Sep 03
Los Angeles - Deutsche Telekom's exclusive carrier agreement for its T-Mobile to distribute Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPhone in Germany is close to expiring, and has not been renewed, The Wall Street Journal reported. Apple is said to be in talks with rivals Vodafone and O2, with deals expected to be in place so that those carriers will begin selling the iPhone by the fall.

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Article first published by Digital Media Wire - Music

Sep 03
London - Mobile music identification service Shazam on Friday announced feature updates for its iPhone and iPod touch application, which include support for app multi-tasking, and optimization for retina display on the iPhone 4. The app also features improved artist information, a "Discover" tab, and greater video integration with YouTube. Shazam also announced a new$4.99 "lifetime" subscription tier for its premium app, which otherwise is $2.99 per year.

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Article first published by Digital Media Wire - Music

Sep 03
Mountain View, Calif. - Google (NASD: GOOG) hopes to launch its planned music service as early as December, and the company's vice president of engineering Andy Rubin is leading licensing talks with the major labels on the download store and cloud-based locker service, Reuters reported, citing sources.

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Article first published by Digital Media Wire - Music

Sep 03
In general, the standard iTunes and Amazon MP3 album prices are less than what you'd pay for physical CDs at most retailers, with the exception of "loss leader" pricing at big box stores. And eMusic prices are even lower. But as many have noted, your best bet for picking up cheap digital music is used CDs.

I was reminded of this when my friend Michael posted a picture and list on Facebook of his sweet haul from Reckless Records in Chicago:

a stack of used CDs

The Assembly - Paranoia Will Destroy Ya $.49
Catherine Wheel - Chrome $.49
Jimi Hendrix - The Ultimate Experience $1.99
Blur - Think Tank $.99
The Juliana Hatfield Three - Become What You Are $.49
S.O.D. - Speak English Or Die $1.99
The Smoking Popes - Get Fired $1.99
The Patsy Cline Story - $1.99
Van Halen - Best of Volume 1 $.99
Black Sabbath - Paranoid $1.99
Kiss - Destroyer $1.99
The White Stripes - Elephant $1.99
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm $1.99
Beck - Sea Change $1.99
Mellow - Another Mellow Spring $.49
Office - A Night At the Ritz - $.99
Go Go's - Greatest $.49
Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits $1.99
R.E.M. - Dead Letter Office $.99
Hole - Live Through This $.99
Primal Scream - Give Out But Don't Give Up $.99
Blur - 13 $.99
Matthew Sweet - In Reverse $.99
Sure, it's crapshoot as to what you'll discover on any given visit to a used CD store (though you can always find this Jesus Jones release), but my guess is that almost all of these titles would reach the top of the Amazon MP3 chart if offered as daily specials at the above prices.

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Article first published by Digital Audio Insider

Sep 03

Ticketing and social marketing startup Ticketfly has announced a deal with Transmogrify to make custom mobile apps for venues and live promoters. The apps let users see who’s playing and share details of their gig plans with friends on social networks. Ticketfly says it’s already released three apps for venues in the US, with seven more coming soon, including apps for the Hollywood Troubador. “Mainstream smartphone adoption is changing the way people surf the web, so we’re arming our clients to dominate this entirely new app market,” says Ticketfly co-CEO Dan Teree.

Article first published by Music Ally

Sep 03

image from www.appscout.com According to multiple sources, Google is in final stage talks with labels to open a download store and a cloud based song locker that would allow mobile users to play songs wherever they are. Google hopes to open its new music service before Christmas. Some label executives believe that Google Music will become the first real competitor to iTunes.

"Finally here's an entity with the reach, resources and wherewithal to take on iTunes as a formidable competitor by tying it into search and Android mobile platform," a label executive who asked not to be identified told Reuters. "What you'll have is a very powerful player in the market that's good for the music business."

But before the industry gets too excited about Steve Jobs finally having competition, they should remember that Amazon has massive reach as well, and they've barely managed to make a dent in iTune's sales numbers.  Still Google has repeatedly shown its ability to compete in categories dominated by established players.

"If they get it right, it will hasten the transition by consumers from music you have to own to music you need ubiquitous access to," says Ted Cohen, the former EMI digital executive who runs TAG Strategic Partners.


Article first published by hypebot

Sep 03

image from musicmachinery.files.wordpress.com The Echo Nest and digital distributor 7digital have formed a partnership to offer developers access to The Echo Nest's music intelligence APIs and 7digital's 10M track catalog in 32 territories across Europe and North America. Developers can  create retail music websites and apps that tap into the Echonest API for artist and song similarity, song attributes (tempo, key, etc.) and news feeds along with 7digital's album art and song previews.  


image from www.thetechherald.com The two companies will unveil the new developer offering at the London Music Hack Day, to be held September 4 and 5 at the Guardian offices in London.  "The driving ethos behind the 7digital API is to provide developers with an open platform that allows experimentation and the creation of exciting new music and entertainment services." said Ben Drury, 7digital CEO.

"Application developers are the future of the music business."  added Jim Lucchese, CEO of The Echo Nest. "This partnership makes it much easier for a talented developer to go from a great idea to a fully-licensed commercial music application."


Article first published by hypebot

Sep 03
PC World - It's the kind of ironic story that news editors find irresistible. Apple makes big announcement about a social network for music lovers. When music lovers go hunting for the service, they end up in some Internet backwater. They like what they find there and the little guy gets a boost in business thanks to the big guy's big marketing budget.

Article first published by Yahoo! News: Digital Music

Sep 03
PC World - Behold the King of music, circa 2010. We aren't talking about Elvis here. Apple's iPod still reigns supreme. And judging from the impressive new crop of iPods announced this week along with an update to iTunes, Apple 's dominance of the digital music world seems solid -- at least for now.

Article first published by Yahoo! News: Digital Music

Sep 03
Mashable - Apple this week launched Ping, a new social network that runs within the iTunes software.

Article first published by Yahoo! News: Digital Music

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