Tapulous strikes deal with Universal Music Group for iPhone game music
Guitar Hero may reign on the video game consoles. But Tapulous rules the rhythm music game business on the iPhone.
In recognition of that, the major Hollywood music company Universal Music Group has struck a partnership with Tapulous to bring Universal’s musicians to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Tapulous makes the Tap Tap Revenge series of games that have been installed on about 11 million of the 40 million iPhone and iPod Touch devices sold to… Continue Reading
YouTube, Universal Music teaming for Vevo, a.k.a. MTV 2.0?
Universal Music Group and Google-owned video supersite YouTube are close to striking a deal to create a standalone site for music videos, according to anonymous sources cited by CNET News.com and the Wall Street Journal. The site would be called Vevo (uh, what?), it would be the largest music video site online, and it would probably attract much higher advertising rates than YouTube.
I don’t think this is something users were crying out for — I… Continue Reading
SanDisk and record companies launch slotMusic, or albums on flash cards
SanDisk and the record companies are launching a new music format today dubbed slotMusic. The company hopes music companies will publish entire albums on SanDisk flash memory cards that are smaller than a postage stamp and are expected to replace the music CD.
In an age of downloadable music, the new slotMusic format for distributing MP3 songs is a long shot. But it has heavy-duty support. SanDisk has been trying out the idea for a number… Continue Reading
Mobile music to play a key role in the 3G iPhone?
As Apple chief executive Steve Jobs likes to remind everyone, the iPhone is still an iPod — in fact, the best one Apple has ever made. With this in mind, Apple is apparently pushing to make music a central part of its upcoming 3G iPhone release.
Apple is in discussions with the major music labels about expanding music services on the device, according to The New York Times. The hope is that some new agreement can… Continue Reading
Universal to remove anti-piracy technology
The Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music label, plans to sell a significant portion of its catalog without copy protection software for at least the next few months, according to the New York Times.
It’s one more sign that the industry’s united stance behind digital-rights management anti-piracy technology may be falling apart.
Universal will offer the rights-free music through retail services like RealNetworks, Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, Google, and other sites, the Times said, but won’t be offered… Continue Reading
Bolt hosed, shows the risks of video
GoFish, a video-sharing site much like YouTube, has acquired another video site, Bolt, to save that company from lawsuits that threatened to sink it.
The $30 million transaction, first reported by the NYT, is reportedly being used by New York’s Bolt to pay a settlement of “several million dollars” to Universal Music Group, which had sued Bolt for copyright infringement. (See merger filing here)
Thus ends the topsy-turvy ride of Bolt, the company started in 1996 to… Continue Reading
Finally, the video lawsuits come — prep for wider war?
Universal Music Group, whose artists include U2, Mary J Blige and Mariah Carey has finally made good on its threat to sue — filing against online video sharing sites Grouper and Bolt for allowing users to swap pirated versions of its musicians’ videos.
These companies are smaller than YouTube, and thus are easier targets for Universal, which might be seeking to use these cases as precedents for a wider fight– regardless of any short-term licensing agreements… Continue Reading