DRM Is Dead, But Watermarks Rise From Its Ashes

With all of the Big Four record labels now jettisoning digital rights management, music fans have every reason to rejoice. But consumer advocates are singing a note of caution, as the music industry experiments with digital-watermarking technology as a DRM substitute.

Watermarking offers copyright protection by letting a company track music that finds its way to illegal peer-to-peer networks. At its most precise, a watermark could encode a unique serial number that a music company could match to the original purchaser. So far, though, labels say they won't do that: Warner and EMI have not embraced watermarking at all, while Sony's and Universal's DRM-free lineups contain "anonymous" watermarks that won't trace to an individual.

Still, privacy advocates were quick to point out that the watermarking is likely to produce fresh, empirical data that copyright material is ping-ponging across peer-to-peer sites -- data the industry would use in its ongoing bid to tighten copyright controls, and to browbeat internet service providers to implement large-scale copyright-filtering operations.

"It gives them the ability to put pressure on policy makers and ISPs to do filtering," said Fred Von Lohmann, an Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney.

Eric Garland, the chief executive officer of research group BigChampagne, said analyses of watermarked traffic can be done with "forensic precision," and that the results could give the music industry hard evidence of copyright music transiting specific internet providers' networks.

"Any empirical evidence that harm is being done to their legitimate business is a huge asset when it comes to their bargaining power with ISPs and third-party partners," said Garland.

Sony BMG on Thursday became the final of the Big Four music concerns to announce it would sell its downloads free of DRM. The others, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and EMI, made similar announcements last year -- all in a bid to compete with Apple's iTunes music store, which controls about 80 percent of the digital-download market with mostly DRM-laden songs.

Watermarking codes are digitally woven into the fabric of a download and do not restrict listeners from making backup copies or sharing music with friends, as does DRM coding.

Microsoft is betting on watermarking's future, winning a patent for a "stealthy audio watermarking" scheme called El Dorado in September.

According to the patent, El Dorado is, among other things, "designed to survive all typical kinds of processing, including compression, equalization, D/A and A/D conversion, recording on analog tape and so forth. It is also designed to survive malicious attacks that attempt to remove or modify the watermark from the signal, including changes in time and frequency scales, pitch shifting and cut/paste editing."

Universal and Sony declined to discuss who developed their watermarks and what they would do with the information they cull from their analyses.

Art Brodsky, of Public Knowledge, was quick to provide an answer.

"They'll do anything they can to get ammunition, including submitting the information to Congress, publishing research and whatever, so long as they can blame everything on piracy," Brodsky said.

EFF's Von Lohmann speculated that watermarks could even enable ISPs to filter out peer-to-peer traffic when they detect a copyright work in transit.

It's no secret that the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America are working with ISPs toward the goal of network-wide piracy filters. Representatives from AT&T discussed that at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

But Von Lohmann added it's too soon to conclude that watermarks will be put to that kind of Orwellian use.

Link to Wired Article

Stones sign one-album record deal

The Rolling Stones have signed a one-album deal with record label Universal to release a live CD recorded in New York in 2006.

The CD - to accompany Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones documentary Shine A Light - will come out in March.

The announcement comes as the band considers its options after its record deal with troubled EMI ends next month.

The Stones, who have been with EMI for 16 years, will be free to talk to other labels when that deal ends.

A new deal would incorporate the Stones' back catalogue from 1971 onwards - which is owned by the band - as well as new recordings.

But an EMI spokesman said: "The Rolling Stones have not signed to Universal and they have not left EMI."

Shine A Light, which will open next month's Berlin Film Festival, features coverage of two gigs played at New York's Beacon Theatre in autumn 2006 as well as rare archive and behind-the-scenes footage.

Special guests Jack White, of the White Stripes, and singer Christina Aguilera joined the Stones onstage.

A spokesman for the Rolling Stones said: "The band are looking forward to working with Universal Music and are excited about this new venture."

Job losses

Meanwhile, Universal - whose artists include Elton John, the Scissor Sisters and the Kaiser Chiefs - said it was proud to be working with "true music legends".

