Friday, February 29th, 2008
Daily News: Friday
TuneCore Goes Physical: “On Thursday, the company revealed plans to offer a physical sales solution starting April 1st. The concept does not involve brick-n-mortar, though it does involve widget-based stores containing CDs, according to details shared with Digital Music News.The portable store can be planted into any website, blog, or social networking profile. Artists control pricing, album positioning, artwork, and other details, and TuneCore will ship orders. Artists must pay a flat fee for the first year, according to the company. ” (via DMN)
UK-Filesharers petition against “three strikes” legislation: “A petition urging the Prime Minister not to introduce “three strikes” legislation against illegal filesharing has made its debut on the 10 Downing Street website. In their campaign for digital freedoms, peer to peer users are demanding that the government doesn’t force the issue. But ironically, they are inadvertently wishing themselves a world where their online activities are governed by an opaque industry settlement, negotiated in secret.” (via The Register)
Managers Demand a Piece of The Pie: “Universal Music, Warner Music and EMI - either collectively or individually - settled claims with Napster, Kazaa and Bolt.com. Napster alone had to cough up $270 million. “Artist managers and lawyers have been wondering for months when their artists will see money from the copyright settlements and how it will be accounted for,” said lawyer John Branca, who has represented Korn, Don Henley, and The Rolling Stones, among others.” (via NY Post)
Ticketmaster, Cablevision & AEG: “Multiple sources confirm to Billboard.biz that a deal is imminent for a partnership of Ticketmaster and Madison Square Garden Entertainment owner Cablevision to acquire about 49% of AEG Live, the live entertainment arm of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG).” (via Billboard)
Rapino on poassible AEG Deal: “If those rumors are true and there’s investments made into a competitor like AEG, for one it validates the frenzy around the live business,” Rapino said today (Feb. 28) during an investor’s conference call. “Everybody wants to figure out how to get control of that content and ticket to build upon their business model.” (via Billboard)
Universal Music Acquires Univision Music: “Universal Music Group is now acquiring Univision Music Group, a stealthy stab into the Latino market. The purchase increases an already commanding Universal Music market share, and diversifies the repertoire tremendously. Univision Music Group, which commands more than 30 percent of the Latino music market, is the umbrella for labels Fonovisa, Disa and Univision. The deal was sealed for between $100 million and $150 million, according to estimates, though neither party disclosed financial terms.” (via DMN)
