warner music

Entertainment

Sony Ericsson Adds 5 Million New Tracks to PlayNow Arena

5:34AM Mark Wilson | We all knew that Sony Ericsson would be expanding their PlayNow over the air music service and dub it PlayNow arena (and no, for whatever reason “arena” is not capitalised). Today it’s official, and as expected, Sony Ericsson has added TrackID to the service, allowing users to ID and snag songs off of radio broadcasts. More »
Entertainment

Amazon MP3 Service Going Global; Epic iTunes Battle on the Horizon

11:15PM Haroon Malik | Amazon’s digital music catalogue is all set to go global, and although a launch date has not yet been settled, it shall hit sometime this year. Given Amazon MP3 offers DRM-free tracks, which are generally cheaper than iTunes limited, equivalent offerings, we cannot help but think an epic battle between the big As is all set to take off. More »
Entertainment

Amazon-Warner MP3 Deal Details Confirmed

6:30AM Matt Buchanan | Just talked to sources at Amazon and Warner Music Group about their DRM-free MP3 retail deal. In case you were wondering, we have confirmed that Warner is not watermarking the files to keep track of them. Incidentally, Amazon wasn’t aware of whether or not it would happen, saying that “in some cases the labels provide [Amazon] with audio files that they apply some watermarking to”. Here’s more on the catalogue availability and other pressing concerns: More »
Entertainment

Amazon Now Selling MP3s from Warner; 2.9 Million DRM-Free Tracks Now Available

10:16PM Wilson Rothman | Amazon just kicked a certain Cupertino-based company where it counts, scoring DRM-free MP3s from Warner Music Group that you can buy today. This leaves out only the big S, Sony, which is always the last to cave in when the topic is reduced content protection. By contrast, Apple, which helped usher in the DRM-free music initiative, is only selling iTunes Plus tracks from EMI. Stay tuned, though, as that could change at any minute. Jump for full press release. More »
Entertainment

Amazon and Wal-Mart Push Labels to Ditch DRM Once and For All

1:54AM Adam Frucci | Even if the remaining major labels who have yet to ditch DRM are dragging their feet on the road of inevitability, major online retailers don’t feel like waiting around for them to finally do the deed. Wal-Mart has reportedly made an ultimatum of some sort to major labels demanding that they start selling in MP3 so the retail giant can add them to their upcoming MP3 store, which, coming from a retailer of that size, should get their attention. And as we reported on Friday, Amazon plans to give away one billion MP3s with an upcoming Pepsi/Super Bowl giveaway. More »
Entertainment

Warner Music Profits and the Sky Are Down, Digital Sales and Pigs Are Up

6:15AM Matt Buchanan | As much we like to joke about the new music economy stripping rappers of their fourth Bentley and downgrading their 60-inch plasmas to 42-inchers, Warner Music actually did take a hard beating this past quarter, losing almost $US7 million in profit versus last year’s—more than half, for a take of $US5 million. While profits were down, digital sales shot up 25 percent to pull in $US130 million, though that didn’t particularly mollify the industry-wide 14 percent plunge in CD sales this year. Raise your hand if you’re shocked, shocked. More »