Quantcast
HITS Daily Double

DOT DOT DOT COM

Dragging The Commodore Vic 20 Generation Into The Net Age
On Friday (6/23), the major labels filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against music search engine MP3Board.com, seeking to shut down the Web site for enabling Internet users to download recorded music for free. BMG Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Bros. Records and other labels alleged in a counter suit that the MP3Board Web site's links to thousands of other sites that give Internet users access to download copyright-protected music. The suit comes three weeks after MP3board.com sued the RIAA. "Somebody f***s with me, I'm gonna f*** with them," said RIAA chief hilary rosen',390,400);">hilary rosen',390,400);">Hilary Rosen. "Big ups to my crew. Can't front"… Former Arista Records VP of Product Management Adam Sexton has been named Chief Marketing Officer of Supertracks, an online music distributor. Other recent appointments include Allen Grazer, VP of engineering; Amelia Bryant, senior director of distribution programs; and Mandy Barton, senior business development analyst. "Supertracks continues to attract top talent from the music and technology industries, despite the competitive landscape for recruiting in a workers' market," said Pete O'Dell, COO and Co-founder of Supertracks. "We tried to get clive davis',390,400);">clive davis',390,400);">Clive Davis, but we couldn't close. Sexton was a close second—he worked with him, you know"… With a mandate to look out for the songwriter, online digital rights management and clearinghouse company Audiosoft has introduced a secure new technology that ensures that copyright holders worldwide can receive accurate royalty payments for music played or downloaded on the Internet. Audiosoft's copyright and data reporting system, called Audiosoft Tracking Master, captures, organizes and delivers information about music usage on the Internet, tracking both performing rights and mechanical rights. Audiosoft can also provide feedback and customized reports for labels, copyright collection societies, online music retailers and audio Webcasters. Audiosoft's data gathering architecture is designed to be compatible with all digital music file formats and major industry platforms. When more than 14 people are interested in paying for downloads, all this stuff should be very useful… Lycos announced a new feature on its Lycos Sports destination: The Lycos 50 Most Searched Athletes list. Female tennis star and all-around babe Anna Kournikova topped the list, tallying more than twice as many searches as basketball icon Michael Jordan. "I'm thrilled to be getting The Lycos 50 Most Searched Athletes Award," said Kournikova. "It's very flattering to know I have fans out there who are interested in what I am doing and where I am playing." Yeah, that's what all the searching is about. We all want to know where she's playing. Of course that's it. We're just big tennis fans… Launch Media Inc. and imix.com have announced a strategic marketing partnership, making imix.com the exclusive provider of customized music CDs and music video DVDs for Launch. The two companies will create a co-branded site, capitalize on the strengths of both companies and fire their publicists if their stock doesn't spike… Musicblitz introduced its new Fan Edition concept, a record release designed to create value beyond the music and connect artists directly to their fans. Fan Edition gives fans a peek behind the scenes of the album as it's being made, thanks to streaming video episodes. There are also band diaries, in-studio photos and MP3 downloads. Fans will also have the chance to purchase a new CD prior to its general release. The inaugural Fan Edition will focus on the forthcoming release from The Presidents (formerly known as The Presidents of the United States of America). "Because most people don't know the band is still around, or couldn't care less what they were doing, we figured The Presidents were an ideal choice for the first Fan Edition," said a Musicblitz spokesman. "That way we can have a low-profile soft launch to work out the bugs." Musicblitz also announced a distribution deal with Koch International. Koch will take care of all the land-based retail distribution for Musicblitz artists. …

TAGS: yes