Apple will close down its recently-acquired LaLa.com service on May 31, the company revealed in a bried message posted on the streaming music service’s website. Existing users will be able to log in until the end of next month. Continue reading
Exciting news for fans of the band (like we are), The XX are the latest act to be confirmed for the line-up at this year’s iTunes Festival. Continue reading
Much more from Monday August 10 interview on music between Walt Mossberg and Moby is available here.
“Feargal Sharkey: ‘We need to change our business for young music fans’
“With 86% of under-25s admitting to illegally downloading music, Fergal Sharkey, CEO of UK Music, talks about the future of the music business with Sam Jones.”
Listen to this latest audio transmission from The Guardian here...
If you’re based in New York and want a good hard glimpse at Apple, digital music and the evolution of the music industry, then you’d best not miss a special event featuring WSJ tech journalist, Walt Mossberg and hit-maker musician and intellectual talent, Moby.
They’ll discuss the ways technology has changed how music is created and how fans acquire and discover music.
Plugging the show on WNYC public radio today the two agreed: “We’re going to have a conversation about technology and music from both the point of view of creators and consumers.”
Music industry analyst Mark Mulligan has sparked huge debate with a series of posts which explain why music can’t just be free.
His statements won a round of vituperative responses, and the analyst responded to these with a post on his own blog this afternoon.
Mulligan points out that as an active musician and an industry analyst, he (and we agree with him) doesn’t believe artists should be returned to some romantic position as unpaid minstrels travelling from town-to-town in hope of earning a few cents to survive.
We know Apple already offers music DRM-free through iTunes Plus from EMI, and are convinced reports Sony BMG is already preparing its music for introduction through the service, now it seems the two remaining majors Warner and Universal, are in “discussions” to offer their music DRM-free through Apple’s service as well.
That’s over a year since EMI signed-up, and in the meantime the majors have left the majority of legitimate music consumers, who overwhelmingly use iTunes, consigned to purchasing a flawed, DRM-laden product.
One time manager of Pink Floyd, Sincere Management’s Pete Jenner slammed iTunes for its effect on album sales at a UK music industry event this week.
Speaking at a MusicTank conference, he said Apple’s music store has “had the disastrous effect on the record industry of debundling the album.” He complained cherry-picking tracks from albums means consumers now “buy the two album tracks that are worth buying,” Music Week informs.
A collection of leading UK musician members of the PPL have today sent a letter to Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, complaining musicians aren’t being given a fair crack of the copyright whip – effectively becoming second place figures in the UK creative industry.
Europe, as well as the French and German governments, is already pushing through legislation to extend the copyright term on sound recordings.
