In January, the social web radio service Last.fm announced that it was going to introduce the Artist Royalty Program which would give royalties to unsigned artists every time their songs are played through the site’s ad-supported streaming music feature or Web radio.
Today, the program has finally launched and over 450,000 tracks have been uploaded already in conjunction with the launch. Everyone who uploads music has the option to sign into the Royalty Program.
“We’re leveling the playing field by offering them the same opportunities as established bands to make money from their music,” Last.fm co-founder Martin Stiksel said in a press release. “The young musician making music in a bedroom studio has the same chance as the latest major label signing to use Last.fm to build an audience and get rewarded.”
Not everyone is happy with the new program however. Merlin, the international rights body that represents 12,000 independent labels feels the program does not “pay artists retroactively for past plays and is vague as to what rights the license gives CBS/Last.fm regarding uploaded music.”
A Merlin statement made the following points:
* The Program announced (yesterday) does not appear to offer any compensation for any past illegal use of repertoire. It is unclear to us whether or not the terms and conditions of the Program are intended to prevent master owners pursuing such compensation.
* As you will be aware, we have for the last few months been negotiating with Last.fm regarding a non exclusive blanket license and a settlement agreement on behalf of Merlin members. Unfortunately, these negotiations have stalled - in particular due to Last.fm’s unwillingness to properly address its illegal infringing activity.
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Mobistar SA, the cell phone carrier, has announced that it will be launching the Apple iPhone 3G unlocked in Belgium to satisfy regulation.
In the region, “koppelverkoop”, forced bundling, is forbidden and Mobistar will satisfy that regulation by offering the phone unlocked but for a premium over which users in other European nations pay for the phone, locked. The 8GB will sell for €525 and the 16GB version will sell for €615.
In nations like Germany and the Netherlands, users can purchase the smaller capacity model for €1 as long as you purchase the phone with a 2 year mandatory contract.
“The price will be above that in other countries,” Chief Executive Benoit Scheen said in a news conference. He also added that Belgian regulations do not allow phones to be sold at a loss, meaning the carrier is getting the phones at an expensive price to begin with.
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Good Old Games, a European gaming company, has announced that it will begin allowing gamers to access and download old PC games that are very hard to find legally or have been abandoned.
The company will provide titles from as far back as the early 80’s and in a downloadable format that is completely DRM-free. The games will also be reasonably priced, ranging from $5.99 to $9.99 per title. Also, once you have purchased the title, you can download it whenever you want, all the times you want.
This new model seems very attractive for the consumer, especially those who want to revisit games that haven’t been available in stores for 10 or even 20 years. The fact that they do not have DRM and are attractively priced make the situation all that much better.
