Monday, April 14, 2008

snapshot 4/14/08

Growth in ringback tones energizes mobile market
As the cash cow that was the ringtones market slowly heads to pasture, the music industry is turning to a new mobile stud -- ringback tones. Ringbacks -- the music you hear when you call someone -- represent the only area of significant growth for mobile music-related applications in the last year. The number of mobile subscribers who reported purchasing a ringback tone increased 69% from February 2007 to February 2008, according to data from M:Metrics. By comparison, neither ringtones nor wallpaper images could keep pace with the overall market growth, increasing by only 4.3% and 6.2%, respectively, in the same time frame.


Blockbuster Offers to Buy Circuit City
Blockbuster Inc. said Monday it has offered to pay more than $1 billion for struggling Circuit City Stores Inc., but the nation's second biggest consumer electronics chain questioned whether the movie-rental company can finance the deal.


eMusic Tops 200M Downloads, Strengthens EU Team
eMusic today announced that it has sold more than 200 million downloads since establishing its subscription model 11/03. The total includes downloads sold in the U.S. and E.U., where eMusic has been available 10/06. The company says it is now delivered more than 7 million tracks a month across all territories to subscribers.


Penguin to Launch Ebooks Alongside Regular Releases
The international publisher, Penguin, has decided to hop onto the ebook bandwagon, by promising regular book launches to be held in conjunction with their ebook counterparts. Unfortunately, the prices will not be lowered for the ebook varieties, but Penguin will offer direct downloads from their website.


Report: Unlimited iTunes subscription a myth
Talk of unlimited subscriptions at the iTunes Store is largely unfounded, a new report claims. Yesterday, the Financial Times suggested that Apple has been shopping around the concept of a premium on iPods and iPhones, which would grant users unlimited access to iTunes music; in turn, revenue would be distributed appropriately amongst record labels. Apple is further said to be angling for a $20 premium, while a record label executive has said the amount could go as high as $100, based on research of public opinion.

According to sources cited by Business Week, however, no negotiations are underway. An Apple spokesman has declined to comment, and "insiders at major music labels" have effectively dismissed any rumors. One source does acknowledge that the concept of a subscription plan has been "kicked around" for approximately a year, but that "no meaningful discussions" have taken place so far.


Microsoft plans mobile Zune store, third-gen player
Microsoft is planning to launch a mobile Zune portal sometime in 2009, according to the French newspaper Les Echos. The site would extend the reach of the company's iTunes rival, the Zune Marketplace, and allow users to download games and music directly to various platforms, including computers, Windows Mobile devices and for the first time, Zune players themselves. While Zunes have always come equipped with a Wi-Fi module, they have never had Internet access, a prominent feature on Apple's competing iPod touch.


Puretracks hits DRM-free mobile music fray
Puretracks, with labels Universal, Sony BMG, Warner, EMI, and various independents under its belt, is offering a new DRM-free mobile music store and service for BlackBerry smartphones from Research In Motion (RIM). As the latest company to take a stab at Apple's music download dominance, the new music service competes directly with Apple's WiFi iTunes store for the iPhone and iPod Touch and will work with the BlackBerry Pearl, BlackBerry Curve and BlackBerry 8800 series smartphones. Using compressed DRM-free AAC/AAC+ file formats, Puretracks Mobile Edition will be unveiled March 12 at the South By Southwest (SXSW) event in Austin, Texas. A full version of the mobile music service is expected to launch at CTIA Wireless April 1.

The new mobile music store, which will debut in the United States with future roll-out plans slated for Canada and other markets, will feature a "broad selection of songs from top mainstream and independent artists." The company says it is planning to implement support for Wi-Fi capable handsets, enabling BlackBerry smartphone users to download MP3 files over Wi-Fi connections, in the future.

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