Music file-sharers get boost in top EU court

Telecoms companies in Europe are not required to hand over information on clients believed to be running music-sharing Web sites in civil cases, an adviser to the European Union's top court said on Wednesday, reports Reuters.

"The case was brought by a Spanish music and audiovisual association after telecoms provider Telefonica refused to hand over the names and addresses of its Internet clients suspected of running illegal file sharing sites.

The association, Promusicae, wanted to identify the clients, who used the file-sharing program KaZaA, so it could start taking action against them.

But advocate general Juliane Kokott, whose role is to advise the judges, said on Wednesday that it is compatible with EU law for European countries to exclude communication of personal data in the context of a civil, as distinct from criminal, action."

Steve Jobs tops list of online music "Powergeeks"

Steve Jobs, the father of the iPod, was crowned on Tuesday as the undisputed king of the online music revolution by U.S. music magazine Blender, topping a list of the 25 most influential people in Web music.

The magazine's "Powergeek 25" list was compiled to show the behind-scenes-players reshaping the way people listen to, buy and watch music.

"The iTunes Store and the iPod have done more to change the way people listen to music than anything since the CD, and maybe since the sound recording," Blender's editor-in-chief Craig Marks said.

[via Reuters]

Purse Blocker gives parents control of downloading of ringtones

Obviously not everyone is happy about the possiblity of purchasing ringtones. Like parents. AT&T's "purse blocker" enables parents to turn the blocker on or off to control when a child can download ringloads or other content. [via Satesman]

Swiss Music Subscription Service

A mobile music service has been launched in Switzerland by Oxy Systems (developer of music social networking service phling) and Edipresse. MocoNews reports.

"The service will allow "customers of Orange Switzerland, Sunrise and Swisscom Mobile to use their mobile phones to browse, listen and share music as well as discover new music from Edipresse's Internet-based radio stations, independent artists and labels, and from other users in the phling! community".

It involves accessing music on your PC on your mobile, and sharing that with your friend. The service will cost 7 Swiss Francs (US$5.82) a month, which includes all data charges."

Control iTunes from your iPhone

If you're looking for an incredibly simple way to control iTunes at home from your iPhone, look no further than Signal. Once you're running iTunes and Signal, all you have to do is connect to your Wi-Fi network nd then point your iPhone to the web address that Signal provides you.

Instantly you've got yourself a fully functional iTunes remote, complete with playlist access, album art and even customizable queues.

[reBlogged from Gizmodo]

Napster Launches Music Service Over NTT DoCoMo

Napster announced that the company's unlimited over-the-air music subscription service has been launched with NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest wireless carrier, and is now available across the complete line of DoCoMo's 904i handsets.

It marks the first-ever deployment of the Napster Mobile service that seamlessly integrates OTA subscription and the PC-based Napster to Go subscription service for one price.

[via TMCnet]

Simpson Ringtones. Doh.

Jamba will be offering fans of The Simpsons ringtones, voicetones, wallpapers and screensavers, based on the series just in time for the July 27 release of "The Simpsons Movie ".

Watch the The trailer on YouTube.

[via Reuters] Entertainment Summary

iPhone stimulates ringtone innovation

[via e-mail press release]

News that music files on computers can be used as ringtones on the new Apple iPhone has forced ringtone companies to innovate urgently or risk being left behind.

The rumoured iPhone ringtone approach – dubbed ‘sideloading’ – is expected to hit ringtone revenues hard.

In reaction, innovative ringtone services like Singtones, from UK company Synchro Arts, are marketed to help ensure the iPhone’s arrival doesn’t signal the end of a lucrative industry.

Singtones let people record their favourite tracks, and their singing is then ‘fixed’ so even the tone-deaf sound great. Their enhanced vocal is mixed with a backing track and can be sent to mobile phones to use as a unique personalised ringtone and caller ID.

[via e-mail press release]

Warner Music To Stream All Its Music Online For Free

Warner Music Group and online community Imeem have partnered to stream ad-supported music and video on Imeem's free social media networking site, according to TechWeb.

"The companies said their agreement results in the first free, ad-supported online access to all the music and video content from a major label.

... It's the latest in a series of moves by record companies to adapt their sales and distribution to industry changes driven by consumers turning ever more frequently to the Internet for entertainment."

Apple iPods and iPhones to Start Sharing, Selling Music

According to Gizmodo, "an Apple patent details a system where Wi-Fi-enabled devices such as cellphones and MP3 players can find each other automatically, perform device-to-device transfers, share contact info, and accessiTunes to buy new and shared music."

