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MySpace began, in part, with the notion of building a bridge between music fans.  Two years ago, the News Corp company made plans for the logical extension: a full service digital music store.  Now, a lawsuit and a long wait later, the 30million plus music listening members (that’s 30m that listen to music on the site) out of their 110 million subscribers will get just that.

This morning, MySpace announced the formation of a standalone joint venture officially called MySpace Music.  In the words of CEO Chris De Wolfe it will be “the marriage of the world’s biggest collection of music to the world’s most popular music community.”

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In the world of Web 2.0 and social networking “open” is the new black; it’s the “it” trend.  On the same day that Yahoo shook hands with Google and MySpace to join their Open Social programming specification, and the same day Microsoft announced a broad data portability pact with 5 other social networks, digital music network iMeem announced they were launching an open platform of their own.

The iMeem service, dubbed a “Media Platform” aims to go further than other offerings.  Click to Read More

Spring is in the air.  It’s “March Madness,” the time for college basketball’s big tournament. Predicting the outcome has the odds-makers busy.  If they can find some time, they might be equally challenged forecasting another unpredictable event that’s generating March Madness of its own: the digital licensing of the Beatles’ song catalog.

For more than a year the Beatles arrival at iTunes has been an imminent (and recurring) headline grabber.  The prophesies began in January 2007 when Lovely Rita played during the announcement of the iPhone.   They gained credibility when the trademark suit between the two Apples (Apple Inc. and Apple Records) was settled in February.  In June, the speculation surfaced again with the phone’s launch.  Again with new iPods introduced in September.  Then in January, like Punxsutawney Phil it popped up for Mac World only to see its shadow and disappear anew.

Last week, the conclusion of Sir Paul McCartney’s tabloid-fodder divorce fueled a new round of rampant speculation.   Several reports citing sources close to Sir Paul claimed a deal, possibly worth hundreds of millions, was imminent.  Apple summarily dismissed the claims.  "This is not news nor is it a scoop," said their spokesman.

Now there’s a new rumor, a new twist, and this one is much more plausible than the tabloid’s absurd suggestions Sir Paul was driving a deal to seek cash for the divorce settlement.  Click to Read More

Warner Music Group has made some recent staff changes at the roles marching them into the digital age.  They’re also expanding their list of distribution partners with a deal struck between UK digital media shop 7Digital and Warner’s International division.

Effective starting today the entire Warner Music Catalog including music from Jackson Browne to James Blunt to the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be available without Digital Rights Management encryption in the UK, Ireland, France, Spain and Germany.

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Statistics and comparative numbers hit the airwaves and headlines of business news every day.  “The price represents a 39% premium over the prior day’s close.” “Total U.S. gaming sales were up 18% over the same period in the prior year”  EBITDA. Market Share.  Off. On.  Positive. Negative.   Today’s grabber was an announcement from retail tracking firm NPD that Apple surpassed Best Buy to become the number two music retailer (offline and on) in the U.S.

Boiled down, it seems there is a number to tell any story, or as often, support any argument.   But what might these digits look like in perspective?   Outside the microcosm of tech, or media tech, what do some of the statistics translate to?

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Tech Crunch is reporting what’s left of digital music wholesale service Snocap has been sold to the Web 2.0 social music service Imeem.  A formal announcement, they report, is coming later in the week.(UPDATE: It took months not weeks for an official announcement but as of April 7, 2008, the news is now official. See the bottom of the article for updated terms)

Snocap, which aimed to be a licensing conduit for music, has been diseased and for sale for some time.   Despite deals with MySpace and other vendors, they were a casualty of the DRM Wars; never able to grab much marketshare.   Rumors have consistently put them one foot from the dead pool for months.

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A new effort by the major music labels to distribute their own music online may be in trouble before it even launches.  According to reports circulating Thursday, Sony BMG and Vivendi’s Universal Music Group have both received letters of inquiry from the Department of Justice over their planned “Total Music” service.   (Early reports suggested the other Big 4 labels (EMI and Warner Music) were also contacted but their spokespeople have apparently denied any involvement).

Not a lot is known about what “Total Music” will entail.  The most common theory is that it will be a new breed of music subscription service.  By this theory, unlike current equivalents from Napster and Rhapsody, or the now shuttering Yahoo Music Unlimited, “Total Music” won’t Click to Read More