Prince angers retailers by giving album away free
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Rock star Prince gave his latest album  away free on Sunday with a British tabloid, to the fury of  music retailers.
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The musical gear retailer packs it up to go private.
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Apple's iTunes music download service is accused by the Consumers' Association of overcharging UK users.
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A report into the habits of iPod owners reveals they prefer free music to tracks they have to pay for.
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Pop star Prince said Thursday that he plans to sue social video site YouTube, online auction site eBay, and file trading site Pirate Bay in an attempt to reign in piracy of his work on the Internet.
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Free Record Shop, a Dutch music  retail chain, beat Apple Computer Inc. to market on Tuesday  with the launch of a new download service in Europe's latest  battleground for digital song services.
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Pop star Prince is forced off stage by police during a late-night gig in his home town of Minneapolis.
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A live album by rock band Deep Purple is withdrawn from sale after the lead singer asked fans not to buy it.
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British tabloid The Mail on Sunday gives away three million copies of Prince's new album, Planet Earth.
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Fashion Wire Daily - Fashion Wire Daily October 25, 2004 - NEW YORK - "Are they giving away free stuff?"
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Blog: The musician seems to be acknowledging the demise of the old CD-focused business model by giving his new album away with a U.K. newspaper before releasing it to the rest of the world.
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Two record store owners who have been friendly rivals for Harlemâs music dollars for almost two generations are on the cusp of being forced out of business within weeks of each other.
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Arts & entertainment: Leading classical performer to offer digital download free of charge
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(InfoWorld) - Just because three major online music retailers bind their music stores to specific portable players doesn't make it acceptable, a Norwegian consumer group leading the charge against Apple's DRM (digital rights management) policy says. "ITunes Music Store and others are unfair to consumers no matter how many download services follow the proprietary approach," wrote Torgeir Waterhouse, a senior advisor at The Norwegian Consumer Council, in response to a letter written by Apple CEO Steve Jobs andÂ posted on the Apple Web siteÂ on Tuesday. Jobs examined why DRM exists and discusses alternatives to the current set-up in his open response to calls for Apple to allow users to buy songs from the iTunes store and play them on any device. Norway's consumer representative hasÂ threatened legal action against AppleÂ for violating Norwegian law by limiting iTunes customers to playing their music only on iPods. Consumer groups in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France, and Germany haveÂ joined Norway's complaintÂ against Apple. Jobs points out that Microsoft and Sony also sell music that can only be played on their players, supporting a model that serves customers well with choice and a continuing stream of innovative products. He also suggests that groups like Waterhouse's "redirect their energies" toward convincing the music labels to sell music without DRM, technology that aims to restrict how buyers can copy or use the music. The four biggest record labels forced Apple to employ a proprietary DRM system as a condition of the agreement that allows Apple to sell their music, he said. Ideally, he said, the labels wouldn't require DRM. "This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat," Jobs wrote. While Waterhouse agrees that the record companies carry some fault for the situation, the iTunes music store and others like it are ultimately responsible. "They're still the company that's selling music to the consumers and are responsible for offering a fair deal according to Norwegian law," he said. Still, with his letter, Jobs' appears to have stirred up some additional pressure on the record labels to change their DRM policies. EMusic.com Inc., which claims to be the second largest music download site, only sells DRM-free music from thousands of independent labels. But the site would like be able to sell music from the four biggest labels. "We are hopeful the remaining four will one day join [the independent labels] by licensing their complete catalogs and reap the benefits of consumer demand," David Pakman, president and CEO of eMusic, wrote in a response to Jobs' letter. Even though Jobs didn't hint that a solution might be impending, Waterhouse appeared to see a glimmer of hope. "If this means that Apple is willing to the kick the lock in technology from the [iTunes/iPod] combination this is really good news -- news that should be put into action as soon as possible to bring us all one important step closer to a well functioning digital society," he wrote.
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Glastonbury organisers take action against customers selling tickets on eBay by requesting they are removed.
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The hundreds of Phish fans who were turned away from the band's farewell concerts earlier this month have been given an apology and the promise of a free gift.
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A consumer's group said Wednesday it has complained to government regulators about the cost of downloading music from Apple's iTunes system.