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Digital Digest: UMG-YouTube, Sonos, eBay vs metal
YouTube and MySpace draw the ire of Universal Music chief; Sonos upgrade incorporates Rhapsody; eBay reportedly banning black/extreme metal music.
Music exec lashes out at YouTube, MySpace
Morris to YouTube: Pay up.
What has arguably been the biggest boon to the music industry since the birth of iTunes is also a major copyright infringer, according to the head of the world's largest music company. In a speech Wednesday at the Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment Conference in Pasadena, California, Universal Music Group chairman Doug Morris called out social networking sites YouTube and MySpace, saying they "owe us 10s of millions of dollars. How we deal with these companies will be revealed shortly." YouTube is home to countless music videos for which the major record labels want to be paid. Some industry analysts have suggested that the comments were more a negotiating ploy than a threat of litigation.
"Nobody really wants MySpace or YouTube to disappear," Gartner analyst Mike McGuire told the Associated Press. "The music industry needs them too badly. They're just figuring out how to get paid." Both YouTube and MySpace are currently in negotiations with the major record companies to establish agreements that will let those companies expand their business models while paying the labels their respective licensing fees. For YouTube, the labels are likely looking to create similar agreements that exist with sites like Yahoo Music, AOL Music, and MP3.com, which stream videos and pay fees to do so.
Sonos brings Rhapsody into the living room
Sonos ZP80 system
The Sonos Digital Music System, which lets a user play music wirelessly from devices in multiple rooms through a home stereo system, announced an upgrade today that incorporates the Rhapsody subscription service. The move gives Sonos users access to the Rhapsody service directly through the Sonos system and without the use of a computer. That means users can stream music from the 2.5 million-song Rhapsody catalog, make playlists, and tag songs to add to your Rhapsody collection. Sonos is offering users a 30-day free trial of Rhapsody, which charges $9.99 per month for unlimited rental access to its catalog. A broadband Internet connection is required for the service to work, and the Sonos system costs between $650 and $1,000. Sonos said it has sold more than 70,000 of its wireless home audio systems since launching two years ago.
eBay reportedly banning black metal music
Burzum's Varg Vikirnes.
Online auction and retail giant eBay is reportedly blacklisting black metal music, saying it "doesn't permit sellers to list items that promote or glorify hatred, violence, or racial intolerance." The move first surfaced on Blabbermouth.net, which received word from Paula Hogan of Manic Music & Distribution and Candlelight Records, two companies that market and distribute artists who have reportedly been banned from the site. Abyss Records exec Dan Ferguson told the site, "I had a number of items removed and account suspended by selling black metal. It seems a group of so-called Christians have been reporting black metal bands (even though eBay has black metal as a search genre) as all racist and hateful and discriminatory." The list of artists that have seen their wares taken down by eBay include the Varg Vikirnes-fronted Burzum, Emperor, Wotanorden, 1349, Darkthrone, Mayhem, Pentheon, Armageddon, and Zyklon B, among others.
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