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A month after Apple opened the doors to its digital music store, at least seven media and technology powerhouses have taken the starting blocks in the race to capture the PC market. Meanwhile, Apple is looking to widen its offerings through deals with independent labels. Microsoft, AOL, MTV, amazon.com, Yahoo, Roxio, and MusicMatch are among the companies exploring pay-per-download services, according to sources. Each company has long expressed a desire to tap into the 99-cent digital singles business. But with Apple planning to bow a PC version of iTunes – perhaps by the end of the year – rivals of… Read more »

Tech’s big guns are wading into the online music business – and now the big question is whether Microsoft will squash its rivals like a bug, as it has so many others. Industry watchers say this time Bill Gates has his hands full. Microsoft, Amazon.com and Yahoo! are three of the players, along with AOL Time Warner and Viacom’s MTV, according to a story in The Los Angeles Times. While Gates considers a digital music launch, his company will now likely have to face off with the almighty music industry, which he needs to win over if he’s going to… Read more »

When someone who’s worked on some of the greatest guitar albums of all time, Kiss’ Destroyer and Alice Cooper’s School’s Out among them, calls you a “virtuoso playing at the top of his game,” you can be pretty sure it’s sincere. And that’s exactly what legendary producer Bob Ezrin said of Wes Borland when he first heard the ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist’s new band, Eat the Day. “They played me some stuff which struck me as being not only innovative, but also reminiscent of some of the more adventurous guitar work that had been done in the past by people like… Read more »

Observers are calling the launch of Apple Computer’s digital music service the iTunes Music Store an overwhelming success, Billboard Bulletin reports. The service, which went live Monday, sold an estimated 275,000 tracks at 99 cents apiece in its first 18 hours, according to major-label sources. All songs – including exclusive material and videos from U2, Eminem, Sheryl Crow, Bob Dylan, Sting, and others – can be previewed for free as 30-second samples. All can be burned to a CD and are automatically synched to an iPod. The feat is especially remarkable when considering that the offering is available only to… Read more »

It’s time to buy, mix, and burn, according to Apple Computer Inc. The Silicon Valley company that angered the recording industry with its “Rip. Mix. Burn” ad campaign was expected to launch an online music service Monday that promises to make it easier for consumers to pay for music downloaded from the Internet. The announcement is the result of an intense effort by Apple CEO Steve Jobs to court music industry executives, who have been leery of digital music downloads, and have aggressively filed lawsuits and pushed for new laws to stem the illegal copying and distribution of copyright works.… Read more »

Two companies behind services for sharing music and movies over the Internet are not to blame for any illegal copying conducted by the services’ users, a federal judge ruled Friday. The 34-page ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson was a major blow to recording companies and movie studios, which have been aggressively filing lawsuits and pushing new laws to stem the illegal copying and distribution of their copyright works. The decision, if it survives appeal, essentially absolves Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. of liability. Grokster distributes file-sharing software by that name, and StreamCast distributes Morpheus. “It’s a… Read more »

Barry Diller’s USA Interactive sued Vivendi Universal on Tuesday over a tax dispute, saying the French entertainment company reneged on its partnership agreement with USA to save much-needed cash. USA and Vivendi formed a joint venture, Vivendi Universal Entertainment, last year combining Universal’s film, television and theme park properties with USA’s cable channels and television production company. Diller recently stepped down as VUE chairman. As part of the deal, USA has claimed Vivendi must make annual payments to reimburse USA for taxes that will become due on income it receives from the preferred shares it owns in VUE. The unusual… Read more »

In a pairing that would alter the architecture of the music business, Apple Computer Inc. is in talks with Vivendi Universal to buy Universal Music Group, the world’s largest record company, for as much as $6 billion, sources said. Such a seemingly unlikely combination would instantly make technology guru Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder and chief executive, the most powerful player in the record industry. Universal, which reaps about $6 billion in sales annually from artists such as 50 Cent, Shania Twain, U2 and Luciano Pavarotti, would be controlled by a maverick who revolutionized the computer market and coined the mantra… Read more »

The recording industry and Internet music broadcasters hope a new agreement will prevent a repeat of their recent battle over online music royalties, allowing them to focus instead on providing better music services for consumers. The two sides agreed Thursday on how much big webcasters like Yahoo!, America Online, Microsoft and RealNetworks must pay to broadcast songs over the Internet during 2003 and 2004. The new deal, if approved by the U.S. Copyright Office, will allow the two industries to avoid a lengthy arbitration process to set the royalty rates. “We are delighted to have reached an agreement that will… Read more »

Independent music company FullAudio Corp. on Wednesday launched MusicNow, the latest digital music service to enter the race to woo music fans from the tempting free, song-swapping services inspired by Napster. Boasting an easy-to-use magazine-like format, FullAudio, which has been developing the service for several years as it has obtained licensing from the big five major labels, said that MusicNow is designed around 36 channels. “MusicNow is on the forefront of a dramatic market paradigm shift beyond the labor-intensive ‘search and browse’ database model developed by Napster,” said Scott Kauffman, president and chief executive officer of Chicago-based FullAudio, which is… Read more »