Artists Break With Industry on File Sharing

Washington Post: A prominent group of musicians and artists--including  Steve Winwood, rapper Chuck D and the band Heart--are urging the Supreme Court not to hold online file-sharing services responsible for the file swapping users.

The group said in court papers to be filed today that it condemns the stealing of copyrighted works. But it argues that popular services such as Grokster, Kazaa and others also provide a legal and critical alternative for artists to distribute their material.

Record Industry Sues 753 for Song Swaps

Reuters: RIAA has filed another wave of copyright infringement lawsuits against 753 people it suspects of distributing songs over the Internet without permission. To date, RIAA has filed about 9,000 such suits...

P2P Provider Altnet Pushes Ad Model

ZDNet: Online digital entertainment distributor Altnet (operator of P2P software Kazaa) has confirmed plans to share revenue generated by ads on popular applications with independent music labels.

The independent label customers include V2, Artemis, Epitaph/Anti, Side One Dummy and Palm, Simmons/Latham, and Koch Media. Under the business model, the independent labels will share the revenue generated from advertising that appears in the user interface of popular P2P applications.

TuneTribe UK Wants To Get Offline

Guardian: (reg. req.): TuneTribe, a UK music download site that caters for unsigned bands and independent labels, is in talks that could see it move into the offline world of CDs and vinyl. TuneTribe was launched last month after completing a £1m fundraising.

The company is expected to sign a record distribution deal that will get its most popular unsigned acts into shops.

Upto11 Recommendation Engine

Digital Music Weblog: An interesting new music recommnedation search engine, Upto11.net. With RSS and ability for users to upload their playlists, it is going in the right direction, if nothing else...

Sony BMG Ramps Up CD Copy-Protection Plan

Billboard: Sony BMG Music Entertainment is stepping up the rollout of what it calls content-enhanced and copy-protected CDs..the company  expects that by year's end a substantial number of its U.S. releases will employ either Sunncomm's newly enhanced MediaMax or First4Internet's XCP to address piracy concerns. No matter which technology a CD uses, it will include such extras as photo galleries, enhanced liner notes and links to other features.

Digital Radio Set With Downloads and EPG In Works

EE Times: A UK-based company is developing a digital DAB-based radio set, download-ready with an electronic program guide (EPG)... Imagination Technologies' BUG radio, already on the commercial market, comes with a Secure Digital card to store music downloads and a USB port to download new software such as EPGs. Later this year, the company will release its Pocket DAB 2000 radio. Driven by Frontier Silicon's Chorus chip, it is believed to be an EPG-ready system.

XM Lifts Monthly Fee by 30 Percent; Adds Online Radio

Reuters: XM Satellite Radio is raising its monthly fee for its nationwide radio service by about 30 percent (to $12.95 from $9.99) in April and would add some premium features to its basic plan, putting it on par with smaller rival Sirius Satellite Radio. This is the first price increase since its national launch in 2001.

Under the new pricing arrangement, XM subscribers will receive the XM Radio Online Internet service at no extra cost, compared to the current fee of $4 per month. They will also get "High Voltage," a channel featuring ribald radio hosts Opie & Anthony, which now costs $2 extra each month.

Virgin Megastores To Launch Digital Music Service in UK

Silicon.com: Well, it already has a couple there: Virgin's V2 music label offers limited music downloads via a branded version of a service run by 7Digital. Meanwhile a separate branded version of the OD2 service is offered by Virgin Megastores.

But the new one, to be launched "in weeks", could be similar to what Virgin Digital is doing in US, with its subscription and download service, and mixing it with its already strong presence in the mobile (music) market...

According to Tony Johnson, CIO of Virgin Retail: "This is a market that every man and his dog is trying to get into but with our pedigree and our heritage we will be able to make a very strong offering," said Johnson, who questioned the credentials of a number of other companies who have moved into the market...

Related:

-- Virgin UK Launches Music Download Service

Tough Rules For UK Ringtone Sellers

BBC: In UK, in response to a trend by ringtone companies late last year to subscribe people to ringtones service, rather than the one ringtone the customer thought they were buying, a new code of conduct for firms selling content to mobile phones has been devised, including a universal "stop" command. So far at least 10 firms were suspended by their operators until they "cleaned up their act". "We have quite draconian contracts with firms," said Flynn of Vodafone. "We do not have to say why. We can just cut them off." With great power comes great responsibility...

The rules:

-- Consumers must be able to switch off service with universal "stop" command
-- When consumers sign up they must be told what they get, how much it costs and for what time period
-- Once a month consumers must get a reminder about the subscription and that it costs
-- For every £20 they spend consumers must get another reminder about how to turn off the service
-- Print adverts must spell out prices, time periods and details of ring tone offers
Related stories: Text scam costs mobile users dear