snapshot 8/1/07

EMI Finally Agrees To Takeover; Terra Firma Plans Online Acceleration
Private equity group Terra Firma's £2.4 billion ($4.8 billion) offer for London-based EMI will finally go ahead after the required number of shareholders voted in favor of the deal. After flirtation from Warner Music Group (WMG), EMI accepted the 265p-per-share ($5.17) offer in May, when it also posted an annual net loss of £288.5 million ($584 million). Only a small number of shareholders had accepted the offer while EMI awaited a counter-bid from WMG, forcing Terra Firma to push back the acceptance deadline repeatedly. But Warner finally ruled itself out last month, and today shareholder acceptances scraped through the 90 percent threshold by 0.27 percent.


EMI, Mixalbum.com Forge Deal
EMI Music has struck an agreement to deliver DRM-free, a la carte downloads to a new online DJ-mixing service, Mixalbum.com. Through the agreement, unveiled today, EMI will make available DRM-free dance content through its Positiva dance imprint and other labels. The new online business -- described by EMI as "groundbreaking" -- enables consumers to create their own beat-mixed compilation albums. Users are enabled to create unlimited personalised mixes, and copy them to CD or portable music player.


Digital-Music Holdout AC/DC Spurns iTunes, Signs With Verizon
AC/DC, one of the last high-profile holdouts in the digital-music era, is finally making its 17-album catalog available to online music buyers. But in a twist that highlights shifting power dynamics in the world of digital music retailing, the Australian rockers are making the music available only through Verizon Wireless for the next eight months. The decision to go with a mobile carrier, rather than Apple Inc.'s powerhouse iTunes Store, is the latest instance of an attempt by a record label to shift some leverage to iTunes' competitors.

Verizon isn't selling the bulk of the AC/DC catalog as wireless "over-the-air" downloads straight to a cellphone. Instead, it is for sale through the company's online digital-music store, where the music must be downloaded to a computer and then transferred to a phone. With the exception of one song, "You Shook Me All Night Long," the music is for sale only in the form of complete albums, not individual song downloads. Each album costs $11.99 to download; Amazon.com Inc. sells the band's "Back in Black" CD for $9.97.


Facebook Dims Spotlight on Free-Range MP3s
Facebook completely removed the Audio music-sharing application from its platform last night, saying it violated music copyrights.


Earnings: RealNetworks Q2 Profits Fall 96.7 Percent, While Revs Rise 52 Percent
Music revenue was $36.8 million, a 22 percent rise over last year. Rob Glaser, RealNetworks’ chairman and CEO, began the company’s conference call with investors and analysts by discussing the company’s recent global mobile moves. He also discussed the company’s mobile music delivery strategies, which is heavily based on positioning itself against Apple’s iPhone.


RealNetworks Claims Top Slot Among Subscription Services
Subscription-based music services may never live up to their lofty expectations, despite continued support from a number of companies. The concept appeals to a certain demographic, though overall tallies remain modest. Just recently, Napster disclosed subscriber totals of 830,000, though an upcoming earnings release will probably bump that number. Others, like Yahoo Music Unlimited and the recently-launched Zune Marketplace, have not released totals. Most recently, RealNetworks touted a tally of 2.7 million, up 1.63 million from last year, though that figure combines premium radio and Rhapsody subscribers.

Despite the foggy math, RealNetworks is now claiming the top slot among its subscription peers, and a second-place ranking within the larger space. During a second quarter financial review on Tuesday, the company pointed to a "commanding lead over Napster, Yahoo and Zune based on both revenue and overall subscriber numbers," and a "status as the second-largest player in the overall digital music market."


Movielink, Target join for 300 promotion
http://www.contentagenda.com/article/CA6464649.html?nid=3038
Movie download site Movielink is offering a free download of battle flick 300 to consumers who buy the deluxe edition DVD in Target stores as part of a promotion for the Warner Home Video release, which streets today.

Target is promoting the partnership with stickering on the DVD, and Movielink sent an e-mail to customers telling them to “Double the Power of 300” by buying the disc in Target stores to receive the free download. Movielink also will give Target buyers the free 22-minute behind-the-scenes feature “Making of 300,” which isn’t included on the DVD. Movielink execs declined to talk about the promotion, but sources called it a “test run” for both companies to see if tying the download with the DVD boosts sales.


Apple Hints at Ad-Subsidized iTunes
Music Ally went through Apple's testimonial at the UK Copyright Tribunal's decision on online royalty rates, and discovered a quote from iTunes VP Eddie Cue:
The placement of third-party advertising at the start, end or during actual delivery of a Repertoire Work to a customer by way of a permanent download.

Tech Digest adds some observations:
Meanwhile, the QC overseeing the Tribunal decision, Judge Fysh, is quoted as saying "iTunes may well carry advertising in the future—hence their interest in these applications."


Pandora Launches Facebook Widget
Streaming radio pioneer Pandora quietly unveiled a Facebook application today that allows users to embed the service onto their profile pages. It's not yet available in Facebook's directory of applications, but you can access it directly here.


College Students Head to Internet U.
* 95% own a mobile phone
* 78% sent a text message in the past week
* 75% own a music player, such as an iPod
* 55% own a video game device

"Basically, [college students] are always online," Steve Jones of the Pew Internet & American Life Project told USA Today. "It's so integrated into other routines, it's no longer an activity unto itself."