DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS

Sony Proposes $7.95 Million Settlement In Digital License Suit   As was widely reported this week, Sony Music has agreed to pay its "legacy artists" a total of $7.95 million to settle numerous digital royalty disputes stemming from the "Eminem decision" last year. Specifically, these older artists - led by the Youngbloods and Shropshire - will collect unpaid royalties on digital licenses from the pool of funds, minus lawyers' fees of $2.65 million. As noted by Digital Music News (no relation to this publication), that leaves $5.3 million for all Sony/Arista artists who do not wish (or cannot afford) to pursue lawsuits of their own. Of that $5.3 million, $5 million is reserved for artists who sold at least 28,500 total downloads on iTunes between January 9, 2001 and December 31, 2010. Qualifying members would split that $5.3 million pro rata to the number of downloads of their records; any artist who was signed to Epic, Columbia, or Arista Records who sold more than 28,500 is eligible to join the class if they entered into agreements between January 1, 1976 and December 31, 2001. The balance of the money, only $300,000, is reserved for all Sony artists with fewer than 28,500 total downloads on iTunes. The Allman Brothers and Cheap Trick already settled their cases, exempting them from this proposed settlement, which still needs to be approved by the judge presiding over the class lawsuit. (Full story: Digital Music News) Pandora'S Kennedy Says Growth Will Come From Mobile   It's all about mobile. Essentially, that's Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy's view of his company's future, explaining in an interview with The Street that, while Pandora's desktop-based Internet radio revenue has increased, the real growth for the online music service is in mobile listening. "The mobile advertising market is poised to grow from $1 billion in 2010 to $20 billion in 2015," he explained, noting that the company makes 6 cents per listener hour on desktop, up from 2 cents, and the long-term business model is better now than it was at the time of the company's IPO in the summer of 2011. In fact, despite the arrival of Internet start-ups like Spotify, Kennedy does not see real competition from them. "Pandora is all about being the best personalized radio experience in the world," he said. "Spotify is the modern day equivalent of leasing a record store." Pandora recently reported fourth-quarter earnings that came in well below analysts' estimates, losing 3 cents per share on revenue of $81.3 million for the three months ended in January. First-quarter guidance predicts revenue of $72 million to $75 million. (Full story: TheStreet) Google Play, Amazon Engaged In Digital Album Price Wars   In today's era of escalating oil prices most people have forgotten the days of gas wars, with station owners actually dropped their prices in order to compete. In a twist on that theme, Google and Amazon are engaged in a similar battle, this week listing such digital albums as Lady Antebellum's "Own The Night" and Coldplay's "Mylo Xyloto" for just 25 cents. The discount pricing comes just as the Google Play marketplace launched, consolidating Google Music with digital books, games, movies, and apps - and implementing a daily 25-cent album deal called the "25¢ Play of the Day." As reported by Billboard, Amazon MP3 soon followed suit through its Daily Deal, which puts a release typically below the $5 mark as well dozens of monthly $5 albums. With the price cut, the online retailer is seeing huge jumps from the marked-down releases with the sales of "Mylo Xyloto" up 7,400% (according to the Amazon Movers & Shakers chart), landing it at the top of the "MP3 Albums: Top Paid" best sellers chart. Interestingly, the price war has carried over to ebooks, as Amazon has been quietly matching Google's discounted book prices. (Full story: Billboard.biz) Billboard Hot 100 Now Includes On-Demand Stream Data   Billboard revealed this week that it will be incorporating spins from the on-demand streams of Spotify, Rhapsody, Muve, MOG, Slacker, and Rdio to assist in determining chart position for songs. The publishing and data company also announced a new chart for the top on-demand streaming tunes, with the first chart debuting yesterday (March 14). The change is a joint effort between the magazine, Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, and the National Association of Recording Merchandisers. "With some of these services growing exponentially and integrating into the social web, the time is right to launch a streaming chart and to incorporate this activity into the Hot 100," commented Bill Werde, Billboard's editorial director. Nielsen has been tracking digital music streams since 2005, and says in the first 70 days of 2012 it captured 4.5 billion audio streams. That includes 494 million songs during the week that ended March 4, compared with 321 million in the week ended Jan. 1. Note: Nielsen does not track Pandora, which does not provide data on its personalized radio streaming service. (Full story: Los Angeles Times) Rdio Announces Redesigned Social Platform For Digital Music   Rdio announced at the SXSW conference in Austin that the music service has been completely redesigned to provide a social component that allows users to share music more easily on Facebook, Twitter, or via email. In a hype-filled news release distributed at an invitation-only presentation, Rdio said the new service features a "new look and feel that puts music and people front and center," and places users' music, playlists, and networks in one streamlined view. "Rdio has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to design," Malthe Sigurdsson, VP of Product, said inthe statement. "With the new Rdio, we've gone even further, making it simpler, faster, and more beautiful to create an experience that's all about music and people. Listening to user feedback, we've made Rdio bigger and better with new features that really make discovery fun. This is more than just a redesign; the new Rdio transforms the boring, spreadsheet-like way of consuming digital music into something visual and dynamic. This new platform will allow us to continue breaking new ground." (Full story: company statement) 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.