snapshot 6/16/08

Digital challengers to MP3 format face high hurdles
Much like the Dvorak keyboard, new digital music formats pose a challenge even as they offer solutions. The Motion Pictures Experts Group, otherwise known as MPEG, will meet this month in Germany to consider making a new digital audio format called MT9 an international standard. Developed by the South Korean company Audizen, the MT9 format -- commercially known as Music 2.0 -- splits an audio file into six channels, such as vocals, guitar, bass and so on. Users playing the track can then raise or lower the volume on the different channels like a producer on a mixing board, to the point of isolating a single item.

From a technical perspective, replacing MP3 with a new digital music standard would be rather easy. Digital retailers in a matter of months could refresh their entire database with music containing the new format -- just as Napster and Wal-Mart quickly switched from digital rights management to non-DRM formats.


Stones move rocks Terra Firma
The Rolling Stones are on the verge of ending their 31-year relationship with EMI, dealing a blow to private equity owner Terra Firma, led by Guy Hands, which acquired the label in a £3.2bn deal last summer. Sources say the group is close to clinching a deal with Live Nation, the world's largest concert promotion firm, which would market its back catalogue, depriving EMI of around £3m a year. Live Nation, which last year poached Madonna from Warner, would also take highly profitable merchandising and touring rights for future Stones shows, some of which have grossed as much as £750m.


Average Teen Stores 842 Stolen Tracks on their iPod
In a recent study by British Music Rights, 14- to 24-year-olds were polled as to how much stolen music they carried around on a daily basis. The finding was that almost half of said music was never purchased. 842 of the 1,770 tracks held on the average digital music player were reported as stolen—that's 48 percent.


First look: Songbird 0.6 open source media player
The open source Songbird music player took a big step forward on Friday with the official release of version 0.6, which significantly improves performance, augments support for media player devices, and reduces the program's memory footprint. Another noteworthy new feature is support for editing music metadata.


ENTERTAINMENT; Studios editing video strategy; Some are testing offering online and cable rentals on the same day as DVD releases to boost sales.
As one of their most lucrative sources of revenue stagnates, several Hollywood studios are considering something that would have been unthinkable even two years ago: renting films to cable subscribers and Internet users on the same day they're released on DVD. And in an even bigger change, some Hollywood studios now want to open a new "window" -- offering high-definition versions of movies for rental viewing in the home ahead of their DVD release -- if the Federal Communications Commission grants cable and satellite companies permission to block in-home copying.


AOL Turns the iPhone into an Expensive Radio
Buy an Apple iPhone and download the new AOL Radio application. It will connect to AOL’s servers by way of the cellular network. The phone’s GPS system will monitor signals from satellites orbiting 12,000 miles in space in order to determine your location. This will automatically determine your location and tune to the digital stream from the nearest CBS station. AOL Radio on the iPhone will be free to users, with audio advertising inserted in the radio streams. There may be graphic ads in the application later.


The Bargain Bump
When Amazon.com MP3 began running its daily "blue light special," I assumed it would feature older, back-catalog titles. But some of the bargain albums are recent, big-name releases -- today it's Madonna's Hard Candy album for $3.99.I'd love to find out exactly what kind of bounce Amazon.com is getting with these daily specials, though it seems pretty clear that the reduced price is moving some additional units: As of this afternoon, the album is #7 on Amazon's top mp3 albums chart, but it's only in the #50 spot over at the iTunes store... UPDATE: As of Thursday morning, it's #1, and still priced at $3.99.


Pearl Jam offers streaming 'bootlegs'
Pearl Jam, a band with a reputation for delivering great live performances, is offering to sell "bootleg" recordings of the group's concert shows. Fans can go to Pearljam.com and purchase streaming downloads or burn-to-order CDs of each of the band's performances during its 2008 concert tour, which launched last week in Florida. Internap is overseeing the audio streaming. Each concert performance will sell for $9.99 (MP3) and $14.99 (FLAC) and be made available two weeks after the performance. … Pearl Jam is offering the music free of digital rights management. This means fans can burn the songs to disc or transfer them to their digital music players.


Sony BMG Downloads Still Missing at Wal-Mart...
Sony BMG and Wal-Mart remain at an impasse over paid downloads, months after disagreements first surfaced. Downloads from artists like Alicia Keys, Sean Kingston, and Sara Bareilles are still "not available for download," according to checks this weekend. The gap follows a shift by the mega-retailer towards an MP3-only marketplace, a move that initially cause licensing delays with Warner Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment.