Spotify to launch API for its music catalog?

According to CNet, Spotify may announce tomorrow the addition of an open app platform to its popular music service.

The "app finder" may include the ability to read reviews of the music as they listen to songs, people "in the music business" tell the Wall Street Journal. One app will reportedly display lyrics to the songs playing, while another will list upcoming concerts of artists in a user's play list and link to ticket sales sites.

The apps are expected to be free and available to users of both the free and premium versions of the service, the Journal reported.

Read more.

Steven Levy on Facebook, Spotify and the Future of Music

A decade ago, Napster's attempt to set music free was crushed by the music labels. Now, Facebook and Spotify (not to mention Google, Amazon, and Apple) have resurrected the dream. Hallelujah.

Steven Levy for Wired.

Muppetmodo ringtone. Great!

As a Thanksgiving gift, Gizmodo is offering a Muppets/Gizmodo ringtone.

Great!

MUPPETMODO by kylenw

Why Labels Are Abandoning Streaming Music Services

What happens to streaming music services when they have no music left to stream? That seemingly zen question may be answered if more record labels follow the lead of the more than 200 labels that have withdrawn their catalogs from services like Spotify, Napster and Rdio following the release of a study that suggests streaming music hurts music sales.

[via TIME Techland]

Why Google Music Targets Social And The Cloud

FastCompany's take on Google's Music store.

Google launched its long-overdue music store today, roughly eight years into the reign of Apple's iTunes Store, which just sold its 16 billionth song

Why has Google entered such a saturated market? Call it another battle in the Great Tech War of 2012, with the big four (Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon) now duking it out over the music industry. But none of these companies are actually expecting to make significant revenues from selling music. They're interested in bolstering the products the music runs on.

Read more.

Google opens music download store, welcomes artists to upload directly

More on Google Music, from arstechnica.

Google Music is now open to the public and its streaming features will remain free. But that's not all: Google has also decided to begin selling music downloads directly to customers, and will even let artists upload their own content, bypassing music labels.

Google Opens a Digital Music Store

Google Music will sell individual tracks as well as full albums, letting customers store the files in "cloud" accounts. Customers will be allowed to share music by offering friends one free chance to listen to any purchased track.

[via Media Decoder]

Ring back tones take off in Angola

The market-leading Angolan operator has seen a swift adoption of its new ring back tone service, with a service penetration rate of 8%. Unitel S.A. had been offering the service, provided by OnMobile, to its subscribers for just 90 days.

[via Developing Telecoms]

Google Music launching without Sony and Warner

Universal Music Group will be well represented at a press event Google has scheduled for Wednesday, but conspicuously missing will be two of the other top-four record companies.

CNET has learned that Google has signed a licensing agreement for the new service with Universal Music Group but does not have deals in place with Sony Music Entertainment or Warner Music Group, according to multiple industry sources. It is unclear whether EMI would participate. Talks between Sony, Warner and Google continue, the sources said.

[via C/net]

Vringo pre-loads 'social' ringtones on ZTE phones

Vringo's Facetones creates an automated video slideshow using friends’ photos from social media sites and then plays this video when a user makes or receives a call. It connects with Facebook for now, but more partnerships are planned.

[via MobileEntertainement]

Ringtones Are a $2.1 Billion Business

In a new study, Gartner says worldwide online music revenue from end-user spending Is on pace to total $6.3 billion in 2011, up from $5.9 billion in 2010.

... In the past 10 years, CD sales, the largest revenue stream for the industry, have eroded, while the online music revenue share is rapidly increasing. Digital downloads and streaming music services — referred to as subscription services — are the clear drivers in the online music industry for the coming years. Gartner estimates that subscription services will account for nearly one-third (29 percent) of end-user online music spending in 2015.

Read full press release.

Freeallmusic.com offering music downloads via Facebook

Two year-old start-up Free All Media is giving away music downloads for watching ads online. To access their FreeAllMusic.com portal, you must allow basic access to your Facebook info - because there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Read more in Digital Trends.

SiriTunes uses SMS to find free music

TUAW writes up SiriTunes, a service that delivers "free music" to your phone using the Siri voice assistant.

You simply send text a message to (424) 888-7474 like "Play [artist name]." SiriTunes searches for that music online and texts you back with one or more links to those files.

Read more.

Musicians Can Press UMG for Ringtone Money

A federal judge rejected Universal Music Group's attempt to toss a class action over ringtone royalties allegedly owed to musicians led by the late "Superfreak" star Rick James and heavy metal star Rob Zombie.

[via Courthouse News Service]

BT considering music industry request to block The Pirate Bay

BT Group PLC said Friday it is considering a request by the music industry to block The Pirate Bay website, a major file-sharing site that enables unlawful downloads of music and games. TotalTelecom reports.

The BPI, which represents U.K. record labels, has written to the telecommunications provider, asking it to block The Pirate Bay voluntarily. If BT doesn't block the website, BPI will head to court.

The move follows a recent U.K. High Court order that BT block access to pirate website Newzbin2, which makes unlawful copies of films and television programs available, alongside other content, following legal action by an association representing six major movie studios.

Read full article.

Rapper Chuck D sues Universal for $100m

American rapper author and producer Chuck D claims Universal owes its artists and producers "hundreds of millions of dollars" from the sale of downloads and ringtones, citing a major ruling from earlier this year.

... Chuck D says Universal pays just $80.33 in royalties for every 1,000 song downloads, and $49.89 for every 1,000 ringtones; he contends these sales should be treated as licences, not unit sales, boosting figures from $80.33 to $315.85 and from $49.89 to $660.

Read full article in The Guardian.

Universal Music Loses Bid to Dismiss Class Action Over Digital Revenue

A federal judge in California is allowing a big class action lawsuit to go forward against Universal Music Group that alleges the record label has underpaid royalties on digital downloads and ringtones. [via The Hollywood Reporter]

Spearheaded by Rob Zombie and the estate of Rick James, the consolidated class action seeks damages that could rise to the billions of dollars.

The lawsuit was filed in April and came on the heels of previous litigation that opened the question of how labels should be treating digital music distribution.

Read full article.

BBM Music App Goes Live In BlackBerry App World

BBM Music is a somewhat inexplicable music subscription service that integrates BBM. As of yet, the app has only been available to beta zone members, but today the app went live to users in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

[Official BBM Music Launch Video via TechCrunch]

Hands on with GarageBand for the iPhone and iPad

Apple’s mobile music app hits GarageBand is getting its first full update, and it’s a whopper, writes MacWorld in a lengthy and rave review.

The app has gone universal, with a brand-new iPhone and iPod touch interface, and has added a bunch of new features, including custom chords for Smart Instruments, an Arpeggiator, new velocity settings, transposition, new time signatures, quantization options, and support for AAC and AIFF export.

Read full article.