• XM and Sirius continue to talk about a potential merger.
• According to the LA Times, revenues from digital downloads and mobile content is expected to be flat or, in some cases, decline next year. Rather than pushing the panick button industry some executives are pushing for the right to sell digital downloads as unprotected MP3s. Revenues from digital music has not made up the loss from the declining physical CD sales. Revenue from digital music has yet to offset losses from still-declining CD sales.

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YouTube was supposed to deliver the great news on saturday. The news was to deliver a system to prevent piracy of copyrighted music. But the phone never rang and they disappeared into oblivion ready to celebrate the new year. Another broken promise.

The agreement between Warner and YouTune is to create and install an “advanced content identification and royalty reporting system”. Warner agreed to let YouTube distribute its library of music videos, artist interviews, and other content and allow people to incorporate the music from its catalogue into works they create and post on the website. YouTube vowed to have a piracy-prevention system in place by year’s end as a caveat of the “first-of-its-kind” alliance to sell Warner music and share the revenues.
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Missing the self-imposed deadline would be a big stumble for YouTube, but it could recover its footing by getting the system in place within a week or two, according to industry analyst Michael McGuire of Gartner Research.
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“It is hugely important, especially from the rights holders’ perspective, that the best efforts are being made to corral the stuff flowing through YouTube,” said McGuire.
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“Rights holders are making specific bets on paths of distribution and are expecting serious effort to make uncontrolled distribution difficult for most folks to do.”
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Google and YouTube are not at a point where they can compensate for potential piracy problems by cashing in on the video-viewing audience, according to McGuire.

Apple Computer: iTunes visits skyrocket on Christmas Day
Apple iTunes website on Christmas Day was up 413% when compared to last Christmas as new iPod owners ran to the web to download iTunes, according to Hitwise. Overall, the iTunes website increased by 1,222% in the same period, and outnumbered visits to Zune.net by 30 to 1. Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise said “Competitive offerings have not yet succeeded in capturing the attention of music listeners, and the surge in visits to the Apple Store shows that iPod owners are also engaged in filling and accessorizing their new devices.” (Briefing.com)

In other Apple News……………………..

Steve Jobs recieved 7.5 Million in stock options without Apple’s Board Approval
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, was handed 7.5m stock options in 2001 without the required authorization from the company’s board of directors. Apple is among more than 160 companies that have owned up to stock option backdating – handing options to executives and other employees at exercise prices that were set in hindsight at favourable levels – a scandal which has led to the departure of a number of chief executives. The SEC is investing into the matter. (Richard Waters)

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Shares from Apple fell by close to 2 percent in midday trading on Thursday after the revelation that Steve Jobs was handed 7.5m stock options in 2001 without the required authorisation from its board of directors.

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• Simon Cowell becomes highestpaid British TV star of all time…
  Simon signed a $20 million-a-year “golden handcuffs” deal with ITV to make him the highestpaid British TV star of all time.
• Radio’s finally roaring onto the Internet.
  It was a slow start – but now the internet streaming push of Clear Channel, CBS and others pays off. They now account for a full one-third of all unique visitors who listen to radio over the Internet. And the total unique visitors to the sites of CC and CBS stations alone now make up more than 20% of the Internet radio audience. J.P. Morgan report analyst John Blackledge says “close to 45% of all unique visitors to the terrestrial operators sites” are going to Clear Channel websites.

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• Record Labels Sue Web Site Operator
  Record labels including Arista, Warner Bros., Capitol and Universal sued the operator of the Russian music Web site AllofMP3.com on Wednesday, claiming the company has been profiting by selling copies of music without their permission.
• American Idol champ Taylor Hicks only sold 298,000 during the holiday week. Seems kind of low during the holiday week. Could it be the promotion? Promotion included 20/20, the American Music Awards, “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” “Good Morning America” and “Live With Regis and Kelly, MTV TRL. Hicks doesn’t have a single charting in the top 50.

Carrie Underwood first week sales -Â 315,000
Ruben Studdard frst week – 417,000
Fantasia’s recent release – 133,000

Clay Aiken “A Thousand Different Ways,” hasn’t topped 500,000 in the 2½ months it has been up for sale

• Viacom drops out of venture to take on YouTube
  Media conglomerates has halted the plan to form a network-backed rival to YouTube.

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