Samsung capitalizes on Olympic

According to Ubergizmo, Samsung is branding one of their handsets (the P310) for the Olympics and it will contain Olympic Games ringtones, wallpapers and video clips.

Loudest mobile ringtone ever - for emergency workers

The QKphone 911, manufactured in China, is capable of playing music and ringtones at an ear-splitting 120 decibels, reports pocket-lint.

"A of sound, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, is recognised as the threshold of pain.

It manages this incredible noise thanks to five speakers and "dynamic 3D sound".

It's not just to irritate, it actually serves a purpose, it's meant for emergency-type workers who cannot miss a call.

Watch the video demo"

Samsung Launches Mobile Music Site In Europe

Samsung is partnering with Musicnetto provide its own mobile music subscription service in Europe, reports Digital Trends.

The service will operate using Samsung's own Samsung Media Studio (SMS) application, and will ship on Samsung's K3, K5, and T9 music handsets, while a software update will deliver the new version of SMS to previously-released PlaysForSure-compatible Samsung phones like the Z5.

[via MocoNews]

China Unicom tests music service

China Unicom Ltd., the country's No. 2 mobile phone carrier, said Tuesday it has started testing a music download service offering subscribers songs from 23 record companies, including EMI Group PLC, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp. and Universal Music Group.

The trial service, called Xuan Qu in Chinese, allows subscribers to download songs to mobile phones for 39 cents to 66 cents each, said Tong Xiaoyu, China Unicom's general manager for value-added services.

The service protects copyrights by preventing users from transferring the music to other mobile phones or computers, he said. [via Associated Press]

Amidst Marked Declines, Warner Music Group Chaiman Displays Strong Optimism

Despite plunging CD sales and a sour stock performance, Warner Music Group chairman Edgar Bronfman, Jr. displayed strong optimism during an interview Wednesday, writes digital musical news via Wired.

"This decline is steeper than we expected, but in some ways it means we'll get to the bottom faster, and after that there's growth," Bronfman said during a discussion on CNBC.

The executive pointed to the difficulties that incumbent companies face in disruptive market changes.

But Bronfman appeared determined to avoid a disastrous ending, and described an aggressive push into newer formats. That includes a myriad of mobile assets, including ringtones, voicetones, and related tie-ins.

"We're going to be putting out video and ringtones and ringback tones, then connecting them to blogs and ticketing opportunities when the artist goes on tour, merchandising, you name it," Bronfman said.

Warner Music and Sony BMG start digital music venture in Russia

Warner Music Group, Sony BMG and the billionaire Len Blavatnik on Thursday announced the creation of a digital music venture in Russia to sell products in one of the world's biggest markets for pirated content.

"The venture, Digital Access, will be based in Moscow and offer "full-track audio downloads, ringtones, ring-back tones, video clips and full color images" in Russia and the former Soviet region, Blavatnik's holding company, Access Industries, said in an e-mailed statement.

Blavatnik, a native Russian with U.S. citizenship, contributed two of the biggest Russian music labels, Soyuz and Nikitin Records, to the venture, which will start operating this autumn, according to the statement."

[via Blooomberg/Reuters/IHT]

Hanging up on ringtones

One of the many anomalies of the mobile music market is that, while a full track bought directly from a network will cost between £1 and £1.50, a 20- second snippet from the same original can be priced at up to three times as much. Globally, this has created a multi-billion-pound business.
The Guardian reports.

"... Realtones generate royalties for record labels (though monophonic and polyphonic tones, or those from animated amphibians, do not), creating an unexpected silver lining for the music business which is stuck in a generally rather black digital cloud.

But if the iPhone and the majority of next-generation handsets is anything to go by, the future of mobile entertainment lies in "sideloading" - transferring existing content, such as music, from a PC, as opposed to the more lucrative (for operators) process of purchasing products over the air.

"I think the ringtone business is in peril now because the operators have allowed into the market mobile phones which can sideload MP3s and use them as ringtones," says Andrew Bud, executive chairman of mBlox and vice-chairman of the Mobile Entertainment Forum.

With nobody able to explain convincingly just why consumers continue to pay a premium for a novelty product, the ringtone industry is something of a gravity-defying act anyway. One analyst goes so far as to describe ringtones as "digital jewellery", with most concluding that their value is a combination of personalisation and convenience.

... Anecdotally, record labels agree. Last year, Rob Wells of Universal Music Group International claimed that the UK ringtone market was in terminal decline."

Flotones.com - Music on your mobile

Flotones is a clever service that attempts to link the mobile services revolution with online marketing for musicians, writes KillerStartups.

