snapshot 6/17/08

Last.fm strikes Universal Music video deal
Last.fm added more than 12,000 full-length music videos to its site today following a deal with Universal Music covering the group's artists including Amy Winehouse, Jay-Z, Nirvana and Kanye West.


Swift Plans Wal-Mart Package
The Wal-Mart exclusives continue with a special release by country star Taylor Swift on July 15. Beautiful Eyes will be a CD/DVD package that will be displayed not only in the music section but also on a custom L.e.i. Jeans promotional display in the clothing section of stores. Earlier this year Swift signed an endorsement deal with Jones Apparel Group to be the face of the back-to-school advertising campaign for L.e.i., a Wal-Mart exclusive brand. The CD will have two exclusive songs and a number of new versions of previously released songs. The title is currently available for pre-order at the Wal-Mart website for $11.88.


Bertelsmann invests in ImageSpan’s technology for automating royalty payments
ImageSpan hopes to make a mint by counting up the pennies that artists and media companies are owed every time someone downloads a song or plays a video over the internet. One of the nightmares of the digital age is how to track what an artist is owed by all of the people who use that artist’s work online. Currently, that problem of tracking usage and royalties is solved using an army of attorneys. It often takes a year to settle the books.

Now, Sausalito, Calif.-based ImageSpan promises to automate that process so that royalties can be calculated in seconds instead of a year using internet standards such as XML to track content usage. Its product, LicenseStream Creator, is available for a subscription of $40 a year; a pro version is $99. The improvement in efficiency explains why one of the world’s biggest media companies, Bertelsmann, has led an $11 million second round of investment in ImageSpan.


Dealzmodo: Amazon MP3 Albums For $1.99 (Starting With Coldplay)
Amazon is launching a pair of new discounts for their MP3 album downloads, ''Daily Deals'' and "Friday Five." Daily Deals are deeply discounted albums—today that deal is Coldplay's X&Y for just $1.99. And Friday Five are five albums discounted to $5 every Friday through the weekend. If you're looking to (legally) expand your MP3 collection, these cheap Amazon tracks seem like a pretty good way.


eMusic Raising Subscription Rates; Entry Level Affected
eMusic is now raising rates on its entry-level subscription tier, according to details shared by the company. The online music store bundles a pre-set number of downloads into various monthly packages, a cross between a-la-carte and subscription offerings. A formal announcement will be shared with existing subscribers later this morning, and changes go into effect July 17th. Newer subscribers will experience the elevated rate immediately, according to plans revealed to Digital Music News. The changes specifically affect eMusic Basic, a first-level plan that currently offers 30 monthly downloads for $9.99. That price point will move to $11.99, though existing subscribers will be given an extra 10 downloads per month to soften the blow. For some Basic subscribers, the modified package translates into a monthly allocation of 50 downloads for $11.99.

Discussing the changes, eMusic chief executive David Pakman pointed to continued improvements and steady pricing. "It's been about five years since we bought the business and changed the pricing last," Pakman told Digital Music News. That period witnessed the addition of millions of tracks and a major editorial overhaul.


Tuesday Odds and Ends
If you were wondering how Lala.com was going to handle 10-cent credit card transactions -- it won't. I just did the 79-cent upgrade from a "web song" to an mp3 file (for the lead-off track on this album) and saw the following message:

About your Lala walletIt wouldn't make sense to charge your credit card for every 10¢ purchase, so we ask that you add funds to your wallet in dollar amounts of your choice. This enables you to then continue to easily add web songs with a single click. The funds you add to your wallet can also be applied towards the purchase of web albums and MP3s. We will never add funds to your wallet without asking you first.