News of the deal follows reports that other EMI giants, including Kylie Minogue and Coldplay, are considering jumping ship.

The deal will trigger speculation that the Rolling Stones are considering following the lead of long-time contemporary Sir Paul McCartney, as well as Radiohead, in leaving the label.

After leaving EMI, Sir Paul branded the label "boring", saying its handling of his music was "symbolic of the treadmill".

Last week, Robbie Williams' manager Tim Clark said the singer would withhold new records if assurances were not given over marketing and promotion.

EMI's recent woes were compounded earlier this week when Mr Hands announced the loss of between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs in a bid to reduce costs by £200m a year.

Mr Hands, the boss of private equity firm Terra Firma - which bought EMI for £3.2bn last year - said the changes would allow the label to target investment in new acts.

The Rolling Stones, renowned for extensive tours, were the highest-earning musical act between June 2006 and 2007 making $88m (£43m), according to US business publication Forbes.

Last August, their A Bigger Bang World Tour came to an end at London's O2 Arena.

The tour grossed $437m (£217m), Forbes said.

Band members Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards controversially flouted the month-old smoking ban by lighting up on the O2 stage.

The pair escaped with a fine.

Link to BBC Article

Universal Music Takes on iTunes

Universal chief Doug Morris is enlisting other big music players for a service to challenge the Jobs juggernaut

Relationships in the entertainment world can be famously fraught. And few are more so these days than the one between Steve Jobs and Universal Music chief Doug Morris. You may recall that Morris recently refused to re-up a multi-year contract to put his company's music on Apple's iTunes Music Store. That's because Jobs wouldn't ease his stringent terms, which limit how record companies can market their music.

Now, Morris is going on the offensive. The world's most powerful music executive aims to join forces with other record companies to launch an industry-owned subscription service. BusinessWeek has learned that Morris has already enlisted Sony BMG Music Entertainment as a potential partner and is talking to Warner Music Group. Together the three would control about 75% of the music sold in the U.S. Besides competing head-on with Apple Inc.'s (AAPL ) music store, Morris and his allies hope to move digital music beyond the iPod-iTunes universe by nurturing the likes of Microsoft's Zune media player and Sony's PlayStation and by working with the wireless carriers. The service, which is one of several initiatives the music majors are considering to help reverse sliding sales, will be called Total Music. (Morris was unavailable for comment.)

This isn't only about Jobs; Morris badly needs to boost his business, and Apple is the one to beat. The iTunes store has grabbed about 70% of downloads in the U.S. And the iPod--well, what's left to say about that juggernaut? Plus, music companies have been here before. A few years ago they launched services with the aim of defeating Napster-style file-sharing--and failed miserably. And let's not forget that existing subscription services have signed up only a few million people, vs. hundreds of millions of iTunes software downloads.

While the details are in flux, insiders say Morris & Co. have an intriguing business model: get hardware makers or cell carriers to absorb the cost of a roughly $5-per-month subscription fee so consumers get a device with all-you-can-eat music that's essentially free. Music companies would collect the subscription fee, while hardware makers theoretically would move many more players. "Doug is doing the right thing taking on Steve Jobs," says ex-MCA Records Chairman Irving Azoff, whose Azoff Music Management Group represents the Eagles, Journey, Christina Aguilera, and others. "The artists are behind him."

Morris and Jobs were once the best of allies. When Jobs began pushing his idea for a simple-to-use download store in 2003, Morris backed him. Industry insiders say Jobs felt that Morris, unlike many other music executives, understood that they had to adapt or die. And in the years that followed, Apple and Universal moved in near lockstep.

But before long, Morris realized he and his fellow music executives had ceded too much control to Jobs. "We got rolled like a bunch of puppies," he said during a recent meeting, according to people who were there. And though Morris hasn't publicly blasted Jobs, his boss at Universal parent Vivendi is not nearly so hesitant. The split with record labels--Apple takes 29 cents of the 99 cents--"is indecent," Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy told reporters in September. "Our contracts give too good a share to Apple."

