snapshot 5/30/08

BurnLounge Burnt? Few Signs of Life Remain
The once-promising BurnLounge now appears totally dead, the result of an unsuccessful model and an ongoing federal investigation. Late last year, sources pointed Digital Music News to an impending shutdown and serious layoffs. Now, a visit to burnlounge.com produces a page that simply states, "this account has been suspended," a sign of things gone wrong.

The BurnLounge model empowered members to sell downloads in a highly-decentralized way. After paying various sign-up and account fees, sellers started selling paid downloads while keeping a percentage of the final sale. The model was designed to push paid downloads into every nook-and-cranny of the internet, though the company derived most of its revenues from sign-up and account fees, not download payments.

That caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission, which started investigating BurnLounge on charges of creating a pyramid scheme. The company ultimately forged a cooperative agreement, one that called for serious modifications to the model. Eventually, the destination was shuttered, though it remains unclear exactly when operations were terminated.


Sony's Stringer: The Vanishing Album Is an Issue
Consumers prefer singles, mostly from illegal channels. But even on paid platforms like the iTunes Store, a-la-carte downloads trump album purchases. The shift is old news, though labels remain unable to replace the once-powerful album bundle. "The problem with the iPod model is it is a singles model, and the album stands for a body of work," commented Sony chief executive Howard Stringer at D6, a tech-focused conference hosted by the Wall Street Journal. "The vanishing album is an issue I worry about, but maybe I am old," Stringer continued, according to notes shared by paidContent.


EMI says yes to music on the go
EMI has opened up its catalogue to the airport market by allowing music from its artists to be sold in MEDIAnywhere's download kiosks. The kiosks, designed by British company MEDIAnywhere for use in airports, allow consumers to plug in their digital music device and download music on the spot. The first of these kiosks to open are situated in Fiumicino airport in Rome. However, MEDIAnywhere expects to open another 350 kiosks in 26 European airports within the next two years.

The company has invested more than $5m (£2.5m) in the design and marketing of the kiosks, which have touch screens and easy to use interfaces. "The MEDIAnywhere kiosks are a fantastically convenient and compellingly simple way for music lovers to get the music they want when they are out and about, without the need to be at their PC," says EMI Music UK head of digital sales Graeme Rogan.


Mötley Crüe Song Sells More on Xbox Than On iTunes
Now the rock band Mötley Crüe (yes, they are still alive) is getting in on the action as well. They released a single from their latest album, Saints of Los Angeles, both in the video game Rock Band and as download on iTunes, Amazon and elsewhere. In the first week that the digital single was available for sale (the physical album won’t be released until June 24), it was downloaded 47,000 times on the Xbox alone compared to 10,000 times on iTunes and other digital download stores on the Web.