snapshot 6/6/08

Paying for free content
This, of course, is what a lot of folks--whether as a way to justify music piracy or otherwise--have been saying for years about the business model for music. It's (supposedly) OK if you can't sell a lot of CDs (or iTunes downloads) any longer. Krugman notes that, according to a recent Rolling Stone article: "Downloads are steadily undermining record sales — but today’s rock bands, the magazine reports, are finding other sources of income. Even if record sales are modest, bands can convert airplay and YouTube views into financial success indirectly, making money through 'publishing, touring, merchandising and licensing'."


Sony Completes Acquisition Of Gracenote
Sony has completed its acquisition of Gracenote formerly known as CDDB. Gracenote’s existing business will continue to operate separately, and Gracenote will continue to develop new technologies in existing as well as new areas of operation. The senior management team will remain with the company. Gracenote powers leading services including Apple iTunes, Yahoo! Music Jukebox, Winamp; home and automotive products from Alpine, Panasonic, Philips and Sony; and mobile music applications from Samsung, Sony Ericsson, KDDI, KTF, Musiwave, and others.


Coldplay's new Capitol album Viva La Vida
which will be released June 17 is the #1 pre-order in iTunes history. Insiders feel it's a lock to beat the 140k first-week sales record set by Jack Johnson's Brushfire/ Universal Republic album, Sleep Through the Static, set in February. (HITS via EMI)


Tunecore Cuts Some Fees
Starting June 20th, flat rate digital distributor TuneCore will deliver a single track into any 11 digital stores of the customer's choice for a flat rate of $9.99. Current stores include: iTunes US, iTunes Canada, iTunes Japan, iTunes Australia/New Zealand, iTunes UK/Europe, AmazonMP3, eMusic, Napster, Rhapsody, LaLa, and Groupie Tunes. Shockhound and Amie Street will be added in the near future.


Warner Music Group pulls catalog from Last.fm
Warner Music Group has pulled its entire catalog from Last.fm, a company spokeswoman confirmed Friday. Warner Music would not comment on the reason for leaving Last.fm, but the label's departure is certainly a setback for the social-networking site. Warner was the first of the major labels to do a deal with Last.fm.

Last.fm offers an on-demand streaming service that's free to members but has been seriously hamstrung by limits placed on song playback. At rival Imeem, users can listen to free streaming music as many times as they want. Silicon Alley Insider reports that Warner Music licensed its music to Last.fm on a month-to-month basis and hasn't renewed it.