After unilaterally breaking off talks with Apple in July, Morris continued offering Universal's roster--Eminem, 50 Cent, U2, and other artists--to Apple, but on a month-to-month basis. That freed Universal to cut special deals with other vendors, such as cell carriers eager to generate revenues. AT&T (T ) is packaging ringtones and music videos of Universal artists and is expected to start selling downloaded tracks with videos soon.

That's not all: In August, Morris announced a five-month test with Wal-Mart (WMT ), Google (GOOG ), and Best Buy (BBY ). The three companies will sell music downloads that can be played on any device--a freedom not available to buyers of iTunes songs, most of which play only on Apple devices and software. Morris wants to see if the downloads, which won't have copy protection, will help cut into piracy and hike sales. And of course he won't be upset if iPod owners bypass iTunes.

With the Total Music service, Morris and his allies are trying to hit reset on how digital music is consumed. In essence, Morris & Co. are telling consumers that music is a utility to which they are entitled, like water or gas. Buy one of the Total Music devices, and you've got it all. Ironically, the plan takes Jobs' basic strategy-- getting people to pay a few hundred bucks for a music player but a measly 99 cents for the music that gives it value--and pushes it to its extreme. After all, the Total Music subscriber pays only for the device--and never shells out a penny for the music. "You know that it's there, and it costs something," says one tech company executive who has seen Morris' presentation. "But you never write a check for it."

The big question is whether the makers of music players and phones can charge enough to cover the cost of baking in the subscription. Under one scenario industry insiders figure the cost per player would amount to about $90. They arrived at that number by assuming people hang on to a music player or phone for 18 months before upgrading. Eighteen times a $5 subscription fee equals $90. There is precedent here. When Microsoft was looking to launch a subscription service for Zune, Morris played hardball. He got the tech giant to fork over $1 for every player sold, plus royalties. Total Music would take that concept even further. "If the object is to wrest control of the market from Steve Jobs," says Gartner analyst Mike McGuire, "this is a credible way to try it."

Of course, Morris still needs Jobs. It's noteworthy that Universal has not pulled its music from iTunes--Morris simply can't afford to do that. Universal's earnings fell 25% in the first half. Jobs, of course, knows that and can afford to be magnanimous. "Doug's a very special guy," the Apple chief told BusinessWeek. "He's the last of the great music executives who came up through A&R. He's old school. I like him a lot."

Link to BusinessWeek Article

More Details Surface On Universal Music, DRM-Free Move

Additional details surfaced Friday on an upcoming, DRM-free experiment being triggered by Universal Music Group. The move, which first emerged Thursday, involves a broad range of online music retailers - except for iTunes. Universal previously disclosed experimental partnerships with RealNetworks, Google, Amazon, and Wal-Mart. On Friday morning, the mega-label also pointed Digital Music News to deals involving Best Buy, Trans World Entertainment, Passalong Networks and Puretracks. A number of artist and label websites will also position the content, including sum41.com, evefans.com, common-music.com, ryan-adams.com, blaqkaudio.com, dianakrall.com, sectionquartet.com, defjam.com, and islandrecords.com.

Participating partners will be given the liberty to offer tracks in the DRM-free codec of their choosing. In most cases, MP3 will be the selection, and RealNetworks has already confirmed this choice. Furthermore, Universal also indicated that most retailers will position the DRM-free tracks at the same price point as protected content.

Another interesting aspect of the play involves Google. Universal will offer its tracks as contextual advertisements within Google AdWords, and direct queries to ecommerce destination gbox.com. "Because many consumers are searching for music and music-related news and information online, Google is a powerful way to drive consumers to this test," a Universal representative said. The DRM experiment begins later this month, and continues through January.

Link to Digital Music News Article

Music Minus Protection: Step Toward Free Ad-Backed Songs?

UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP'S DECISION ON Friday to test selling digital music tracks online without copy-protection technology is seen by some as a step toward providing ad-supported digital music for free.

