Music Ally

There’s a lot of noise online about Apple being about to sign more major labels to sell DRM-free music through iTunes, joining EMI.

For example, CNET reports that Apple is in talks with all three other majors, and that one of them is close to a final agreement. Of course, all the major labels are now offering DRM-free MP3s with some other music stores - but holding out from Apple has allowed those competitor stores to make it a selling point.

Just how badly Apple needs DRM-free deals is a matter of some debate. iTunes risks becoming one of the last digital music retailers to sell DRM-free songs. However, the selling point of DRM-free files for rivals are ‘they work on iPods’, so Steve Jobs may not need to abandon his hardball stance just yet.

Three senior EMI execs, including CEO Elio Leoni-Sceti, have given an in-depth interview to Billboard talking about the label’s strategy. Among the interesting points are their comments about selling DRM-free songs on iTunes, and whether it boosted online piracy.

“We didn’t see the needle move at all,” says worldwide president of digital Douglas Merrill, referring to the amount of online piracy. “But what we did see is consumers loved the product.”

But perhaps most intriguing is the label’s intention to place more of a focus on artist-fan relationships. “What you’ll see is less of a focus on sales of individual tracks or the conceptual equivalent of little round shiny disks, and more about helping artists learn things about their fan group that they can’t directly see.” There’s plenty more in the article.

New research published by comScore claims that nearly 25% of all Japanese internet users accessed the iTunes Store during August - a higher penetration rate than the US, UK, France and Germany.

However, with other stats consistently showing digital sales in Japan are dominated by mobile, comScore’s figures don’t necessarily herald a swing back to online.

Meanwhile, the company says that 40% of Japanese internet users accessed a music website in August - Yahoo Music is the most popular, followed by Sony Connect and Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

Should songwriters and music publishers be paid every time someone streams a 30-second preview clip of a track? The Digital Media Association (DiMA) says not, and has filed a legal brief claiming these preview clips should be ‘fair use’, contradicting the views (they say) of performing rights bodies ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.

“DiMA members pay tens of millions of dollars in royalties to songwriters and publishers for online music sales,” says DiMA executive director Jonathan Potter. “But the performing rights organisations… who represent songwriters and publishers demand additional payment for the preview clips that facilitate these online sales.”

Watch this one rumble. It’s not so different from the age-old ‘is radio play promotion?’ debate, and views will doubtless be entrenched on both sides. What’s your view - should publishers and composers be paid for 30-second preview clips, and if so, how should it be structured?

Yahoo has revealed plans to open up its Yahoo Music site to feature content from outside stores, including iTunes and Amazon. “We are going to completely open up Yahoo Music in the next few weeks,” says Yahoo’s Scott Moore. It’s not a huge surprise, given Yahoo has (more…)

It’s been a while since the last ‘labels hate iTunes’ rumour, but the Wall Street Journal has kicked off the speculation again, focusing on the labels’ desire to sell full albums, rather than break them up into individual tracks.

Apparently the 1.6 million sales of Kid Rock’s ‘Rock’n’Roll Jesus’ album in the US – despite not being available on iTunes – is stiffening labels’ resolve to focus more on other retailers and distribution channels.

The WSJ also says that Kid Rock’s label Atlantic (part of WMG) has just pulled the latest album by Estelle from iTunes, four months after it went on sale there. Why? A strategy “uniquely tailored to each artist and their fan base in an effort to optimize revenues and promote long-term artist development”, apparently.

How much life is there beyond iTunes, and are we likely to see more labels pulling their big albums from Apple’s store? Let us know your views by posting a comment.

Claims have been made before that Apple is preparing to launch an iTunes-branded subscription-based music service, but the rumour has surfaced again with renewed intensity. Here’s the (supposed) details: it’ll launch in October, and for $129 a year, (more…)

Internet users in China are reportedly having problems accessing the US iTunes Store, with the problem allegedly due to the Chinese government’s unhappiness with the release of a recent Songs For Tibet compilation on Apple’s digital store. The group behind it, The Art of (more…)

Nashville-based blues artist Von Johin has signed a record deal with Reality Entertainment. Not particularly interesting in itself, but the way he was discovered is. See, Johin made his name playing virtual gigs in his own venue in Second Life, where he was spotted by Reality Entertainment’s scouts. The company says he’ll (more…)

NPD Group has released its latest analysis of the US music retail market, claiming that iTunes is still the biggest retailer (this is including both physical and digital sales). Wal-Mart and Best Buy remain in second and third places respectively, but Amazon has vaulted Target to take fourth spot. (more…)