Apple is furiously negotiating with the record labels to finalize deals which will allow it to stream music from the Internet to mobile devices (iPhones, iPads, iPods) and computers. It just came to terms with Sony Music, according to a Bloomberg report, which means that of the four major labels it’s got three down (EMI, Warner, and Sony), and one to go (Universal Music).
Streaming rights are… → Read More
Detroit-based digital music company WaTunes has come to a licensing agreement with Warner Music Group, the third major record label to sign a deal with the startup after Universal and EMI.
Warner has licensed its full catalog of music for use in WaTunes’ brand new Facebook application, which essentially lets people purchase digital music through a full-fledged storefront without the need to leave… → Read More
Digital music company eMusic is rumored to be up for sale, according to various reports, but that hasn’t stopped it from signing licensing deals with big music. This morning, eMusic announced that it come to an agreement with Warner Music Group and that it will soon begin selling tracks from WMG’s roster of artists to its U.S. users.
eMusic last year inked a similar deal with Sony Music… → Read More
Seeqpod, the ill-fated startup behind the kick-ass media search technology used by many music streaming and playlist services and social networking applications, appears to have cracked under the weight of litigation. At the end of last month, we broke the news that the Emeryville, CA-based company filed a petition for Chapter 11 with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of… → Read More
With a comic message on its website saying that the service has gone away to enter the 36 Shaolin Chambers of Software Kung Fu but will return stronger, music discovery application Songbeat lets its visitors know that it has received a first blow in court after Warner Music (and other music labels) sued the German startup for enabling users to stream and download music without… → Read More
Who didn’t see this one coming? When we first reviewed Songbeat, a simple desktop application for playing and discovering music on the net, we liked the product but were interested in what the music industry would have to say about it. The updated version released last December was even better, but we were still critical of its chances for survival.
Songbeat essentially allows you to scour the… → Read More
The music industry’s attempts to create its own digital distribution business is like a bad horror movie. It just keeps coming back no matter how badly bludgeoned it gets. Back in 2001 in response to Napster, the music labels launched two competing music download sites, PressPlay and MusicNet (the latter became a white-label music service called MediaNet. Meanwhile, Pressplay was bought by… → Read More
Warner Music is proposing a $5 “music tax” that will be tacked on to your ISP bill monthly, ensuring you will hate the labels even more. The tax would generate $20 billion a year in revenues, enabling industry executives to maintain their diet of gold-dipped quail eggs and the blood of supple young virgins while paying the industry back for all the piracy that is going on. The tax is… → Read More
Head of “digital strategy” AKA seller of Akon ringtones Alex Zubillaga has quit Warner Music and will be replaced by Michael Nash. He was integral in gaining a $141 million in digital revenue for Warner this year and basically kept the company from dying like a dog hit by a truck. Director of Warner’s Digital Strategy Quits [Reuters] → Read More
Universal CEO Doug Morris is looking to partner with Sony BMG and Warner to develop "a new music subscription service that will try to loosen Apple’s grip on the online music market." → Read More
Big fan of music videos? Of course you are. So you’ll be extremely pleased to know that Warner Music will be offering its entire catalog of music videos online for free. The label is working with digital services provider Premium TV to create online media hubs where viewers can watch clips and videos of their favorite artist. Warner is using video advertising as well so that they can cash in… → Read More
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Boston, MA
Berlin, Germany
San Francisco