In their own words: Flotones is a web site dedicated to promoting and distributing an Artist's mobile media, such as Ringtones and mobile Wallpapers. We're here to help you moblize, expand, and inform you fanbase. After you register and add your content, you'll be enabled to promote your mobile content at your shows, on your website, your cd baby page, and on your myspace profile.

Ringtones now offer personalized romance

Japanese singer Hiromi Go (the Japanese answer to Ricky Martin after his Japanese version of "Livin' La Vida Loca") took time to record his famous love song, "Oyome Sanba," 100 times recently in order to offer personalized romantic ringtones, reports UPI.

" The 51-year-old singer repeatedly sang his famous romantic hit for the new mobile phone service, the Mainichi Shimbun said Thursday, inserting a different woman's name into the song each time.

The Mainichi Shimbun said Go's decision to sing a personalized version of the song at a wedding last month prompted the creation of the mobile phone service.

The Record Industry's Decline

Rolling Stone Magazine on tanking record sales with no hope in sight: and how it all went wrong.

This is the first part of a two-part of series on the fall of the record industry. Brian Hiatt and Evan Serpick's report on where the music business went wrong, from the current issue of Rolling Stone, as well as an interactive graphic illustrating the industry's slide. Tomorrow, check back with RollingStone.com for interviews with the industry leaders on the future of the music business.

... Overall CD sales have plummeted sixteen percent for the year so far -- and that's after seven years of near-constant erosion. In the face of widespread piracy, consumers' growing preference for low-profit-margin digital singles over albums, and other woes, the record business has plunged into a historic decline."

...

Custom ringtones for your home phone

Ringboxx by Home Phone Tunes enables you to personalize your home phones with music and exclusive audio content.

Ringboxx allows people to identify callers instantly, even when they are not near their phones, by using the ringtones they assign to friends, family or even unwanted 800 numbers. Just as ringtones are now a popular way to personalize mobile phones, the Ringboxx can transform a standard home phone by reflecting its owner's personality.

Silence telemarketers or assign them ringtones; with Caller ID, you can assign 800 numbers specific ringtones, or set the preference to silence and mute them altogether.

[Press release ]

Ringo Starr plans digital downloads of greatest hits album

Ringo Starr has signed a deal to release his Capitol/EMI catalog as downloads on the internet, including his hit 1970 album "Beacoups of Blues" and "Ringo" from 1973. NewsChannel 3 reports.

"The downloads will be available August 28, along with a compilation album, "Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr." The best-of, with tracks like "It Don't Come Easy" and "Sentimental Journey," will also be released on CD and as a collector's edition CD/DVD package featuring a film and video clips.

Six Ringo Starr ringtones will also be offered.

A solo album, called "Liverpool 8," is planned for a January 2008 release."

EMI to sell protection-free songs via PassAlong

EMI Group, the world's third-largest music company, is expanding its strategy to sell digital music without copy-protection software to more retail sites through a deal with PassAlong Networks. Reuters reports.

"The new premium download tracks will be available in a higher sound quality MP3 format of 320 kilobits per second, compared with the usual 128 to 192 kilobits per second rate offered by most online music stores such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes Music Store.

PassAlong said EMI will add more than 100,000 premium downloads to PassAlong's catalog of nearly 3 million songs, of which more than 2 million are songs from independent labels in MP3 format.

Earlier this month, EMI became the first major record company to start selling the vast majority of its digital albums without copy-protection software, also known as digital rights management (DRM).

Sprint Combines Humor and News with Weekly Pop 10 Playlist

To celebrate its mobile music leadership and enthusiasm for popular culture, Sprint is introducing a weekly “Pop 10” playlist of songs.

Whether it’s behind-the-scenes news from Paris, France, or Paris Hilton behind bars, Sprint will post a playlist each week to lend a melody to the latest pop culture capers.

The inaugural playlist, which is being posted today, sets to music Paris Hilton’s return to jail.

Harry Potter ringtones

Mobile phones won’t be missing out on Harry Potter madness this summer.

"The mobile game will be out for downloading in Europe from 15 June and in North America from June 26.

In addition to the game there’ll also be ringtones, voicetones and wallpapers based on the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures film. "

[GamesDog ]

VidZone Digital Media and Sony BMG Music Entertainment UK Announce Major Deal

VidZone Digital Media has today announced a new distribution deal which grants the company full access to the SONY BMG Music Entertainment UK digital catalogue for Mobile and PC.

The company's latest announcement will see platinum selling acts such as Justin Timberlake, Westlife and Beyonce all available for streaming and downloading in Audio and Video formats to both the PC and mobile.

