| Singles no. 1's |
| US |
Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera
Moves Like Jagger |
| UK |
Sac Noel
Loca People |
| AU |
Gotye & Kimbra
Somebody That I Used To Know |
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| 31-10-00 |
Musicbank adds Sony Music to its online music service
Musicbank has signed a licensing deal with Sony Music adding another major record label catalogue to their online music service list. The company already signed deals with BMG, Warner Music Group and Universal Music and is said to still be in negotiations with EMI. Musicbank and Sony did not disclose details except for the fact that it is nonexclusive. |
| 28-10-00 |
New Spice Girls album available online through Napster
The Spice Girls new album "Forever" is available through Napster one week ahead of its official release on November 6. All 11 tracks have appeared on the internet, A Virgin Records staff member had intended to upload four tracks in order to provide fans with an album preview, but for some reason all eleven were uploaded and almost immediately converted by fans into MP3 format. |
| 26-10-00 |
Napster launches Macintosh version
Napster.has launched a Macintosh version of its file-exchange service, complete with exclusive features such as file search logs and drag and drop capability. A prior Macintosh Napster program called Macster, was independently developed but purchased later on by Napster. Macster users can retain their existing usernames and passwords for use on the new Macintosh Napster version.
MyPlay includes MusicBlitz catalogue
Myplay, the creator of the digital music Locker, has announced a strategic partnership with Musicblitz, a developer of exclusive new music and targeted music brands. Myplay will allow myplay members to build their online music collections with free digital music tracks. |
| 25-10-00 |
David Bowie makes missing album track available online
David Bowie will offer fans who bought his new album an exclusive opportunity to download a song that was accidentally excluded from his new album. Bowie, also known as internet pioneer, partnered with online music jukebox company MusicMatch for the offer, which enables fans who bought “Bowie at the Beeb” to download the live version of “Ziggy Stardust.” Bowie had meant the new album to feature two different live versions of the famed song, instead inlcuding one version twice. Fans that also want the second version of the song have to install MusicMatch Jukebox software in their computer and drop the CD into their CD-ROM drive. After being verified, the owner of the CD will be given an opportunity to download the exclusive live version of the song.
EMI first simultaneous release of album as download and regular CD
EMI's Blue Note Records will for the first time simultaneously make an album available through downloads as well as a regular CD with the release of Medeski Martin & Wood's new album, called "The Dropper." Liquid Audio will take care of the digital version of the album. The download price will be set by the individual merchants, which pay EMI the same wholesale cost for the download as for the physical CD.
Musicbank adds Warner Music library to its online music service
Musicbank has signed a licensing agreement to offer Warner Music songs to its online music playback service. This is the third licensing agreement with a major record label for Musicbank. Musicbank has earlier signed deals with BMG Entertainment and Universal Music Group. In addition, Warner Music took a minority stake in the company. BMG and Universal also took stakes in Musicbank in their deals. Musicbank will let users listen to songs from CD’s they already own, assuming those songs are covered by one of the licensing deals. The company also has a deal with Virgin Megastores to let users listen to their CD’s from Virgin's Web site immediately after purchasing the disc in a store.
Chumbawamba purposely samples illegally
Chumbawamba has deliberately illegally sampled music of Eminem, the Beatles, Madonna, Metallica and Dr. Dre in a new song, titled "Pass It Along." The band has made the tune available from its official website (www.chumba.com) and is encouraging people to download it and pass the song along. The song uses the riff from Metallica's "Enter Sandman" and also features clips lifted from that band's Lars Ulrich speaking out on the Napster file-exchange case. Other sampled songs include Eminem's "Real Slim Shady," Elvis Presley’s "Blue Suede Shoes" and the Beatles' "Money." The MP3 song was created as a reaction to the file-exchange controversy, according to Chumbawamba. |
| 24-10-00 |
AOL developing online music-subscription service
America Online (AOL) is developing an online music-subscription service and has started talks with record companies about possibly licensing their music for a subscription. Recent worries in the recording industry about copyrights have been put aside, as it has become clear that the service could be offered through streaming rather than downloading. |
| 20-10-00 |
New Offspring album available online after all
The Offspring's upcoming album, "Conspiracy of One," is available through Napster and a fan's website has posted 11 of the 12 new tracks. The group had planned to allow fans to download the album's tracks off www.offspring.com, but that promotion is now tied to downloading of the album's first single, "Original Prankster." The management of The Offspring said that the band were not involved in releasing the songs prematurely, and that he is not concerned about whether Sony suspects they were. The Offspring fan site www.cooltohate.com, which features all but one of the album's songs, is getting about 3,000 to 4,000 hits a day. |
| 19-10-00 |
Primitive Radio Gods make new album available for free by digital download
The Primitive Radio Gods will test the strength of file-exchange through internet by making its latest album, “White Hot Peach,” available for free download via Napster and other digital distribution services. The move was initiated after years of frustration with their label that kept them from releasing a proper follow-up to their 1996 album “Rocket.” The conventional format release of “White Hot Peach” arrived in stores on October 17. |
| 18-10-00 |
Slow Gnutella development threatens its future
Conflict from within the open-source family of developers creating Gnutella, are said to become the file-sharing network's downfall. Experts say that Gnutella in its current form is "useless,” and that “evangelists have pushed users to adopt the protocol before it is close to being ready.” "Aparently it is hard to find a file that you are looking for, using Gnutella. And as it is very easy to spam or flood the network with little or no ability to stop the offenders the file-exchange program seems doomed. Unlike Napster, which relies on centralized servers to distribute music files, Gnutella uses a peer-to-peer networking architecture that relies on users' PCs to track and forward files. But Gnutella seems to have proved that peer-to-peer networks only work well when they are small: the more computers that are logged onto a peer-to-peer network, the slower it becomes. Another disadvantage of Gnutella is the fact that it does not really have a polished and user-friendly
interface.
