Music downloads

BlueBeat claims it owns copyright in Beatles tracks

Hank Risen, the owner of BlueBeat.com, which was found last week to be selling MP3s of the Beatles' catalogue for as little as 15p per track, has defiantly stated that he owns the copyrights in the songs that he's selling.

EMI filed a lawsuit against the company,...

Nokia announces Rihanna live stream event

Rihanna will show off songs from her forthcoming album "Rated R" exclusively to a Nokia audience via a globally streamed live performance on 16 November.

Due to be performed live from "a secret London location", fans can sign up to watch the live stream now...

Robbie Williams' new album gets exclusive Spotify debut

Popular music streaming service Spotify has announced that Robbie Williams' new album will debut exclusively on the service in the UK.

From Friday 6 November, the comeback album, "Reality Killed The Video Star", will be available to listen to exclusively to...

Survey claims illegal downloaders spend most on music

A survey from London-based think-tank Demos has added weight to the position held by many that file sharers are the biggest music fans, revealing that those who admit downloading music illegally spend an average of £77 per year on music, compared to £44 for people who...

Beatles go on sale online

The Beatles' entire back catalogue has found itself online for streaming and downloads semi-legally thanks to music service BlueBeat Music.

The site, which will no doubt be pulled within hours is currently offering Beatles fans the chance to own songs for just...

Tiscali offers "Music for Life"

TalkTalk's Tiscali.co.uk has joined the ranks of UK ISPs providing music services with the launch of "Music for Life", said to be a "new" music download offering available to all Tiscali users.

www.tiscali.co.uk/downloads offers access to a catalogue of over...

Google launching music service?

It's being reported that Google is planning to launch a music service imminently. A number of sources quoted by TechCrunch are saying that the company is securing content from major labels, and one source has named the offering "Google Audio".

At a time when the...

Sky Songs is now live

Sky's "Sky Songs" music subscription service, which we've dissected in detail previously, has now gone live and is available to consumers. It costs £6.49 each month, and that'll get you ad-free unlimited streaming and ten MP3s. There's also an £8 tier that gets you 15...

VIDEO: Spotify debuts improved MP3 purchases

Spotify will shortly be launching an improved MP3 purchasing experience for tracks on its streaming service. It's always been possible to buy MP3s through a right-click menu, but clicking that just opened a browser window that took you to 7digital's website.

From...

Which is the best online music service?

With Sky's announcement of the company's upcoming service, Sky Songs, we finally have proof that every man and his dog is getting in on the music scene. As a consumer, though, the picture just gets that little bit more complicated.

If you want all the music in...

Sky Songs music service officially announced

Following the news we brought you that the service was coming soon, Sky has officially announced it is to launch its Sky Songs online music streaming and download service in the UK.

4 million tracks are available via unlimited, ad-free online streaming, while...

Napster revamps UK music offering

Napster has decided to revamp its UK music offering, making it significantly cheaper than its old subscription service. The company is now offering unlimited streaming of tracks via the Web and through a desktop application for £5 a month, and it's throwing in 5 free...

BlackBerry music app unveiled by 7Digital

The iPhone has iTunes. Android has Amazon MP3, at least in the States and Nokia has Comes with Music, but until now BlackBerry and Windows Mobile users were sat in the cold.

BlackBerry's now been invited into the warm confines of the party, leaving poor old...

7digital launches in USA and Canada

MP3 download service 7digital has announced an expansion over the pond into the USA and Canada. The UK-based music company has opened websites in North America for both countries that feature content from all four major labels, as well as a host of independents.

Unlimited music service Sky Songs hits beta

It's been well over a year since UK broadcaster Sky officially announced plans to create an unlimited music service, and it's only now just about to go into a limited beta testing phase.

Called "Sky Songs", there's a website up and running now with a "coming...

Free All Music to offer ad-supported free MP3s

Free All Music is a company, based in Atlanta, which still reckons ad-supported MP3 downloads is a viable business model. The company thinks it can do better than Spiralfrog and its similar proposition, which disappeared last year, by making users pick their own adverts.

HP offers music with laptops

HP are reported to be offering free music downloads with new laptops that consumers buy. In a move that echos Nokia's questionable Comes With Music service, anyone that buys a new laptop will a scratchcard thrown in with a PIN number on it.

You can then visit...

Comes With Music subscribers get 3-month bonus

If you're a subscriber to Comes With Music, you might have recieved an interesting email recently - offering you an extension of your subscription. Nokia has been sending out messages to people whose subscriptions are about to expire, offering three months extra, free.

BT: Antipiracy efforts will cost £1m per day

BT has warned that the file sharing efforts proposed by the government and Peter Mandelson could cost the industry £1m every day. That would increase each customer's bill by £24 per year, said John Petter, the head of the company's consumer division.

The music...

Warner deal sees Vodafone 100% DRM-free from major labels

Vodafone has announced a new deal with Warner Music - the last of the big four record companies it is to cosy up with - for DRM-free music.

That Warner has now signed on the line means that Vodafone is apparently "the first global mobile network operator to...

Vodafone offers 10 free songs

Vodafone is offering its customers the chance to download ten DRM-free music tracks for free on Friday 25 September as part of its "Free Friday" series of promotions.

It seems although chart tracks will be restricted, customers can choose from over 1.6 million...

Pirate Bay buyer facing bankruptcy

It's being reported that Global Gaming Factory X has been served with bankruptcy proceedings by its former director and board member Johan Sellstrom, who claims that he's owed 1.3 million Swedish kronor - a debt which should have been paid in July.

"This is...

Beatles tracks now available to stream free online

The Beatles are finally available online! Well not quite, but UK music site We7 is offering some Fab Four tunes as sung by Sir Paul McCartney. Hit play in the box above to hear the tunes, or head over to We7.com for the full playlist.

Piracy kiosk set up in Weimar, Germany

Since the imminent closure of the Pirate Bay in its current form was announced, many have attempted to scrape the site of its contents to rebuild it elsewhere on the Web. However, one group of German fans of the filesharing site took it one step further.

It's...

Pirate Bay buyer removed from Swedish stock exchange

Brief recap for those who haven't been following this story. Earlier in the year, it was announced that Swedish software company Global Gaming Factory X would be buying the notorious Pirate Bay bittorrent tracker and attempting to turn it legitimate.

Then the...