Label:Life

The deal would create the world’s biggest music company, combining Warner’s 1,000-strong roster of stars – including Madonna, REM, Craig David and the Corrs – with BMG’s talent-list of Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne and Elvis (or at least his back catalogue).

The two seem intent on consummation. The Telegraph has learned that they have agreed a 60-day period of “exclusivity” – ending later this month – during which they have abjured negotiations with any other possible partner.

However, combining the two operations is proving to be horrendously complicated. And waiting in the antechamber, just in case the talks fall apart, is EMI, the leading UK music group. [more @ www.telegraph.co.uk]

The music industry may have begun to figure out how to sell digital downloads, but making money from them is another story.

As the 99 cent (59 pence) digital singles model begins to take root across the industry through services like Apple’s iTunes Music Store, Liquid Audio, Rhapsody and a host of others set to launch for the PC this autumn, industry executives and artist representatives are questioning whether the pricing model makes sense financially.

With all parties involved angling for nickels and dimes in the average download sale, labels, artists and service providers all agree on at least one thing: no one is getting rich from singles sales at this point. [more @ www.reuters.com]

The Western Morning News, based in Plymouth, launched a campaign earlier this year against the Government’s Licensing Bill, which would make pubs pay for a special licence to put on any kind of live act.

But peers voted against those plans and want to exempt small venues – such as pubs – from requiring entertainment licences for live music.

The defeat came as the Lords debated Commons amendments to the Licensing Bill.

They voted that small premises with live music for an audience under 200 and where entertainment finishes before 11.30pm would not have to meet the requirements under the amendment. [more @ www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk]

Mobile phone operator O2 has concluded its trials of a video- and audio-downloading service for mobile phones, saying the tests showed consumers would be willing to pay to download news clips, sports updates and movie trailers.

The telco is also making progress on a separate service that will allow consumers to download complete song tracks on to a digital music player and has signed up several major record labels, according to a report. [more @ news.zdnet.co.uk]

The Recording Industry Association of America’s announcement on June 25 that it will start tracking down and suing users of file-sharing programs has yet to spook people, say developers of these applications.

“Forget about it, dude—even genocidal litigation can’t stop file sharers,” said Wayne Rosso, president of Grokster, one of several systems that allow users to upload and download files—many of which are unauthorized MP3 copies of songs published by the RIAA’s member companies. Rosso said file-trading activity among Grokster users has increased by 10 percent in the past few days. Morpheus, another file-trading program, has seen similar growth. [more @ www.washingtonpost.com]

“The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest,” according to the architect of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson.

Given that sentiment, it’s tempting to think Jefferson would have approved of a new Web-based repository intended to close what the site’s developers describe as an ever-widening gap between citizens’ ability to monitor the government and the government’s ability to monitor its citizens.

Researchers at the MIT Media Lab unveiled the Government Information Awareness, or GIA, website Friday. Using applications developed at the Media Lab, GIA collects and collates information about government programs, plans and politicians from the general public and numerous online sources. Currently the database contains information on more than 3,000 public figures. [more @ www.wired.com]

The recording industry’s most recent actions send a twin-pronged message to digital music fans: Downloading is fine. Freeloading isn’t.

Days after vowing to escalate attacks on piracy through lawsuits against individual file-sharers, the record business embraced legitimate downloads via a new Billboard chart that compiles sales.

While the strategies may seem polarized, both bring the industry into the digital age and closer to accepting the threats and opportunities posed by the Internet.

The move into uncharted territory recognizes the growing value of online music transactions. While CD sales in 2002 fell 8.7%, SoundScan’s non-traditional category of Internet, mail-order and concert-venue sales grew to more than 22 million units last year, up from 2.2 million in 1997. Albums sold through Internet retailers accounted for 79% of non-traditional sales in 2002. [more @ www.usatoday.com]

THE UK’s music industry publication, ‘Music week’, finally gets it’s online presence up and running. [www.musicweek.com]

Our main act is Code Indigo, whose music has been licensed to Sony Polygram, Shift and ZYX in recent years.

Code Indigo have a brand new album, “TimeCode”, set for August release. http://www.codeindigo.co.uk/main/music/timecode.shtml

AD Music are seeking worldwide licensing opportunities and/or distribution for this album and indeed their entire catalogue, in the UK and other territories. As well as the Code Indigo album, there are other recently released albums that substantially enhance the current catalogue.

Various Artists – TranceAD – Has received praise from DJs around the UK. Heady mix of Trance and Dance music from the AD catalogue.

David Wright – Walking with Ghosts – Album of the year on several USA radio stations and outlets.

Robert Fox – Underworld – Great soundtrack album.

If you would like more information, then please contact Elaine at AD Music (+44 (0) 1986 894712), and we will send copy of the afforementioned CDs.

The music industry has dramatically escalated its attack on internet file-trading networks by announcing plans to sue individuals who download copyright-protected music. However, some experts say the tactic could backfire by pushing traders to switch to newer, more anonymous networks, as happened following the demise of the original network Napster.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which represents the five biggest record companies in the world, said on Wednesday it would start recording information about “users who are illegally offering to ‘share’ substantial amounts of copyrighted music”. These users would then face civil or criminal lawsuits requesting fines of up to $150,000 each, it said. [more @ www.NewScientist.com]