Report: U.S. Music Purchases Up 2.1% in 2009; Digital is 40%
New York – U.S. music purchases were up 2.1% in 2009 to 1.54
billion albums, singles, videos and digital tracks, and digital music now
accounts for 40% of total U.S.
music purchases, according to Nielsen SoundScan’s year-end report. Overall
album sales, which includes albums and track-equivalent albums, were down 8.5%,
to 490 million. By contrast, digital album sales grew 16.1%, to 76.4 million,
and digital track sales rose 8.3%, to 1.15 billion. Digital album sales
accounted for 20% of total album sales in 2009, up from 15% in 2008, 10% in
2007 and 5.5% in 2006.
Interestingly, vinyl album sales also grew in 2009, by
33% to 2.5 million — a record for SoundScan, which began tracking music sales
in 1991. Two out of three of these vinyl albums were purchased at an
independent music store.
Among the major record labels, Universal Music Group
captured 30.2% of the total album market, followed by Sony Music (28.6%),
Warner Music (20.6%) and EMI (9.2%); independent labels accounted for 11.5% of
total album sales in 2009.
The top-selling digital song of 2009 was the Black
Eyed Peas’ "Boom Boom Pow" (4.76 million units), followed by the
group’s "I Gotta Feeling" (4.42 million) and Lady Gaga’s "Poker
Face" (4.39 million).
The top-selling digital album of 2009 was Lady
Gaga’s "Fame" (461,000 units), followed by Kings of Leon’s "Only
By the Night" (428,000) and the "Twilight soundtrack (350,000).
The
full report from Nielsen SoundScan is available at the link below.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/tzw4c
French Govt. Proposes Taxing Google to Fund Creative Sector
Paris
– A new report by the French government proposes taxing the online ad revenues
generated by Google (NASD: GOOG), Facebook and similar portals, with the proceeds going to promote
the legal sales of music, movies, books and other intellectual property on the
Internet, the Associated Press reported. The report does not yet contain any
specific tax proposals, but estimates that the taxes could eventually generate $14.3
million annually.
One proposal would see tax revenues spent to help subsidize
the cost of cards that young people could use to purchase music online, while
others would fund book digitization and making more movies available online,
according to AP.
The proposals would cost an estimated $72 million in 2010, and
$50-$57 million in following years.
Google France’s public affairs director
told AP that it will seek "cooperation between Internet players and the
cultural fields to develop new models."
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/tzvhl
(AP)
http://snipurl.com/tzvhw
(Wired.com)
Justice Dept. to Lead Antitrust Probe of Comcast-NBC Universal
Washington
– The U.S. Justice Dept. will take the lead in the government’s review of
Comcast’s (NASD: CMCSA) proposed $30 billion deal to take over NBC Universal, according to
published reports. While antitrust approval from the Justice Dept. will be
needed in order for the deal to proceed, it will also be reviewed by the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Under the terms of the deal, which was
announced in December, Comcast and NBC Universal would merge into a joint
venture, with Comcast owning 51% and NBC Universal 49%.
General Electric (NYSE: GE), which
currently controls NBC Universal, would be entitled to sell off its stake in the venture over the next seven years.
The proposed deal has drawn
criticism from a range of public-interest groups, who argue that Comcast,
already the nation’s largest cable TV provider, would gain undue control over
the distribution of video content.
Related Links:
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(WSJ)
Google Sweetens Bid for Video Encoding Firm On2
New York
– Google (NASD: GOOG) has increased by nearly 25% its offer for On2 Technologies, the video
encoding firm it bid $106.5 million for in August 2009.
The extra 15 cents per
share from Google boosts the offer to about $133.9 million, and constitutes the
company’s "final offer."
Google said that by raising its offer,
"On2’s stockholders will receive additional value for their On2 common
stock that Google and On2 believe better reflects the value that On2’s
stockholders would have received had the acquisition closed closer to the time
of its announcement in August 2009."
Following the announcement of the
deal, investors in On2 filed lawsuits in New York
and Delaware
seeking to block the deal, saying it undervalued the company, and benefitted
the On2’s management, board and employees more than investors.
Related Links:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/ir_20100107.html
http://snipurl.com/tzupa
(DMW previous coverage)
Report: Online Holiday Spending Rose 4% in 2009
Reston, Va. – Americans spent $29.1 billion online
this past holiday season, a 4% increase from the prior year, according to new
figures from market research firm comScore. "The 2009 online holiday
shopping season was a positive one as its growth rate slightly surpassed our
forecast and returned to solidly positive rates after nearly a full year of
marginally negative growth," said Gian Fulgoni, comScore’s chairman.
Fulgoni credited effective retailer promotions, guaranteed shipping offers and
an East Coast blizzard that forced many holiday shoppers to buy online.
The
heaviest online spending day of the year — and of all time — occurred on
Tuesday, Dec. 15 ($913 billion).
It was one of nine individual spending days to
surpass $800 million during the holiday season.
Cyber Monday (Monday, Nov. 30),
propelled by aggressive retailer promotions, ranked as the second heaviest
spending day at $887 million.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/tzuam
Free, Licensed Music Download Service Jamendo Seeks Buyer
Luxembourg
– Jamendo, the provider of a website featuring free music downloads, published
via Creative Commons licenses, is actively seeking a sale or merger of the
company and has held talks with at least one suitor, TechCrunch reported.
Founded
in 2000, Luxembourg-based Jamendo last raised funding in June 2007 from Mangrove
Capital Partners, but has since failed in its attempts to raise a $2.15 million
follow-up round.
Along with free downloads, Jamendo also operates an online
marketplace where music may be licensed for use in multimedia projects, and as
background music.
The company told TechCrunch the service counts 2,300 paying
customers, and generated about $430,000 in 2009.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/tzu8a
(TechCrunch)
Jive Acquires Social Media Monitoring Firm Filtrbox
Portland,
Ore. – Jive, a provider of social
media tools for businesses, announced on Thursday that it has acquired
Filtrbox, a social media analytics firm.
Financial terms of the transaction
were not disclosed.
Portland, Ore.-based Jive
said it will integrate Filtrbox’s real-time social media monitoring
capabilities into its own platform, to help businesses see what consumers are
saying about their brands in social media conversations.
Founded in 2007, Boulder,
Colo.-based Filtrbox has to date raised about $2 million in venture capital,
from backers including Flywheel Ventures and True Ventures.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/tzu4h
Motorola Acquires Video DRM Provider SecureMedia
Schaumberg,
Ill. – Motorola (NYSE: MOT) announced on
Thursday that it will acquire the assets of SecureMedia, a developer of
software-based digital rights management (DRM) and security systems for
Internet video.
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded
in 1996, Massachusetts-based SecureMedia has to date raised over $4 million in
venture capital, and was acquired by MediaXstream for an undisclosed sum in
April 2008.
The company’s DRM technology has been approved by all the major
film studios and TV networks.
Motorola said that SecureMedia will become part
of its Home & Networks Mobility business.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/tzu3l
Jelli Lands $2 Million for Listener-Programmed Radio
San Mateo,
Calif. – Jelli, the developer of
an interactive terrestrial radio service, has raised $2 million in new funding
from angel investors, VentureBeat reported.
Backers include Josh Kopelman,
Zappos COO Alfred Lin, TriplePoint Capital and Peter Sperling.
San Mateo,
Calif.-based Jelli offers a listener-programmed format for traditional radio
stations, where users can collaborate to create playlists, and vote in
real-time to take a song off of the air.
The company is currently broadcasting
a program with Live 105 in San
Francisco, and plans to offer a nationally syndicated
program in the first quarter of 2010.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/tztym
(VentureBeat)
