MySpace and Record Companies Create Music Site

As part of the deal, MySpace will spin out its popular MySpace Music service as an independent joint venture in partnership with Universal Music, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group. EMI, the fourth major label, is not a part of the deal at this time, but people involved in the negotiations said it would probably join soon. The music companies will own minority stakes in the venture and will make their entire music catalogs available. (NY Times, LA Times, Financial Times, Business Week, Billboard, AP, PaidContent, PR)

3 UK launches first commercial ad-funded music video service

Mobile operator 3 UK today announced the launch of the first ad supported, commercial mobile music video service in conjunction with Sony BMG Music Entertainment (UK). The service, powered by Rhythm NewMedia, is available to all 3 UK customers and is accessed through 3's music homepage. The new Sony BMG video collection is the latest addition to 3's existing free mobile video service. The service is offered to customers with no data charges and is supported by short, targeted video ads. (PR)

SpiralFrog™ Signs Agreement with Warner/Chappell Music

SpiralFrog, the free ad-supported, Web-based music experience, and Warner/Chappell Music, the global music publishing arm of Warner Music Group Corp., announced an agreement to make the company’s catalog of music compositions available to complement SpiralFrog’s growing roster of audio and video content. (PR)

Orange Announces Ad-Funded Content Trial For 800,000 Mobile Users In The UK

Orange announced the launch of a new advertisement-supported content trial on its mobile internet platform, Orange World. The move will see 800,000 of Orange’s 15.6 million mobile customers given the option to download a variety of music content, from four different genres (Urban, Pop, Rock, Dance) to their mobile handsets for free, or a discounted rate, making it the largest trial of its kind in the UK. (PR)

Shaking Off Larger Economic Woes, Online Ad Spend To Rise 23 Percent In ‘08

The economy may be faltering, but that will not prevent online advertising from continuing to grow a healthy 23 percent this year, according to the latest eMarketer report. However, eMarketer’s latest report, which projects online ad spending of $25.9 billion compared to 2007’s $21.1 billion, represents a significant revision downward from the researcher’s November forecast of 28.5 percent growth for 2008. (PaidContent)

Samsung, Adidas take on iPod, Nike

Samsung Electronics and Adidas have joined the race against Apple and Nike to offer people a device that plays music and keeps track of workouts. The main differences between the two systems are that the Samsung model is also a mobile phone, while the Apple one is just a music player. One key detail for avid runners is that the Samsung/Adidas system does not tie a user to a specific brand of shoe like the Nike+iPod system does. (Washington Post, Information Week, IB Times)

Despite popularity, advertisers shun user-generated video in favor of professional productions

Although more money is going to online video advertising, relatively little of that is subsidizing user-generated video -- the short, often-wacky clips from amateurs. Many advertisers, for now, are staying away for fear their ads could inadvertently appear with clips that have nudity, foul language or perhaps criticism of their brand. The resistance means missed revenue opportunities for millions of hours of online video views. (AP)

Paolo Nutini backs Puma brand

The Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini and the sportswear brand Puma are the first to be brought together by a new Warner Music International division formed as part of the drive to find alternative revenue streams as CD sales decline and digital downloads fail to plug the gap. (The Guardian)

Microsoft Pitches Merger Vision to Yahoo at Meeting

Senior executives from Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. met Monday to discuss Microsoft's takeover offer for the Internet company, according to people familiar with the matter. Still, the meeting wasn't a negotiation, and no bankers attended, these people said. The session was intended to allow Microsoft to present its vision of a combined company, and Yahoo executives mostly listened, one of the people said. No further talks have been scheduled. (Wall Street Journal, AP)

Hollywood Tests Tolerance For Ads With Online Video

Watching video online has typically entailed viewing short snippets of celebrity news, music videos and homemade clips. But as streaming video becomes more popular, Hollywood is trying to figure out how to make its old business translate better online. (Washington Post)

Free Music, Big Money

What does the music industry do now that customers won't pay for music anymore? So far, they flail. But San Francisco media social network imeem is pursuing an increasingly popular alternative: provide consumers with free, advertising-supported access to songs over the Internet. "If you monetize attention properly, it's a much bigger market because you're not monetizing consumer wallets anymore, you're monetizing brand advertisers," explains imeem Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Business Development Steve Jang. (Forbes)

The Fight for the Future of Music

The Interactive portion of South by SouthWest was winding down March 11, giving way to the music festival for which the Austin, TX, conference is most well-known. But the debate over the Web’s proper role in the music business was just heating up. Much of the fire March 11 emanated from a heated afternoon panel discussion in meeting room 10. (Business Week)

HD falters in Europe

The recent closure of two of Germany's HDTV channels has cast a shadow over European hopes for a rapid transition to high definition, according to Strategy Analytics. The report concludes that Europe's television providers should concentrate their resources initially on building pay television rather than advertising-based business models in order to reach the critical mass of HD content and receivers necessary to make HDTV a self-sustaining business (Advanced Television)

Majors Sign Up With Euro Web Community MusicMakesFriends

Universal Music, Sony BMG Music and EMI Music have made their entire digital catalog available to the web platform, which today launched a premium subscription option in addition to its free advertising-supported streaming service. The pan-European, music-driven community enables users to legally listen to radio programs created by other members. Now more than 1.5 million tracks will also be available on demand alongside other features for a monthly fee. (Billboard)

Google: The Hollow Echo of a Click

On Feb.26 the Internet giant's stock tumbled 4.7% after a research firm reported a decline in the number of clicks on the ads alongside Google's search results. The issue for Google may be broader than just a slowdown in consumer spending. There's a growing realization that the company's advertising model may not deliver quite what it promises to clients. (Business Week)

The 2008 conference video series: The Free Music Business

In this eagerly awaited MidemNet panel, speakers such as Steve Purdham (of the Peter Gabriel co-founded ad-supported music service We7) and Steve Jang of innovative social network imeem discussed whether free music ventures are the business model of the future... (Midemnet's Blog)

Guest Rebuttal: The Future Of Ad Supported Music

Last week we posted a guest commentary by Bill Houghton which concluded that ad-supported music is not scalable. Marc Cohen who blogs at Ad Supported Music Central disagrees and we invited him to share his thoughts. The logic of Bill’s analysis is inherently sound.  However, it proceeds from flawed fundamental assumptions that render his conclusion meaningless. (Hypebot)

Last.fm Becomes Fastest Growing Free Online Music Network in the U.S

Last.fm, the CBS Corporation-owned social networking music Web site, released figures today that showed it to be the fastest growing online music network in the U.S., as their free-on-demand music service saw a unique listener increase of 92% since it was launched four weeks ago. In addition, since the launch of free-on-demand, unique visitors continued to show sustained growth, up 59%, while page views increased 58%. Last.fm receives more than 21 million active users worldwide every month. (PR)

The 2008 conference video series: Music, Images and Brands

This insightful MIDEM panel saw industry leaders such as Digicompanion's Gilles Babinet (of Musiwave fame) discuss the business models emerging between music, images and brands. Moderator: Daniel Glass, Glassnote Entertainment. (Midemnet Blog)

More Listeners, More Money: Online Radio Growth Continues

Accustream iMedia Research pointed to a 26.1 percent increase in total listening hours in 2007 to 4.85 billion.  That is drawing more advertiser interest, though the group credited heavyweights Clear Channel and Citadel Broadcasting for drawing the most advertising visibility.  In total, internet radio billings topped $80 million in 2007, according to the group, almost triple sales of $26.9 million in 2006. (Digital Music News)