Spotify apparently didn’t want to wait any longer for its launch in Germany, which came two weeks before the service is having its final negotiations with rights holders group GEMA. The final deal with GEMA could determine how much music Germans will get for free. Read more »
Spotify is launching in Germany within the next two weeks, according to German media reports. The streaming service already has an office in Berlin. It also recently hired a PR rep for the country, which in the past has been a difficult market for music services. Read more »
The debate over whether artists get enough money from streaming played out in public last week when EMI and Spotify executives failed to win over two skeptical EMI acts during an industry seminar… Read more »
KeepRecipes is launching an “iTunes for recipes” on Friday, in hopes of building an online marketplace for buying and selling culinary ideas. It’s starting small, but KeepRecipes hopes to show cookbook publishers they can make money online and consumers that some recipes are worth paying for. Read more »
SOPA is too extreme to be a practical solution, according to Tom Gimbel of Austin City Limits, but he believes we need a policy that encourages online creativity and economic growth while also protecting intellectual property. It’s not as exciting to advocate for a compromise, but that’s what’s needed. Read more »
It’s been close to a year since LimeWire was forced to shut down its file sharing platform. LimeWire’s website has since been reduced to a single splash page – but it’s still attracting more than a million people a month looking for free music every month. Read more »
Online TV viewing is about to get a whole lot more complicated soon, as Fox.com and others are introducing pay-TV walls that force consumers to authenticate themselves as paying customers. It’s like DRM for online video — and, once again, consumers are getting screwed. Read more »
The Spike Jonze short film scenes from the suburbs, featuring music by Arcade Fire, was scheduled for a worldwide online premiere Monday. However, arthouse movie site MUBI got a last-minute request to block viewers from the U.S., Canada, Germany and Australia from accessing the video. Read more »
Want to enjoy all the fun of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival but not suffer through any of the downsides? Then you’re in luck: All major acts of the festival can be watched though a live stream from the comfort of your living room. Read more »
Rumors have been flying that Apple is deep in negotiations with record labels and publishers to secure the rights necessary to provide a cloud-based music service. But why does Apple need to negotiate anything? Here’s a basic guide to the murky waters of music licensing. Read more »
Want to watch Duran Duran, The Strokes or The National at Coachella, but didn’t get a ticket in time? Don’t worry, you don’t have pay thousands of dollars to shady ticket resellers on Craigslist: The festival will be live streamed for free on Youtube as well. Read more »
Vevo will soon be available in the U.K., and the music video platform is already looking to expand into additional international markets, with the Middle East being on top of the list. So why can Vevo pull off what Hulu and Netflix can’t? Read more »
