Orange UK has teamed up with Universal Music Group and Channel 4 to launch a new unlimited mobile music service called Monkey.
However, it’s not downloads like Nokia’s Comes With Music, and it’s not streaming over the network like Spotify. Its 16-24 year-old target demographic will access the music via voice call.
It’s worth digging into the [...]

What happens when albums get smartly bundled with interactive extras, instead of positioned as one-off, flat downloads?  Good question for a recording industry still reeling from the implosion of its once-prized physical bundle, the CD-based album.  But according to a report surfacing Sunday in the Financial Times, Apple and the majors are discussing the possibility [...]

EU streaming service Spotify is planning a late summer U.S. launch.
Hypebot’s exclusive interview with Amanda Palmer.

CEO Ian Rogers answers Topspin’s skeptics.
Essay: “The Artist As A Startup & Label As A Venture Fund” and A2IM President Rich Bengloff shares the indlie label viewpoint.
EMI reshuffles it’s digital executives.
Kazaa relaunches as “The Future Of Digital Music”. It’s not.
[...]

Planet Cazmo, a virtual world for tweens and teens, has partnered with music industry veteran Tommy Mottola to expand its  Virtual Concert Series and other music and branded content initiatives. Monetization is one the goals of the partnership as they work to bring celebrity content into the virtual world in the form of virtual goods [...]

   
Digital distributor INgrooves can now offer Topspin’s technology-driven direct-to-fan marketing, management and distribution platform to is artists and labels. This is the first enterprise marketing services deal with a digital distributor for Topspin and will provide another way for INgrooves’s artists and labels to maximize sales.
The partnership expands the suite of services that INgrooves [...]

Based on Nielsen SoundScan data, Coldplay is the first artist to sell more than 1 million full digital albums in the United States. The band has sold 1.358 million digital albums here and label EMI reports global sales total two million digital albums.
Coldplay has a history of setting digital sales records. Viva La Vida (Capitol), [...]

TechCrunch dominated The Hype Machine’s new chart with a single tweet.
Facebook hits 250 million users andkeeps growing.
Rhino’s Digital 45: A new format worth copying.
Pandora gets snother $35 Million in funding.
EMI appears on the edge of a financial meltdown along with the Citibank which holds most of its loans. But a major bond issue [...]

The Rock Band Network Gives Artists and Record Labels Tools to Author, Promote and Sell Music for Download via the Rock Band Platform

 
 
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and NEW YORK, July 17 /PRNewswire/ — Harmonix Music Systems and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), today announced the Rock Band Network, a ground-breaking initiative [...]

And not just those games either – ANY console games that allow players to buy music downloads. The UK’s Official Charts Company says it wants to include these sales in its Official Download Chart alongside sales from more traditional digital retailers.
The OCC says it’s in discussions with game publishers and record labels to make this [...]

Still need proof of the power of  free? Or maybe you just want to be sure it’s not going to cannibalize your opportunity to make a little money? Wired Editor Chris Andersen’s book Free: The Future of a Radical Price comes out this week and the debate is certain to heat up.  But in the [...]