MP3.com signs deal with music publishers
MP3.com will pay up to $30 million to music publishers to give the online company the right to use more than one million songs as part of its internet service. Under the terms of the deal, the National Music Publishers' Association and its licensing subsidiary Harry Fox Agency will allow the songs to be used as part of My.MP3.com, which allows users to store music digitally and then access it via any computer. The agreement requires the ratification of the member publishing companies and approval by the court. Paul McCartney’s MPL Communications and Peer International Corp. also reached agreement with MP3.com. |
| 15-10-00 |
New internet music service iNoize.com offers legal music-sharing
A new web-based music service called iNoize.com has launched a new peer-to-peer distributed networking system that allows users to share music without infringing on the copyrights of music companies or their recording artists. iNoize.com is unique from other networks because it only allows sharing of music via streaming as opposed to file copying. The service allows listening to music on-demand without the copyright infringement issues that other internet services like Napster and MP3.com have to deal with. To access iNoize.com technology, users have to download a small file from www.inoize.com. Playlists of favorite songs can be created using music from other iNoize.com members and played back at anytime.
360.hiphop to be sold to BET.com
African-American internet media company BET.com is said to have finalized a deal to buy Russell Simmons' 360hiphop.com. |
| 14-10-00 |
Scour stays online despite bankruptcy filing
Online video and music file-exchange service Scour has filed for bankruptcy protection in an effort to restructure finances. The company said in a statement that despite the filing, Scour's services will remain available to internet users. Scour took the measures in order to preserve Scour's future. Last month, the company fired about 50 employees, because it was not able to find new investors. |
| 13-10-00 |
RIAA working on ID for digital music
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has announced that it has launched a new project to develop a standardized system for identifying digital files of sound recordings. The RIAA says that the new system will facilitate and accelerate the growth of digital delivery of music on the internet. Rightscom Ltd., a UK-based company that consults on digital information asset trading, will manage the project for the RIAA. Because the new ID system must integrate with existing systems and work across borders, the RIAA said that it will cooperate with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) and the member companies of those organizations. |
| 10-10-00 |
Another new U2 track available online
U2 have made another new track from their forthcoming album available for download. “When I Look At The World” is available to download as an MP3 from www.u2log.com. Earlier, a preview of “When I Look At The World” was posted on www.u2.com. All mentioned tracks are from the forthcoming album “All That You Can't Leave Behind,” which will be released on October 30.
Scour repositioning business strategy
Scour, the peer-to-peer file-sharing software, is repositioning its business strategy. After laying off
most of its staff last month after a copyright infringement lawsuit scared off investors, Scour has now inked a deal with United Devices, a Softbank-funded distributed-computing startup, which will pay Scour to help distribute United Devices' free software to the 4 million people who trade media files with Scour Exchange.
Though this deal alone may not enable Scour to realize its vision for the future of p-to-p, it will at least open the door to a revenue stream that doesn't depend on an endorsement from content owners such as record labels or movie studios. |
| 09-10-00 |
Spice Girls make preview of new song available online
“Let Love Lead The Way,” the track that will be released as a second track on the “Holler” single, is available now from the band’s official website already. The video for the track, a ballad that was co-written by producer Rodney Jerkins, is also being aired on the site (http://c3.vmg.co.uk/spicegirls). The double a-sided single single “Holler/Let Love Lead The Way” will be released on October 23. The new Spice Girl album follows on November 6.
MusicMatch launches personalized webradio
MusicMatch, inventor of the world’s first all-in-one music jukebox software, has introduced personal MP3 radio, a tool to listen to your own personalized radio station; one that knows and plays songs based on what you like. By opting in to the MusicMatch personalization service, music fans can access customized stations that match their specific music tastes with those of other listeners in the MusicMatch community, with each member experiencing a personalized selection of music. MusicMatch Jukebox provides both CD quality streaming for broadband users, and FM radio quality streams for modem users. MusicMatch has obtained required licenses from both ASCAP and BMI and is working to comply with the DMCA radio programming rules as they are developed. The beta version of MusicMatch Jukebox 6.0 is available for download now at www.musicmatch.com. |
| 07-10-00 |
Sony to launch Multimedia Jukebox
550 Digital Media Ventures, the newly formed internet investment division of Sony Broadband Entertainment, is will launch a multimedia digital management system by the end of the year. The new service will allow users to download protected media content, like music, movies and video games, into a digital storage locker, where it will be available for streaming only. The service will be called Unsurface and will mark the first multimedia jukebox owned and operated by a major entertainment company. |
| 03-10-00 |
Napster allowed to stay online a little longer
A three-judge panel has decided to allow Napster to continue its service, pending further deliberations. Apparently, the judges seem to be needing more information from the recording industry and don't really seem satisfied with the status quo, according to copyright experts. In response to the RIAA’s argument that Napster should be held liable such as when a swap meet owner is held liable for bootleg CD’s sold at his market, the judges now concluded that Napster doesn't have any idea what is being transmitted. One of the judges also appeared to question the fairness of a music industry which promotes the sale of albums over singles, as Napster's users are only getting songs. |
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