Category Archives: digital rights

Middlemen make things worse for songwriters in a digital age

Good article with graphics showing how difficult it is for artists and even more so for songwriters as the legacy model of payment distribution gets slowed down by performing rights organizations. Digital Music News Article

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“No One Wants to Pay for Music…”

Muve Music now has over 600,000 paying subscribers in the US.  The catch is that access to music is only sold as an Android-based mobile package that also includes essentials like voice, texting, and browsing.  Unlimited music is positioned as … Continue reading

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Music subscriptions on the rise: Gartner

Gartner Research  is forecasting a fourfold increase in subscription music revenue over the next four years, with sales of physical music media, including CDs and LPs dropping from $15 billion this year to $10 billion in 2015. By contrast, aggregate sales … Continue reading

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What’s the future of a paid album? An App

Those following Bjork have been introduced to an interactive multi-media experience biophilia which is a customized app for iPad/iPhone. Now comes  eVinyl, an LA-based oufit focused on building a new format for music.  Consider it a mashup of an ebook and … Continue reading

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Mobile subscription music comes to Canada

On Tuesday, Stingray (mobile arm of Montreal’s Galaxie music subscription service for cable) launches a subscription-based streaming music service for mobile phones. Customers can access its 45 audio-only TV channels through an app on Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, … Continue reading

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Google launches “Music Beta”

In a long expected announcement to bring music storage to the cloud, Google has launched a streaming music service. Named “Music Beta by Google,” the service acts as a sort of  “digital locker,” allowing users to store their music in … Continue reading

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New York Times rolls out digital subscriptions

The New York Times, in an attempt to monetize all its platforms (both hard copy and digital) is rolling out a paid subscription model and is using Canada as a testing ground.  Non-subscribers will be allowed to read up to … Continue reading

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Digital Payments Coming to Your Phone

Apple and Android are moving to change how content is bought digitally. Magazine and newspaper companies who charge users to access their premium content through iPhone and iPad apps will now have to use Apple’s In App Purchase API. Also, … Continue reading

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Clicker the next video search engine?

Answering the question “What’s on TV tonight?” made Walter Annenberg, creator of TV Guide, a billionaire. Jim Lanzone, CEO of Clicker, is hoping he can pull a mini-Annenberg by answering the new question on viewers’ minds. “We’re heading into an era … Continue reading

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LimeWire Demands the Takedown of Pirated LimeWires??

After a group of programmers created the ‘LimeWire Pirate Edition’ and placed it onto places like the Pirate Bay, LimeWire itself is demanding its takedown. That is, on grounds of misuse of trademark and intellectual property, as well as the … Continue reading

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Google TV has Broadcast Networks Spooked

Google is showcasing  a new technology that would merge Internet delivery with traditional television. Viewers could watch TV shows and movies uncoupled  from the broadcast networks or cable channels on which they air. Users would need to buy a TV … Continue reading

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Apple + Beatles = no tunes on iTunes

Little has changed in the negotiations between Apple and The Beatles to bring the the Fab Four’s music to the iTunes Store. John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono indicated that there are still roadblocks and that fans should not expect a … Continue reading

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Texts Without Context

Times Article Excerpt: “Who owns the words?â€? Mr. Shields asks in a passage that is itself an unacknowledged reworking of remarks by the cyberpunk author William Gibson. “Who owns the music and the rest of our culture? We do — … Continue reading

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Kindling without the Kindle

In a move similar to Apple using the iPod on Windows users to get people to consider a Mac, Amazon is offering the Kindle app as a free download for Windows desktops, along with free content, plus the ability to … Continue reading

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Hooray! Net pirates to be ‘disconnected’

The UK government has been laying out some of the ways it intends to pursue persistent net pirates. It comes as Lord Mandelson confirmed that he would introduce tough measures against illegal file-sharers. Initially pirates could have download caps imposed … Continue reading

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