Van Halen reunite

Van Halen announced additional California dates for their reunion tour...

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Digital Music Sales to Overtake Physical by 2011 in Western Europe

Digital music sales are forecast to overtake physical sales in Western Europe by 2011 according to a report from Sweden-based market research firm Berg Insight.

The firm expects digital sales to offset the decline in physical sales and push the European market back into growth beginning next year.

The total European music retail market value forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.5%, from $11.5 billion in 2007 to $15.7 billion by 2012.

"Music enabled handsets already outsell portable music devices massively," said Berg Insight telecom analyst Hanna Hallberg.

"We expect that the handset is going to become the primary portable listening device."

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Defendant Awarded in RIAA File-Sharing Lawsuit

A woman sued by major record labels for copyright infringement on file-sharing networks has fought the charges, and been awarded attorneys' fees in the case.

Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) member label Capitol Records sued Debbie Foster for copyright infringement, but it was found that Foster's name was on an account used by her children, and the RIAA moved to have the case dismissed.

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Great Classic Heavy Metal Social Networking site

Recently, I came across a great social networking web site for heavy metal enthusiasts.
If you love Metal bands like Iron Maiden, Twisted Sister, this site is for you. It features message boards, contests, audio and videos.

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Canada Added to List of Piracy Havens

The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), which represents U.S. software, music, movie and video game firms, has asked the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to add Canada to the U.S. "priority watch list" of countries considered havens for piracy, which includes China, Russia and Venezuela.

The IIPA said that Canada must update its copyright laws and increase enforcement.

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Napster Exclusive Music Subscription Service for AOL

AOL announced on Friday that it has named Napster as the exclusive music subscription service provider for its AOL Music site, replacing AOL Music Now, which claimed 350,000 paid subscribers.

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Online Music Stores Select ClickandBuy for ePayment Methods

Three independent online music stores have selected ClickandBuy for its international digital payments platform. The merchants are Icarus Music Store, Gambit Music Group and BeatRecords.

ClickandBuy’s international digital payments platform is available in 13 European countries and the U.S.

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