The repertoire will also be offered to customers in the form of Realtones and Video Ringtones for downloading to their handsets.

[Press release]

Rngtone points to suspect

According to The Star Tribune, a robber was identified because he didn't change the previous owner's distinctive ringtone.

"Minneapolis police arrested Vantrease on Monday after finding him wearing a Teckno Master watch matching the description of watches stolen in the May 24 robbery. In addition, Vantrease had a cell phone belonging to shop owner Will Bailey, authorities said.

Although the phone no longer carried Bailey's personal information, police said, it still had his ringtones, which included N.W.A.'s seminal "Gangsta Gangsta."

Melodeo To Stream ITunes To Mobiles

Melodeo is testing a service which will let users stream songs from their iTunes library to their mobile phones. However, it hasn’t sorted out the revenue stream yet: “Melodeo revenue could be from monthly fees for the service, software download fees, or audio advertisements, said David Dederer, Melodeo’s vice president for music services”

[via MocoNews]

How country music fans buy their music

Country music fans are making their music purchases on the basis of factors other than the playlists on terrestrial radio. Although often misconstrued as a consumer group that lags behind technology trends, today's country fans are exploring new music via Web sites, satellite radio, cell phone ringtones and user-driven music video channels on television.

[via Chicago Sunday Times reporting on this week's annual CMA Music Festival]

Prince next single free to mobile phone listeners

Prince is giving away the first single from an upcoming album to mobile phone users as the rock star, who is also launching a perfume, looks to create a buzz around his "Planet Earth" album, due out in weeks. Reuters reports.

""Similar to David Bowie's involvement with a Nokia phone launch last year and Paul McCartney's plan to publish an album through Starbucks, Prince's latest stunt is part of a trend for long-established musicians to try to interest new fans in their latest music by aligning themselves with the next new thing.

Prince's new single "Guitar" became downloadable on Thursday to Verizon Wireless phones to customers who use the service provider's new V Cast song ID feature, which identifies songs for listeners who hold their phone next to a speaker."

Sony Ericsson Signs Exclusive Partnership with Justin Timberlake

According to Esato, Sony Ericsson has signed an Exclusive deal with Justine Timberlake backing his current 2007 European Future Sex/Love Show Tour.

"That unique experience is exclusive content via Vodafone through Sony Ericsson handsets, with a chance to win tickets (and meet Justin himself), as well as accessing a WAP site to stream some tunes, recorded live and specifically for the site.

And to follow, there will be exclusive mobile content of wallpapers, ringtones, and screen savers plus a unique remix of JT's Cry Me A River."

Drag and Drop on "Surface" to purchase ringtones

Forbes reports on Microsoft's "Surface," a coffee-table shaped computer that responds to touch and to special bar codes attached to everyday objects.

"Some of the first Surface models are planned to help customers pick out new cell phones at T-Mobile stores. When customers plop a phone down on the screen, Surface will read its bar code and display information about the handset. Customers can also select calling plans and ringtones by dragging icons toward the phone."

Picture from Engadget.

Beatnik speeds mobile music downloads

U.S. software company Beatnik.com is approaching mobile phone operators with a new music download system that compresses songs up to 10 times more than the MP3 format, allowing for faster downloads on lower-end mobile phones equipped with the company's software. InfoWorld reports.

"Beatnik's software compresses songs by taking common elements or repeated sounds and only replicating them once in the compressed file. The music player, on the client handset, can recreate those sounds in the right place during playback.

The decreased file size means songs download much faster over the same bandwidth, allowing users to start listening to the song as the rest of it is downloading"

U.K. Operators Beef Up Music Track Selection To Offset Slow Ringtone Sales

T-Mobile, Vodafone and Orange are increasing the number of music tracks to make up for flat ringtone sales, reports MocoNews.

"Orange is also stockpiling music content to offset the slowdown in mastertones.

Likewise, Vodafone is also growing its music offering – but will focus on genres such as Bollywood and classical music.

Vodafone has over 500,000 tracks on offer but only around 20 percent of these have ever been purchased. “You can have as much music as you like, but if the customer isn’t buying it then what’s the point?” said Tom McLennan, category manager for music at Vodafone. He added: “You need a sizeable base to get the service going and establish credibility against iTunes.”

Verizon launches song identification service

Verizon Wireless announced V Cast Song ID, a new service enabling subscribers to identify a piece of music by capturing a 10-second sample via mobile handset and seconds later receiving title and artist information as well as corresponding download, ringtone and ringback offers.

