iTunes Changes Its Tune: Apple has announced that it will cut the price it charges for music downloads in the UK from its iTunes music store within the next six months. Apple currently charges 79 pence per download in the UK, compared with 99 euro cents (74p) in the rest of Europe.

The European Union Pushes for Single Market in Web Media: Brussels says it will “encourage” the content industry, telecom companies and Internet service providers to work closely together to provide consumers with better access to music, TV, films and games via mobile phones or the internet.

‘We have to make a choice in Europe: Do we want to have a strong music, film and games industry? Then we should give industry legal certainty, content creators a fair remuneration and consumers broad access to a rich diversity of content online,” said media commissioner Viviane Reding.’

Changes: EMI has tendered a conditional resignation from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry – the global trade lobbying group for the music business. The working group of major-label executives is discussing the consolidation of music industry trade groups—particularly the merging of the IFPI and the RIAA. (Billboard)

Debt Jam: According to sources Def Jam records may be in serious money trouble. Sources says the founding Hip Hop label is almost 100 million in the hole and needs serious selling records. Idolator points out to the low budget feel for the new Janet Jackson video.

How low are the record companies willing to go on prices? The major labels have a deal with Amazon that allows them to fluctuate the price for MP3’s rather than being held hostage to iTunes where each and every song is priced the same. Most songs on Amazon sell for 89cents. There has long been a school of thought in the industry that lowering prices substantially devalues music, and that’s been anathema to music executives who see so much of their music downloaded and swapped for free. (Business Week)

XM Ends Marketing Pact With Starbucks: Both XM and Starbucks have ended a marketing pact that included music promotions in the coffee chain’s stores and CD’s sold with both companies’ logos. Starbucks said the channel, which used to be Starbucks Entertainment Channel on XM channel 75, has been renamed Starbucks XM Cafe and is on XM channel 45.

Signings: Nashville alternative act AutoVaugh has signed with Epic Records. Listen to ‘Rock Your Body’.

Downloading To Own is Losing Out: After years in which paid downloads saw little traction, Hollywood is focused on ad-supported streaming in ’08. “People online want to watch for free, because they can get content for free via piracy,” said Fox digital media prexy Dan Fawcett. “Downloading to own and keep on a PC seems to be losing out. People like to watch on an impulse.” (Variety)

Coldplay To Leave EMI? Some sources claim Coldplay could pack their bags and walk out the same door as Radiohead. According to tabloid reports, the band could make forthcoming album Prospekt their last new material for EMI by fulfilling their five-album deal with a Best Of collection next year. Although KOAR cannot confirm the report its certainly likely that Coldplay may have riff with EMI whose gone under new leadership. (Guardian UK)

Its Finished: Sony BMG would become the last of the top four music labels to sell songs without the copyright protection software that has restricted the use of music downloaded from the Internet.

Dumb and Dumber: The World’s Dumbest File Sharer, Jammie Thomas, who became the first person to go to court in a P2P case was dumped by her lawyer who foolishly advised her to make a principled fight of the matter in court – thereby turning what would have been a $2,000 tax into a candidate for bankruptcy. Her Lawyer is cutting his losses and will no longer represent Jammie. P2P site TorrentSpy notes that Toder was a maritime law specialist and describes his performance as “a frankly lacklustre non-existent defense”.

The Register says…

“Can there ever have been a more empty and worthless cause than fighting for the right for artists not to be paid? I suspect that one reason for the lack of popular support for Thomas may be that when it comes to getting stuff for free – we’ve never had it so good. With so much cultural material available for nowt over the internet, only a sentimentalist or the chronically impatient net user ever has to pay for anything again. And the price for this is merely an ever-falling broadband fee.

Christmas Download Surge in UK: Sales of single track downloads increased from 52.5 million in 2006 to 77.6 million, according to the British Phonographic Industry. CDs still dominate with 95 per cent of all album sales on physical formats. Nearly three million tracks were bought in a record week, one million up on the equivalent period in 2006.

Idol Champ Dropped: Some break and some don’t. American Idol champ Taylor Hicks has been dropped by J Records. Clay Aiken will most likely be released as well in the following year.

Label Market Share – courtesy of Digital Music News..

Universal – 31.9%
Sony BMG -Â 24.9%
Warner – 20.28%
EMI – 9.37
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Trent Reznor Finds Results Disheartening: NIN frontman Trent Reznor recently distributed an album by Saul Williams, an outside project via the Internet. The model is similar to Radiohead, ‘Pay What You Want’. Trent released the results and was shocked to see that most fans don’t like paying for things if they don’t have to.

As of 1/2/08,
154,449 people chose to download Saul’s new record.
28,322 of those people chose to pay $5 for it, meaning:
18.3% chose to pay.

Of those paying,

3220 chose 192kbps MP3
19,764 chose 320kbps MP3
5338 chose FLAC

Keep in mind not one cent was spent on marketing this record. The only marketing was Saul and myself talking as loudly as we could to anybody that would listen.

If 33,897 people went out and bought Saul’s last record 3 years ago (when more people bought CDs) and over 150K – five times as many – sought out this new record, that’s great – right? I have to assume the people knowing about this project must either be primarily Saul or NIN fans, as there was very little media coverage outside our direct influence. If that assumption is correct – that most of the people that chose to download Saul’s record came from his or my own fan-base – is it good news that less than one in five feel it was worth $5? I’m not sure what I was expecting but that percentage – primarily from fans – seems disheartening.” (Read the Trent Full Trent Blog)

Jay Z To Partner With Apple? Rumors are spreading across the net that Jay-Z may launch a new record label with Apple where music releases would take place on iTunes.

Ten Likely Scenarios: Business Week discusses Ten Likely Events in 2008. Among those include CD’s, Social Networking Sites and Web 2.0. – we couldn’t agree more with the prediction.

Facebook Fatigue
Social network fatigue will set in as people tire of getting yet another invitation from so-called friends to join yet another social network. And, in the wake of Facebook’s fumbled social ads initiative, it will become even more apparent there’s no obvious way to pitch products on these sites without turning off members. Social features will wend their way into all kinds of Web services, from search to news, but the gold rush in social networks themselves will begin to wane.

Web Crash 2.0
If a recession finally hits, Web 2.0 companies will find there are neither enough ad dollars out there for all of them to survive on, nor enough big corporate buyers such as Google, Microsoft, and traditional media companies to buy them all out. What’s more, venture capitalists may decide that momentum looks better for clean-tech investments than for Web startups that depend on a cyclical business like advertising. So more will join the “DeadPool,” as the Web startup blog TechCrunch calls its list of failed companies.

Fox News columnnist Roger Friedman brutally ripped into Warner Brothers: “Warner M. Group (the M used to stand for Music, now it’s Millstone) finished Wednesday at a new stock low: $5.81. A year ago, before it was totally pillaged and raped by its owners, WMG was at $23.92. If it were a weight loss program, WMG would be a hot deal. (Suggested name: Weight Management Group.)”

“Recently, one Wall Street analyst downgraded WMG based on declining CD sales and lack of interest in the medium. The analysts don’t seem to get it, so I will spell it out again: WMG’s lack of CD sales is not because of downloading or sudden public apathy about pop music. It’s because in order to gut out remaining revenue, WMG ceased being a music company and simply committed suicide. It’s that simple.” (Full read here)

Lastly..

KOAR will be UNLEASING new artists in the upcoming month. It will be worth the wait…