DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS

Google Launches Google Play To Offer Digital Music, Movies, Books   Finally, Google has lifted the edge of its tent and launched its rumored single-destination digital media store designed to put music, books, movies, and games all in one spot on the Internet. The new service, known as Google Play, is seen as a attempt to build a powerful entertainment hub on par with Apple, Amazon.com, and Microsoft. The search giant said in a statement that users can store up to 20,000 songs for free and buy millions of new tracks, download more than 450,000 Android apps and games, browse ebooks. and rent movies. The venture combines Google Music, Google Books, and Android Market, and visitors to those sites will be redirected to a single page that features individual tabs for all these products. "This is a smart move (for Google) to position itself as a content provider," SearchEngineLand.com editor Danny Sullivan observed. "Google now has an offering that can rival iTunes." And Gartner Media analyst Michael McGuire added, "This is a crucial step Google had to take to keep competitive. Google is trying to simplify delivering to consumers something they will pay for or load onto their device. Anything Google can do to streamline that is important. Google has more Android devices in the world, but I don't think it's paying out as much to people who create apps or content." (Full story: Los Angeles Times)

Pandora Posts Larger-Than-Expected Loss While Listenership, Revenue Jumps   Maybe size doesn't matter after all. While Pandora's online usage and audience grew during it's financial fourth quarter (November 1-January 31), increased revenues were not enough to offset increasing royalty costs and other expenses. The company's Q4 Total Listener Hours jumped to 2.7 billion, a 99% increase vs. the same period last year, while revenues grew to $81.3 million, a 71% increase vs. the previous year's Q4. Ad revenue growth outpaced subscription dollars, growing 74% to $72.1 million (vs. 51% and $9.2 million for subs) in the quarter, but the company still posted an overall quarterly loss of $8.2 million, missing most analysts' expectations. "On a typical weekday, we now stream half a billion songs," Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy commented in a statement. "Pandora continues to rapidly disrupt the radio industry and has only just begun to realize the potential of our $37 billion U.S. market opportunity." Many analysts were skeptical, however, and Pandora's shares slid after the quarterly financial were released. (Full story: company statement)

EMI-ReDigi Suit To Determine Resale Value Of Digital Files   Can something that doesn't exist except for a digital string of ones and zeros actually be owned...and then resold? That's the overriding question at the foundation of EMI Music's lawsuit against ReDigi, a case that many legal scholars are watching closely to see how the U.S. courts will treat ownership of digital products, and a purchaser's right - or lack thereof - to sell it when he or she tires of it. At issue, as stated in EMI's suit: "While ReDigi touts its service as the equivalent of a used record store, ReDigi is actually a clearinghouse for copyright infringement and a business model built on widespread, unauthorised copying of sound recordings." But ReDigi CEO John Ossenmacher insists his company restores a basic right of ownership - the right to resell things you've bought - to digital media. "ReDigi is to digital goods as eBay is to physical goods," he says, noting that the company is ready to launch a redesigned version of their website this week. Meanwhile, U.C. Berkeley School of Law professor Jason Schultz observes that, "potentially, this court could decide if consumers have any rights at all over their digital music, books, or movies. It could completely redefine the contours of the digital marketplace." The lawsuit, which was filed January 6, is set to go to trial August 17. (Full story: Herald Sun)

The Orchard And IODA Merge Into Super-Indie Distributor   The Orchard and IODA, widely considered two of the largest independent distributors of digital music, are merging into a "super indie" firm to be known as the Orchard. The new company will instantly have $130 million in annual revenue, as well as established deals to release the music of thousands of labels and music groups. Ownership will be split between Sony and Dimensional Associates, the investment group that currently owns the Orchard. Further terms of the deal were not disclosed, but "unnamed sources" report that Sony, which has a majority stake in IODA, will buy out the rest of that company and eventually own more than 50% of the new Orchard. Interestingly, last week indie distributor INgrooves announced it was buying Fontana, the independent distribution branch of the Universal Music Group and retain a link with Universal for distribution of CDs. INgrooves' revenue is expected to climb to about $135 million as a result of that deal. (Full story: New York Times)

NPD: Number Of Music Buyers Grew 2% To 78 Million In 2011   The total number of music buyers increased for the second consecutive year, growing 2% in 2011 to 78 million vs. 2010, while the number of paid download buyers increased 14% last year to 45 million customers. That's the key finding from NPD's new imaginatively titled "Annual Music Study," which shows that digital music purchasers also spent more at iTunes Music Store, Amazon MP3, and other digital music stores in 2011, as the average annual expenditure for digital tracks increased 6% in 2011 to $49. After years of decline, total music track sales rose 4% percent during 2011 and, while physical CD sales slipped, the decrease was not as severe as in past years, and was offset by the paid music download market. The NPD study also indicated that the fastest growing form of music listening was online radio, whose listenership has jumped from 29% of the total Internet population two years ago to r43% in 2011. Interestingly, 13% of Internet users downloaded music from a person-to-person file-sharing (P2P) site last year, down from a peak of 19% in 2006. "Industry efforts to combat illegal file sharing, and increased options for listening and downloading legally, have resulted in a sharp reduction in the number of P2P music downloaders," NPD SVP Russ Crupnick commented in a statement. (Full story: Hypebot)

AccuStream: Online Music Radio, Track Play Grew 50.5% In 2011   According to a sector analytics report issued by AccuStream Research, the number of hours spent listening to Internet music radio and track play increased 50.5% in 2011 to over 1.3 billion monthly, while advertising and subscriptions grew a combined 64.3%, vs. last year. The report, encumbered with the long title "Internet Music Radio and Track Play Growth 2012 - 2014: Listening and Monetization Analysis," details how online streaming's forward momentum accelerated in 2010, delivered strong results in 2011, and is expected to continue on a strong growth track in 2012. "For the first time, sector revenue growth outpaced that of radio and track play listening hours," the report states. "The sector achieved $293.7 million in gross media spend (all format executions, including audio, video and display), with another $171.7 million in subscription revenue. The total market is forecast to rise 78% in 2012." Additionally, the mobile component to music and track play hours rose by 222% in 2011 vs. 2010, accounting for 41% of the total. This means that non-PC listening to Pandora is 70%, while 50% of Slacker listening is done via a mobile device. (Full story: All Access Music Group)

Corbis Launches GreenLight To License Music For Professional Use   Seattle-based Corbis, best known for its photo-licensing operation, has launched a web-based music licensing exchange designed to let professional users (e.g., commercial producers) quickly clear the rights to songs owned by the major record labels. The new company, GreenLight Music, will take a fee ranging from 10 to 20% of each transaction. According to GeekWire, more than 1 million songs are available through GreenLight Music, with some of them - many from past artists - available at set prices, while more current music from contemporary musicians requires the prospective buyer to enter an "offer price." GreenLight is a natural extension of Corbis' licensing business and could be a boon for record labels, which have struggled to deal with a decline in revenue sparked by the rise of digital music. As EMI Music VP Brian Monaco this week told Reuters, "It's our responsibility to find new and innovative ways to help EMI's artists achieve the success they always dreamed of. We're committed to finding ways to simplify the sync licensing process." (Full story: All Things Digital  eConsultancy)

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! And now...join us for Al Bell Presents American Soul TV here.