According to Verizon, the service can identify more than four million songs from across genres and decades. [via FierceMobile Content]

Related links to other music recognition services

Parasites offer ringtones to cash in on family pain

According to the Daily Express, a series of websites based in California have been registered with similar addresses but different spellings of Madeleine, advertising ringtones and online casinos.

Madeleine McCann is a four-yearl British girl who disappeared while on holiday with her parents in southern Portugal and her search has gained world-wide sympathy attention and attention.

Every time a user logs on, even if by mistake, the owners of the site receive money from advertisers.

Related: - SMS campaigns to help fund search for Missing Madeleine

Amazon to Sell Music Without Copy Protection

Amazon.com, the biggest online seller of CDs, is joining the movement against copy-protection software for digital music. It plans to sell songs that can be freely copied to any computer, cellphone or music player, including the iPod from Apple. [via the NY Times]

Virgin Launches Music Mag

Just launched, Headliner gives Virgin Mobile customers on demand access to a full range of music-related content including up-to-date artist news, charts, concert dates and interactive search and community features. [via Unstrung]

"This unique and personal downloadable mobile application delivers a database of thousands of artists and bands from every music genre, upcoming concert tour dates, music festival coverage, and albums and shows directly to the mobile phone. "

Alltel Wireless announces Jump Music

Alltel Wireless launches Jump Music, letting customers turn their phones into portable music players. Gadgetell reports.

Jump Music will allow customers to transfer compatible music from their computers to their phone with free and easy to use software.

The Jump Music application currently will work only on a PC and will be initially compatible with only five phones: LG AX8600, MOTOKRZR K1m, MOTORAZR V3m, Samsung u520 and the Wafer by Samsung.

The Jump Music software on the PC will allow users to find, manage and transfer music files with a simple click."

McCartney's music goes mobile in Japan

According to Monsters&Critics, Paul McCartney`s music will be available via mobile phone in Japan.

"Universal Music Japan will release a master ringtone version of the single "Dance Tonight" on May 10.

All the other tracks from McCartney`s new album, 'Memory Almost Full' will be released as master ringtones and mobile-based full-song downloads (including "Dance Tonight") on June 6, the same day as the physical CD`s release.

'Memory Almost Full' is the first album to be released by the former Beatle under his recently-signed deal with the Hear Music label".

Verizon removes Akon ringtones

Verizon recently announced that it will sever all ties with Senegalese R&B singer Akon, two weeks after a video surfaced of Akon simulating sex on stage with a 15-year-old girl.

Verizon has since removed Akon's ringtones, music and artwork from his platinum-selling album Konvicted from Verizon Wireless stores and handsets. [via Hot Press]

Filter Your Mobile Music

Currently in Beta, The Filter can be downloaded to your PC and used to fill your mobile phone by building playlists from your MP3/AAC files.

Users simply select a song, and the software will create a playlist of related songs, while users can then thematically browse their library rather than having to scroll through dozens or even hundreds of tunes. [via Mobile Crunch]

T-Mobile UK Launches Music Download Site

T-Mobile and independent music download site ARTISTdirect will work together to launch a new UK music download service, featuring a comprehensive listing of global music artists and genres as well as news, commentary and features. [via digital-lifestyles]

"... There’ll also be loads of exclusive T-Mobile content and features available, including detailed artist information, news about upcoming bands, tickets and video picks."

Ringtone choices in Washington

A delightful article by Mike Musgrove in The Washington Post on how for the most part officials in Washington avoid ringtones.

"Please," offered political-thriller novelist Brad Meltzer by e-mail. "Only a fool isn't on vibrate at all times. Especially in D.C."

Musgrove conducted "a highly unscientific survey over the past few weeks and found that while image-conscious politicians generally follow Meltzer's line of thinking, plenty of other prominent Washingtonians do not.

... In lobbying circles, the chairman and chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, Mitch Bainwol, has a song by "American Idol" finalist Chris Daughtry: "It's Not Over."

... In the sports world, Nationals Manager Manny Acta has the "Law & Order" theme -- he's a fan of the show.

As it turns out, chefs are big ringtones customers -- they have to stay in regular contact with their distributors, and having an unusual ringer helps them avoid wasting time by fumbling around for their phone every time."

Beautfiul mobile song

Mother's day is coming up first, but this a beautiful song for cell phones for Father's day called the The little girl song, it's sung by international recording artist E. Walter Smith in duet with American Idol contestant Tatiana McConnico.

My song (duet), "Little Girl," recorded with teen diva and American Idol contestant Tatiana McConnico, celebrates that magical relationship between a father and his "little girl."

They're looking for a wireless company to promote their release on cell phones. If anyone's listening, contact them at e-at-ewaltersmith-dot-com.