Digital Music News (digitalmusicnews.com)

Peter, Paul and Mary Singer Mary Travers Passes

September 16, 2009

Peter, Paul and Mary member Mary Travers passed away Wednesday at the age of 72. The folk singer was battling leukemia for many years, and according to a band spokesperson, passed at Danbury Hospital in Conn... Read More...

Remastered Beatles: 626,000 First-Week Units

Alexandra Osorio

September 16, 2009

The Beatles sold 626,000 first-week copies of their remastered albums, a number that also includes box sets. According to the US-based tally by Nielsen Soundscan, the remastered Abbey Road led the pack with ... Read More...

Rinse, Repeat: France Advances Another Disconnection Bill

Paul Resnikoff

September 15, 2009

Is France destined to get its three-strikes disconnection bill, in one form or another? The last two tries have been failures, though another attempt has now passed both chambers of Parliament. But this time around, legislators were forced to modify the te... Read More...

Not Spotify, Not Europe: Apple Approves Rhapsody iPhone App

Paul Resnikoff

September 9, 2009

Funny how Rhapsody plays second fiddle to Spotify, at least within the industry. But stateside, consumers have little familiarity with Spotify, and Rhapsody has been offering a similar concept for years - al... Read More...

Resnikoff’s Parting Shot: Why Lars Has Left the Building

Paul Resnikoff

September 8, 2009

Ten years ago, serious artists with serious sales were afraid to piss off their labels. Now, those same artists are far more afraid of pissing off their fans. When Napster was being sued, Lars Ulrich was ... Read More...

Instead of Anti-Piracy, China Offers Music Censorship

Paul Resnikoff

September 8, 2009

Groups like the IFPI have been struggling for years to contain piracy in China, a hopeless pursuit after numerous court trials. But a sudden shift towards censorship could represent a second-best solution. Just recently, the Chinese Ministry of Culture ann... Read More...

The Beatles Remastered Set: Now Leaking Everywhere

Paul Resnikoff

September 6, 2009

Forget about sensitive iTunes negotiations and digitization holdouts, because die-hard Beatles fans are moving on their own timetable. That is, a very quick one. Over the weekend, the entire remastered Beat... Read More...

Jay-Z Moves Release Date… Album Dropping Today

Paul Resnikoff

September 5, 2009

Jay-Z is now rush-releasing his latest album, a response to a widespread leak. The Blueprint 3 hits stores today, instead of a previously-scheduled September 11th. Ahead of that, Rhapsody started offering t... Read More...

Wall Street Rollercoaster Continues: WMG Booms 13.3 Percent

Paul Resnikoff

September 3, 2009

Got volatility? Those trading in Warner Music Group (WMG) are now experiencing a few ups-and-downs, and Thursday presented a 13.3 percent pop. The half-point advance pushed shares back above $4 to $4.42, potentially a crawl towards the psychologically impo... Read More...

The Latest on Pandora: Revenues Slated to Hit $40 Million

Paul Resnikoff

September 3, 2009

Pandora is on schedule to reach revenues of $40 million this year, according to recent comments by founder Tim Westergren. But profitability? In a discussion with the Wall Street Journal, Westergren noted t... Read More...

Album Sales In August: Not a Pretty Story

Paul Resnikoff

September 3, 2009

How long does this story go on? Surprisingly, the latest CD death-watch report comes from Billboard, typically a label cheerleader. According to an analysis published Thursday, US-based album sales tanked 18... Read More...

Kickstarter's Drip Rebooted Platform Scrapped Following Lack of Funds

The Timbaleak: Why Big Producers Often Mean Big Leaks

Paul Resnikoff

September 3, 2009

The leak of Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 was big news this week. The highly anticipated album slipped nearly two weeks prior to its in-store, despite tight security. And the leak, first tipped by BigChampagne, had been feared for some time. In fact, it was reporte... Read More...