Amazon is partnering with Tunecore to provide any artist with on-demand CD printing and distribution for $31 a year. For that lowly sum, they will handle the creation of a 10-track album, passing all other costs to the buyer.
Finally, a service that will remove the middle-man and make it easier for artists to provide albums for fans on Amazon and iTunes, without the exorbitant cost normally associated with CD manufacturing. Continue reading...
Sony is jumping into the online music distribution market, as sources told CNET that Sony is attempting to deal with other major recording companies to provide music downloads through the PlayStation Network.
This comes after Sir Howard Stringer, Sony Chairman, President and CEO, said that the company can compete with iTunes by providing “something that Apple can’t” and will “grab that opportunity before Apple begins to provide support for other hardware and blocks [Sony] out.” Digital music served on the Playstation Network seems to be the answer. Read more...
TuneUp, an iTunes plugin that provides artist names, genres, track numbers and cover art for you music collection, is launching a new user interface today with some added features. Since its launch in 2008, TuneUp has over 200,000 registered users, and you can try a free version of the software at tuneupmedia.com.
Launched in 2008, the plugin does what you don’t have time to do: it homogenizes your entire iTunes library. The free version corrects 100 songs and downloads 50 album covers, but the “Gold” version, purchased for $30 or for an annual subscription of $20, give you unlimited access to the Gracenote Global Media Database of more than 100 million songs. Read more...
Sony Music Group has a long history of non-transparency with customers, even scandals involving the inclusion of dubious copy protection software on CDs, but is seems like the media company is trying to change. In an interview, Sir Howard Stringer, Sony Chairman, President and CEO, said that “Sony has begun the transition from a closed system to an open one.” Continue reading...
Executives within the major labels are confirming decreased sales on iTunes ever since Apple implemented variable pricing on the popular digital music store in April. Digital Music News reports that individual song sales have dropped, resulting in a decline in overall revenue.
The most popular songs on iTunes were set to $1.29, and even though a drop in sales was probably expected, the higher prices were supposed to compensate for that loss. Even worse, the sales slump has for all songs, not just the top tier tracks. One of the industry execs told Digital Music News:
Continue reading...“It’s back to the abacus to figure out the best mix.”
With all the music streaming and download services available, it’s difficult to decide which one to use. iTunes recently introduced their tiered pricing, but Amazon is selling top-tier songs at a cheaper price. Even though iTunes controls the download market, fans looking to buy music might be enticed by Amazon’s price drop.
On the free streaming front, Spotify released libspotify Tuesday night, which allows third-party developers to write applications for the service, and YouTube, though reported to have blocked “premium” videos in the UK and Germany, still provides most music for free, through user-made videos. Continue reading...
Music streaming service Spotify will now sell music downloads after striking a deal with online music store 7digital, stepping up the competition with iTunes’ in the music downloads market. Users will be able to click a link associated with a song, be redirected to the 7ditigal site, and purchase the respective track. Read more...
Finally, iTunes has some serious competition. Songbird, with its newest update, brings an array of new features and major improvements that might make Apple tremble on its throne as music distribution king. Continue reading...
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