Label:Life

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has rejected calls by independent record labels for an inquiry into the combined UK download and CD singles chart.

An OFT spokeswoman said there were not “reasonable grounds to suspect” that competition regulations had been infringed by last month’s chart merger.

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) had asked the OFT to investigate the Official Charts Company’s actions.

AIM claimed the chart was unfair as few key retail outlets sold indie music. [more @ www.bbc.co.uk]

The BPI is making moves to back the concept of legitimate P2P file sharing networks by supporting a seminar which will feature a presentation of ‘legal ’ filesharing software being developed by a company called Mashboxx. The new P2P utilises the track-tracking technology being developed by original Napster founder Shawn Fanning through his company Snocap. Mashboxx is also run by a former key player in the unofficial P2P community – Wayne Rosso – formerly of controversial unregulated P2P network Grokster.

The BPI are keen to point out that backing the Mashboxx presentation is not a major u-turn in policy – they have never objected to the principle of P2P file-sharing, just the operation of unregulated P2P networks that enable mass copyright violation. BPI boss Pete Jamieson explains: “It is a myth that the record industry is somehow anti-filesharing or anti-technology.
What we are against is people taking our members’ music without permission.
We will actively support all authorized initiatives that respect copyright.” [more @ www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk]

This week’s pick is the newest mix from Swedish Techno don Adam Beyer : Fabric 22, released on Fabric this week.

‘Fabric 22’ blends the best in Swedish techno talent – Joel Mull, Cari Lekebusch and Adam himself – with internationally acclaimed artists like Steve Rachmad, Reinhard Voigt and Josh Wink. The opening track – Wighnomy Brothers’ remix of Slam and Tyrone Palmer – captures the spirit of the mix perfectly: established names meeting the new and less known.

Using subtle mixer effects, quick cuts and long blends, Adam brings us a stunning selection of the very best in European techno. Check it out Here and visit www.fabriclondon.com.

Online music service Napster Inc. and Dwango Wireless on Monday unveiled a pact to offer music ringtones and other features in a new service that Napster hopes will widen its reach.

The mobile phone service, called Napstertones, allows users to download ringtones made from popular songs for $1.99 to $2.99, and is the first ringtone offering provided by an online music download or subscription service, Napster officials said. [more @ www.reuters.com]

Apple’s online iTunes Music Store (ITMS) has sold more than 400m downloads.

Tucked away in yesterday’s press statement announcing new Nordic local ITMS operations, ITMS chief Eddy Cue said the company is now selling more than 500m songs a year. It passed the 350m mark last month. [more @ www.theregister.co.uk]

Warner Music Group Corp. will find out this week if investors are singing its tune as the world’s fourth-largest music company tries to woo them with a $750 million initial public offering.

Warner Music, home to recording artists Madonna and Green Day, is going public as the music industry has stabilized somewhat after a protected slump and the U.S. IPO market is awakening after a sleepy start to the second quarter. [more @ www.abcnews.go.com]

Record company EMI has signed up to use identification and copyright management technologies from Snocap, a legal music sharing network created by Napster founder Shawn Fanning, in an attempt to accrue new revenue streams for its online distribution of recorded music.

According to the agreement, Snocap will provide its music tracking system and database services to make EMI’s content available via online retailers and peer-to-peer network operators. [more @ www.cbronline.com]

Mobile phone music is expected to resuscitate India’s music industry which has shrunk from Rs 1,400 crore ($318 million) to Rs 1,000 ($227 million) in the last four years.

“Mobile music now contributes around 5%. It is expected to grow to nearly 23% by 2010,” says KPMG India associate director, corporate finance, Anindya Roychowdhury. [more @ www.billboard.blogs.com]

BMI has become the latest music industry resource to embrace podcasting. The rights licensing agency is launching a series of podcasts called “See It Hear First,” which will feature new music by represented unsigned acts.

Each month, BMI will select acts to include in the virtual showcase. The first podcast will feature music from Jetpack, Astaire, somedaynew and Brendan James. The podcast will be available on the BMI Web site, and pushed to record company executives through BMI’s monthly newsletter and e-mail blasts. This month’s newsletter will feature the first podcast, the date of which will be revealed later. [more @ www.billboardradiomonitor.com]

Controversial music consultant Hilary Rosen, former Chairman and chief executive officer of the Recording Industry Association of America, is asking Apple CEO Steve Jobs to “Let my Music Go!”

“There are lots of places you can go for great music at good deals and with a deep catalog of songs from over the last 20 or 30 years. MSN.com, Rhapsody.com, aolmusic.com, even walmart.com,” said Rosen in a May 9th blog entry. “The problem is that the iPod only works with either songs that you buy from the on-line Apple iTunes store or songs that you rip from your own CD’s. But those other music sites have lots of music that you can’t get at the iTunes store. So, if you have an iPod, you are out of luck.”

Rosen wants Apple to open up iPods to files sold with Microsoft’s DRM technology. According to Rosen, “I know Steve Jobs is a god…..but keeping the iTunes system a proprietary technology to prevent anyone from using multiple (read Microsoft) music systems is the most anti-consumer and user unfriendly thing any god can do.” [more @ www.podcastingnews.com]