Friday, February 22nd, 2008
Daily News: Friday
Web Music Radio Listening Up 26%: “Web-based music radio services generated 4.85 billion total listening hours in 2007, a 26% increase over 2006, according to a report from AccuStream iMedia Research.” (via DMW)
British government threatens legislation over Internet piracy: “Britain will impose legislation on Internet service providers (ISPs) by April 2009 if they do not work with the music and film industries to curb illegal downloading, the government said on Friday” (via Yahoo)
Universal sells Publishing Assets: “Universal Music Group has divested its European publishing rights to Rondor UK, Zomba UK, 19 Music, 19 Songs and the BBC Catalog as part of the conditions under which it would be allowed to purchase BMG Music Publishing, which it bought last year. UMG sold the catalogs to ImageMusic, a joint venture between Dutch pension fund ABP and CP Masters BV, which is an independent music publisher based in the Netherlands. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the New York Post says the price tag is around $150 million.” (via FMQB)
RIAA Sends Next Wave of Pre-Litigation Letters: “The RIAA has sent another wave of pre-litigation settlement letters to universities this week for its member labels. Another 401 letters went to administrators of 12 universities, who were asked to forward them to the individuals associated with certain specified IP addresses. Recipients of the letters have the opportunity to avoid a potential copyright infringement lawsuit by settling out of court for a reduced fee.” (via Billboard)
Thumbplay Signs Distribution Deal With SonyBMG: “NY mobile content firm Thumbplay has inked a distribution deal with Sony BMG, including ringtones, music videos, wallpaper, mobile games, etc.” (via Silicon Valley Insider)
Gimado Secures Fund for Music Search Engine: “Gimado, the operator of a search engine for streaming and downloadable music files, has landed $300,000 in seed funding from an undisclosed investors, Mashable.com reported.” (via DMW)
