTV Games plans later this year to launch a service that will let any musical artist upload and submit their songs for possible inclusion in its "Rock Band" music video game, Billboard reported.

PlaySpan Brings Virtual Goods Marketplaces to Social Networks

Mark Hefflinger — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:42:02 -0500

Santa Clara, Calif. - PlaySpan, a provider of micropayment transaction services for more than 1,000 virtual worlds and online games, plans to launch marketplaces on social networks Facebook and MySpace. The marketplaces will allow users to purchase online game items, virtual goods and game currencies. The company also recently announced a partnership with PBS, to sell online gift cards for PBS Kids Play online educational content at 800 Toys 'R' Us Stores.

Grokster CEO Wayne Rosso to Help Pirate Bay Go Legit

Mark Hefflinger — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:19:22 -0500

Stockholm, Sweden - Global Gaming Factory (GGF), the Swedish firm that is acquiring file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay for $7.8 million, has tapped former Grokster CEO Wayne Rosso to help establish a new, legal version of the service, TorrentFreak reported.