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New Media News Every Morning

Sony BMG Music Entertainment joins Nokia Comes With Music

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Nokia revealed that Sony BMG Music Entertainment has officially joined Nokia Comes With Music, a revolutionary way for people to discover and enjoy music with their Nokia device.

People who buy a Nokia Comes With Music device will have a year of access to the Sony BMG rich catalog of music. Consumers will be able to download tracks to both their mobile device and computer through the Nokia Music Store during the first twelve months that they own their Nokia device.

At the end of the one year period, they can keep their downloaded tracks and, should they purchase a new compatible device or computer, they can transfer their downloaded material by substituting their new device or computer for the original devices. As a result, music fans who participate in the Comes With Music experience will be able to keep their downloads on their device and/or computer for the rest of their lives.

Consumers will have a number of attractive options for continuing to get new music after the Nokia Comes With Music subscription is over: they will be able to continue to purchase additional tracks from the Nokia Music Store, or move on to a Nokia “unlimited access” subscription service to enjoy new releases and catalog tracks not downloaded during the initial year.

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Originally posted on April 22, 2008 @ 10:09 pm

PluggedIn launches entertainment website with 10,000 major label music videos

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PluggedIn announced the launch of its beta website, offering free to consumer streaming of the highest quality music videos available anywhere on the web. The new entertainment website features over 10,000 HD and broadcast quality music videos from EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, and other major and independent labels. The website offers more than one million Artist Profiles, and is powered by an innovative new media player that supports high-definition full-screen video playback with no buffering and DVD-like controls, a multimedia search engine and fan-centric community features. The website is also launching with over 1 million Artist profiles.

PluggedIn is also announcing a strategic partnership with leading entertainment and artist management company, Overbrook Entertainment. Overbrook, whose principals are world famous actor and musician Will Smith, and entertainment industry veterans James Lassiter and Ken Stovitz, is investing both its capital and resources into PluggedIn’s groundbreaking product.

Originally posted on April 16, 2008 @ 11:43 pm

SpiralFrog appoints music industry veteran Russ Rieger to executive team

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SpiralFrog, Inc. announced the appointment of Russ Rieger to the newly created position of vice president of strategic initiatives. In this role, Rieger will be responsible for securing and maintaining strategic partnerships within the music, media and advertising industries. Rieger brings 25 years of expertise in entertainment marketing and artist management. His deep knowledge of all aspects of the music business will further SpiralFrog’s ability to create a community for brand marketers to connect with music enthusiasts in a meaningful way.

Rieger comes to SpiralFrog from Pipeline, the entertainment marketing firm he founded to help major brands take advantage of new media platforms. While at Pipeline, Rieger oversaw a range of services, including e-commerce, promotion, event marketing, licensing, merchandising and artist relations, for Fortune 100 companies.

Originally posted on April 17, 2008 @ 10:05 pm

Buzznet acquires music blog Idolator

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Buzznet has acquired Idolator from Gawker Media. Idolator is the web’s second most popular music blog, providing insightful commentary on all aspects of music, including highly regarded music reviews and recommendations.

Idolator will continue to maintain its own editorial direction under the guide of founding editor Maura Johnston. The deal will enable Idolator to deliver expanded offerings that will bring its readers even more of the daily music news, content and offerings they love.

Originally posted on April 14, 2008 @ 10:19 am

U2 to join Live Nation

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Live Nation announced that the company has reached an agreement in principle to enter into a 12-year global contractual relationship with U2, who will join the company’s Live Nation Artists roster.

By expanding the scope of its activities with touring artists, Live Nation Artists unlocks value to increase economic benefits to artists through the creation of innovative new products, and delivery and distribution channels for music and other content. Operating within this new model, Live Nation Artists serves more than 1,000 artists through its array of services, including global touring, merchandise and licensing, sponsorship and strategic alliances, recorded music, studios, media rights, digital rights, fan club/websites (UltraStar, Musictoday), marketing and creative services to facilitate direct artist to fan connection.

Live Nation is dubbed as the future of the music business. With the most live concerts, music venues and festivals in the world and the most comprehensive concert search engine on the web, Live Nation is revolutionizing the music industry: onstage and online.

Originally posted on March 30, 2008 @ 12:32 am