snapshot 7/1/08

Nokia signs Warner to music deal
The world's top cellphone maker Nokia signed a deal with Warner Music Group to make Warner titles available through its "Comes With Music" service and Nokia music store, Nokia said on Tuesday. Nokia struck a deal with Universal in December and Sony BMG in April to offer tracks from their labels on the music service, to be launched in the second half of this year.

"Comes With Music" from Nokia, the first cellphone maker to push heavily into content, would differ from other packages on the market as users can keep all the music they have downloaded during the 12 months. Having the three largest music labels on board looks set to help Nokia attract smaller music companies and challenge the dominant pay-per-track sales model for digital music.


Rhapsody's DRM-free music store offers little to excite
Of course, the fact that Rhapsody MP3 works pretty much as expected in most ways isn't necessarily a good thing—there's little that separates out Rhapsody's new offering from any of the other MP3 stores that have opened up in recent months. What's the difference between, say, Rhapsody MP3 and Napster MP3? At least some of the others have distinctive features—Amie Street has a unique pricing model and focuses fiercely on indie bands, and Amazon MP3 offers the largest selection of DRM-free music online. What, exactly, is Rhapsody doing to stand out?


Neil Young’s answer to iTunes
Young let slip that he is now talking to record companies about licensing an alternative digital platform that he has been working on - something , he claimed, of far higher quality that could provide an alternative to the privacy-prone download world, and perhaps even a new business model for music.

The technology behind this was first shown off last month at Sun’s JavaOne conference (we blogged about it here.) Young, who is something of a techie, has spent 15 years experimenting with different technologies to assemble a complete archive of his career. He is now finally ready to release the first multi-media instalment. It will come out on Blu-ray discs, with the capability of adding extra content in future through downloads.


NARM Calls For Fixed Release Dates
NARM has issued a strong call for common release dates across digital and physical retailers in an attempt to protect its core brick and mortar membership. But digital pre-releases and online promotions are now a core promo strategy and it's doubtful they can reverse the trend.