MUSIC NEWS

Grooveshark May Seek Identity Of "Whistleblower" In UMG Lawsuit   As has been reported widely over the past few weeks, much of Universal Music Group's lawsuit against Grooveshark is based on the comments of an anonymous individual, posted on Digital Music News [no connection to this publication], claiming to be a somewhat disgruntled Grooveshark employee and outlining claims of copyright infringement at the company. If this turns out to be true, the posting could destroy any safe harbor protection Grooveshark says it is due because it is not liable for songs uploaded into its library by non-employees. UMG referenced the comments heavily in its lawsuit against Grooveshark, which the company says it will fight. The big question - and one that Grooveshark apparently intends to get an answer to - is the identity of the anonymous commenter to assess his or her credibility. To that end, Grooveshark has strongly hinted that it may seek a subpoena requiring DMN to divulge the identity of the poster. In correspondence with the online publication, Grooveshark parent Escape Media Group stated, "The anonymous comment in your publication, and related information, may be important to the lawsuit. As a result, [we] must request that you preserve all electronic information and any other records related to that comment, as it can be reasonably anticipated that either Grooveshark or Universal may find it necessary to subpoena such information as the case progresses." [Full story: Torrent Freak] Competition From Spotify, iHeartRadio Is Slowing Pandora's Growth   This week Pandora announced it is closing in on the 1 million active user sessions mark, just as shares of the popular Internet radio service slipped 34.9% for the month, and almost 45% below its June IPO price. This comes despite the fact that Pandora surprised analysts by actually posting a small quarterly profit, as revenue doubled to $75 million year-over-year and total listener hours grew 101% to 2.1 billion. During the quarter of 2011 its audience grew 65% to 40 million, and share of total Internet radio grew from 53% to 66%. So...why the slide in stock price? Two reasons, in fact, according to Forbes: Spotify and iHeartRadio, both of which are gaining popularity [and listeners] in the U.S. "Registered users appear to have flattened out sequentially," analyst Richard Greenfield wrote in a recent research note. "Pandora stated that competition was having no impact on their business. [So] in turn, how do they explain the rate of growth change in registered users in such a short period of time?" While a quarterly snapshot doesn't provide the same overview as an annualized picture, Greenfield suggests that growing competition is flattening Pandora's expansion rate. [Full story: Forbes] Spotify Launches "App Store" To Compete With Apple, Amazon   Spotify co-founder and chief executive Daniel Ek yesterday announced the launch of several Facebook-type apps in order to differentiate the music service from other digital music companies, including Amazon and Apple. The apps will allow outside individuals and companies, including  music magazines, to launch a channel on Spotify, enabling users to read album reviews while listening to the latest songs. The Spotify store is expected to work much the same as the Apple App Store, allowing developers to create independent apps for the service, although each one will be subject to Spotify's approval. "It's going to be like the Apple model," Ek said at a news conference in New York. "We want to make sure the quality of the apps we get in is really, really high." The Spotify apps will be free and available to both paying subscribers and users of its free, ad-supported version. For now, the apps will work only on desktop and laptop computers, not on smartphones. However, some apps will create playlists that users can access on smartphones, including ongoing playlist "subscriptions" that will update regularly across all platforms. However, the apps will play only within Spotify's own software, and won't export or "syndicate" songs to other programs or Web pages. "You can't pull music out of Spotify," Ek clarified. [Full story: Wall Street Journal] Google, Amazon Do Battle With $1.99 Pricing On "Cyber Monday"   Seeking to draw some attention on "Cyber Monday" [Nov. 28], Google Music priced 13 frontline album titles at $1.99, leading Amazon to hit that same price point while iTunes ignored the ploy and maintained its higher prices. By Tuesday Google had pulled back from the loss-leading pricing, but Amazon retained the $1.99 price until mid-afternoon, when the on-sale albums reverted to more standard prices. One record label executive told Billboard.biz that "Google was just trying to make some noise for Cyber Monday and draw attention to their newly launched service ... and Amazon responded and showed that they are not going to let Google beat them in price." None of the labels whose albums were priced at $1.99 gave either merchant any price break, noting that both Google and Amazon are free to price product at whatever price point they choose. However, the $1.99 pricing for certain albums - depending on release date - violatesBillboard's new pricing policy for the Billboard 200 chart, meaning the magazine will not include the unit sales of any new title that sells for less than $3.49 within the first four weeks of availability and for the full holiday season for any Christmas title priced below that threshold. [Full story: Billboard.biz] iHeartRadio's Custom Stations Will Be Ad-Free Through Q3 2012   Clear Channel Radio has announced that the "new" version of iHeartRadio will extend its commercial-free programming on its custom stations through the first quarter of 2012. "The new iHeartRadio has exceeded our expectations and, more important, those of our fans, since it launched in September at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas," Brian Lakamp, president of Clear Channel Digital, commented in a statement. "It offers our listeners everything they want from a digital radio service in one completely integrated, free experience. Because custom stations are only a feature of the new iHeartRadio, we have the luxury of being able to extend our commercial-free Custom Stations until April 1." iHeartRadio offers over 800 live-broadcast and digital-only radio stations from 150 cities, plus the aforementioned commercial-free user-created custom stations that provide listeners a large library of songs, advanced music intelligence, user control, and social media integration. [Full story: news release] Google's Unsigned Artist Hub Highlights Demand Issue   One of the features included in the new Google Music is the "Artist Hub" that allows unsigned bands to create a profile and sell music directly to fans - but is it too similar to what Amazon MP3 already provides to be earth-shattering? That's what DashGo founder/ president Ben Patterson asks this week in All Things Things Digital, observing that the "Hub" would be "unprecedented only if Amazon MP3 didn't already offer this via their CreateSpace entity, and if TuneCore and about a dozen other services didn't offer this already, via their own platforms for iTunes and other digital music retailers." Still, through Google Music, artists can sell direct to fans while retaining 70% of the retail price - after paying a $25 upfront fee. One caveat is that this offer applies only to unsigned artists [signed artists can't bypass their label contracts] who generally have no presence, no support, no marketing, and no financial backing. "They can use their music however they choose, but they don't have demand," Patterson says. "The 'Artist Hub' is another place they can spend 15 or 20 minutes and $25 online hoping to sell to fans." [Full story: All Things Digital] Emerge Media Launches Bands.com  To Provide Music Sales Platform Interactive development company Emerge Media has launchedBands.com, a "one-stop shop for bands looking to create a digital presence." Designed to eliminate online management issues and give bands a 100% free means of selling music downloads and merchandise, Bands.com allows band members to set up a single profile to aggregate and manage all of the spaces they currently participate in, and provide a simple platform from which to sell their music and merchandise. "We saw a need that no one else was filling, and we jumped at the opportunity," Emerge Media CEO Anthos Chrysanthou said in a statement. "Building a website is expensive, and maintaining dozens of social profiles is time-consuming. We wanted to give bands a viable alternative that allows them to spend less time and [fewer] resources managing their online presence." Emerge Media is an Internet company headquartered in Chicago involved with such online presences asCing.com and Womens-Health.com. [Full story: PR Web] Al Bell Presents American Soul Music ... And American Soul TV If you're into classic and contemporary Soul, R&B, Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Hip-Hop Soul, Rap Soul, and Neo-Soul, we invite you to listen to Al Bell Presents American Soul Music. Former Stax Records owner and Motown Records Group President Al Bell personally has programmed this awesome radio station online, presenting your favorites from the 1960s and '70s [and some '80s], a lot of the best new music that's being released today, and some real gems you haven't heard in a long, long time. Come to www.AlBellPresents.Com  and hear it for yourself!