digital music

Norway's leading consumer advocate wants to bring down Apple's "walled garden" between the iPod music player and the iTunes online retail store. Bjorn Erik Thon, Norway's consumer ombudsman, says he is going to ask the country's Market Council -- a ... court that has legal authority to make companies change their business practices -- to force Apple to allow competition within the iTunes-iPod ecosphere. (Source: guardian.co.uk ) Currently, Apple's iPod is the only portable device that can sync with iTunes and the iTunes store. Since its launch in 2003, The iTunes Store, Apple's online retail arm ... (view more)

"i" has been an important letter for Apple. The company literally resurrected itself when it introduced the iPod and iTunes to the world, and the quickly became the leader in digital music and digital music players. Yet, one half of the "i" team ... does not seem to be pulling its weight. A new study by Forrester Group revealed that iTunes sales have fallen by 65 percent this year. (Source: theinquirer.net ) The three month study said that 58% of the decrease was due to a fall in the number of transactions, while the remaining 17% was attributed to average size per purchase. (Source: reuters.com ... (view more)

Earlier last month, Universal Music Group signed a deal with Microsoft that gives Universal a percentage of the profits of each Zune sold. Now, Universal has set its sights on Apple, hoping to grab a slice of iPod sales. At a recent Reuters Media ... Summit, Universal executive Doug Morris revealed the company's desire to strike a deal with Apple that would give iPod royalties to the music company. "It would be a nice idea. We have a negotiation coming up not too far. I don't see why we wouldn't do that... but maybe not in the same way," Morris explained at the conference in New York City. ( ... (view more)

Microsoft has recently released Windows Media Player 11, the newest installment for Windows XP. One of the biggest changes is the Media Player's integration with "URGE," MTV Networks' digital music center. URGE's catalog offers more than 110,000 ... artists and over 2 million songs. Users can query for "instant searches," which easily narrows search results with each entry; they can also sign up to receive streaming content according to their preferences. The integration is one of the ways in which Microsoft hopes to surmount Apple's dominance in the digital music industry. (Source: toptechnews. ... (view more)

Recently, Best Buy announced its alliance with SanDisk and RealNetworks to develop a music service set for release on October 15th, 2006. (Source: tgdaily.com ) The arrangement uses RealNetworks' Rhapsody service via the Best Buy Digital Music ... electronic store. The system will be available to customers of the SanDisk Sansa e200R line of Rhapsody MP3 players. (Source: technewsworld.com ) Rhapsody is currently the largest subscription-based music service, while SanDisk is the number two producer of MP3 players (falling behind Apple). The SanDisk Rhapsody MP3 players have been reported to cost $ ... (view more)

With the North American automotive industry in a tailspin at the moment, automakers are turning to the latest and most popular technology to regain appeal. And, for anyone not stuck in a cave or buried by a landslide for the last five years, the ... clearest way to catch a techie's eye is to flash an Apple iPod -- the industry's current undisputed "Golden Toy". That's exactly what Ford, General Motors, and even Mazda are doing, as they work with engineers to integrate Apple's wares into future audio systems. Isn't this technology already out there? At this time, most iPod owners are forced to ... (view more)