Labels

Spotify has struck its first licensing agreement with one of the four largest record companies and is closing in on a second deal, but what is it costing the European music service to open up shop in the United States?

The answer is plenty. The impasse that has prevented Spotify from acquiring U.S. music rights for more than a year has forced the streaming service to make significant concessions to the record labels, multiple music industry sources told CNET on Monday.

Not only has Spotify sweetened its financial offer to the top labels, but the streaming-music service has agreed … Read more

Google is getting closer to debuting a music service, according to multiple music industry sources who spoke to CNET on condition of anonymity.

Google Music could launch as soon as next month, wrote Brad Stone of BusinessWeek in a story last week. My music industry sources say, however, that it is highly unlikely for Google Music to debut that soon and predicted that because Google still has to negotiate some very complex licensing agreements, it will take months rather than weeks for the service to get off the ground.

Another holdup is that each record company has a different view … Read more

Do Spotify executives believe Apple had anything to do with their company's inability to make the leap to the United States?

In an interview given last month but not published until Monday, Faisal Galaria, Spotify's chief of global business development, sure gave that impression. Galaria made it clear that he didn't know whether Apple tried to derail Spotify's U.S. launch, but he also took the time to show how Apple was in position to pressure the labels into declining to license music for Spotify U.S.A.

"If you were iTunes, what would you … Read more

The debate over whether General Motors is violating the American Automobile Labeling Act (AALA), by not including window stickers that identify where the cars are made, continues.

We reported on Friday that the Made in the USA Foundation claims GM is willfully misleading consumers by leaving out labeling that identifies where the cars were made.

Joel D. Joseph, chairman of the Made in the USA Foundation, said in a release on Friday, "General Motors wants to hide the fact that, even after the government bailout, it has moved production of vehicles offshore. The Cadillac SRX is now made in … Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that a lawsuit, filed by a group of online music buyers who allege the four largest record companies conspired nearly a decade ago to fix prices of songs sold online, can now move forward.

The high court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by the labels--Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Group--to block the suit, according to reports by Bloomberg and Reuters. Instead, the decision by a federal appeals court that the plaintiffs had supplied enough evidence to sue the labels will stand.

The lawsuit by … Read more

LAS VEGAS--One year ago, the Best Buy-exclusive Toshiba Satellite E205 snagged our attention at CES 2010 with its striking design, impressive features, and most of all, its position as one of the first laptops with Intel Wireless Display.

The Satellite E305-S1990 announced today is this year's update, featuring a second-generation Intel Core i5-2410M processor and the next generation of Intel Wireless Display, which now supports 1080p video streaming. The Blue Label laptop remains a Best Buy exclusive, and it costs a little more, at $1,089. A slot-loading Blu-ray drive now comes standard, along with a 7,200 rpm … Read more

Apple has finally rolled out the 90-second samples on songs that are longer than 2.5 minutes, sold in the United States, and that iTunes has managed to equip with the longer preview.

Some bloggers and iTunes users have questioned why longer previews don't accompany every song. As first reported in August by CNET, Apple approached the top four recording companies last summer about the longer samples that iTunes users can hear to test-drive songs before buying. Researchers say that longer song samples stimulate sales.

According to several music industry sources, Apple has only acquired licenses to the longer … Read more

commentary Daniel Ek says he can't commit to a launch date for Spotify USA.

Too late. Ek, Spotify's founder and CEO, did commit. Maybe he forgot that he and his underlings have repeatedly said the launch of a U.S. version of Spotify, a popular European music service that offers free streaming songs in addition to a subscription offering, would open in the United States before the end of the year.

What Ek knows and isn't saying is that Spotify will miss that deadline, just as it has missed other launch dates.

As of last week, Spotify … Read more

CNET Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg joins us for another Friday episode of The 404, and there's a lot to discuss, including a new trailer for the upcoming "Back to the Future" video game, Steve's encounters with John Lennon, Andy Warhol, and Warren Beatty in the 1970s, how to convert stereo into 3D sound, and more earbud advice for Wilson's freakishly small canals.

Steve tables his usual list of audio-related speaking points to tell us about his celebrity encounters while working at an East Village movie theater in the 1970s. He begins with a story about an awkward encounter with John Lennon and Yoko Ono just two years after the Beatles split, then tells us why he cussed out pop art star Andy Warhol, and finishes with a brutal rebuff from Warren Beatty! When's the book coming out, Steve?

We're going to record a special yuletide episode of The 404 entirely dedicated to the "Back to the Future" trilogy, but we can't wait any longer to show you the debut trailer for the upcoming "Back to the Future" video game!

It's a five-part game that picks up on the adventures of Marty and the Doc as voiced by Emmett Brown himself, Christopher Lloyd! The first part entitled It's About Time comes out this month, part two called Get Tannen! comes out in February 2011, and parts three and four--Citizen Brown and Double Visions, will drop in March and April, and the finale Outatime doesn't have a release date just yet. It's only available for download on PC/Mac, iPad, and PSN--sorry XBox fans!

I swear that today is the last you'll hear about Wilson's tiny ear canals, because I think we found a solution. I reviewed the Monster Jamz headphones for CNET last month and ran into similar fit issues, so the company sent me its SuperTips Sample Pack of gel and foam tips that comes with a variety of alternate shapes and sizes. With Steve Guttenberg's help, we'll finally solve this mystery!

Just after the break, Steve tells us about a professor at Princeton University who converts stereo into 3D sound! Edgar Choueiri is the director of the Engineering Physics Program and a rocket scientist, but he also happens to be an audiophiliac and set up a special 3D sound room using two closely spaced speakers and his revolutionary 3D Pure Stereo system. Check out the Audiophiliac blog for more details.

One last thing before we take off: Gknee is one of the valiant chatroom moderators for CNET TV and keeps the #CNETFans channel SFW (with the help of DAKlives).

She's celebrating a birthday on Monday, so happy birthday in advance Gknee, and a personal thanks from Jeff, Wilson, and me to all the CNETTV moderators who volunteer their work for the love of the game--we couldn't do it without you guys!