DOT DOT DOT COM

Digital rights management company Reciprocal has signed a deal to report downloaded purchases of singles to Soundscan. Officials from both companies will attend meetings in disguise and speak to each other entirely in code…The best things in life are free, and that's not just Napster's corporate motto. The Silicon Valley-based Radiate is offering free, ad-supported MP3 players. The netco recently parnered with MyNetMedia, the engine behind players from Sony, TEAC, AltaVista and others. "Our ultimate goal is to show all segments of the entertainment community how to harness the Internet for the economic benefit of their art," proffers Radiate CEO Ehren Maedge. "Or at least meet Britney Spears"… You say free's not good enough? Soundom.com will pay listeners for hearing its music. The plan is to have users download a plug-in to Winamp or Windows Media player. The plug-in feeds advertisements to the player in both audio and banner form and then sends song information to a central server. Ad revenue will be split among listeners, artists and Soundom. We were hoping a "Soundom" was a musical birth-control device. Now that would be worth downloading… MCY.com will be Webcasting the Ozzfest tour's September 2 show in San Bernadino, CA. Through the magic of the Internet, the concert will be available "later in the fall." The site will also be offering downloads of individual songs from all 22 of the bands featured on the tour. The tracks will be available "before Ozzfest 2002"…On Monday (7/3), Napster starts presenting its defense against the RIAA and the National Music Publishers Association's preliminary injunction in US District Court in San Francisco. Download those Lil' Kim tracks now, just in case… And in fine Dot Dot Dot Com tradition, today's MP3.com news: The company is creating a service that allows artists and labels to create their own "channels." Customers can subscribe for $9.95 a month and listen to an unlimited amount of music on the channel—as opposed to paying per download. Revenues will be spilt 50-50 between artists and RIAA lawyers.