Although not available for purchase through Apple's iTunes store, thousands of music tracks from UMG artists Gwen Stefani, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash and others will sell through online retail stores Amazon, Google, Wal-Mart Stores, Best Buy, RealNetworks' Rhapsody, Trans World Entertainment, PassAlong Networks and Puretracks. The tracks are playable on any device compatible with the MP3 format, including iPods.

Early next year, UMG will reevaluate the service and determine whether to continue selling music available in a file format not protected by standard anti-copying software, known as digital rights management (DRM), which puts restrictions on how songs are downloaded, played and shared. "We are running this trial for six months to test consumer demand and the effects of piracy," says UMG spokesman Peter Lofrumento.

The deal relaxes restrictions that now prohibit consumers from transferring music files between music players, specifically to Apple's iPod. "You just need a label or two to lead with this DRM-free model and others will follow," says Kevin Nakao, vice president of music services at RealNetworks.

Other major labels also have begun to sell DRM-free music. Earlier this year, EMI Group allowed Apple and Snowcap MyStores--peer-to-peer technology that has hooked up with MySpace to let people share music for free--to begin selling versions of its songs without copyright protection.

DRM-free music content will open doors for ad-supported free music models, too. Nakao believes it will lead more brands like Heineken and Neutrogena to purchase music downloads in bulk and give to consumers as incentives or promotions because DRM-free music files can play on any MP3 player.

Martin Lafferty, CEO at the peer-to-peer trade group Distributed Computing Industry Association, and James McQuivey, principal analyst at Forrester Research, believe releasing music files from copyright restrictions will eventually lead more music download sites to offer both pay and ad-supported free music.

"Most music labels will begin to support sites that gradually incorporate purchase-this-track, ad-supported and subscription options," McQuivey says. "For now, music labels are just trying to stimulate competition by giving other companies a way to compete against Apple, which will sell about 20% of all music sold, not just digital, in the United States this year."

Recently launched digital music download service We7 and soon-to-debut Qtrax and SpiralFrog rely on DRM-free ad-supported models to distribute music.

We7, introduced in late April by musician Peter Gabriel, tech entrepreneur Steve Purdham and finance guru John Taysom, operates on an ad-funded music business model but also gives consumers an option to download ad-free content for a fee. The site relies on a file format not protected by DRM. Consumers can listen to all tracks on any MP3 player.

Gareth Reakes, chief technology officer at Oxford, London-based We7, says in the free music model, ads download with tracks. "We believe those who illegally download music want to see artists get paid, and others want to try new music but don't want to pay 99 cents at iTunes," he says. "When consumers download and sample tracks at We7 for free, artists are paid through ad revenue."

We7 supports about 60,000 consumers who have downloaded 250,000 digital music files, supported mostly by promotional ads. The dynamically created ads differ each time songs are downloaded, depending on the time of day, region, search history and download behavior.

Link to MediaPost Article

Google Key to Latest ITunes Challenge

NEW YORK -

Add gBox Inc. to the growing list of online music services hoping to chip away at iTunes's dominance.

The Cupertino, Calif., startup was forced out of a stealth mode when Universal Music Group announced late Thursday it would test sales of some digital music without the customary copy-protection technology.

Under the program, gBox will get referrals through ads Universal will buy through search leader Google Inc., gBox Chief Executive Tammy Artim said Friday.

Google will get standard advertising fees rather than a cut of sales under the arrangement. The ads, which would appear when a Google user searches for specific terms such as the name of an artist, will direct the user to gBox.

The arrangement with Universal and gBox is separate from Google's music search service, which directs users to online music stores when they search for specific albums or artists. The company says it does not get paid for such referrals, and it does not restrict links to a single retailer.

Google, which has said it has no plans to create a music store of its own, described the new arrangement as strictly an advertising relationship.

Songs at gBox cost 99 cents each. For the Universal songs that are part of the test, gBox will offer an MP3 version free of copy-protection technology known as digital-rights management, or DRM. A DRM-enabled version will be available at the same price.

DRM technology is designed to block or set limits on copying and CD burning.

Although DRM can help stem illegal copying, it can also frustrate consumers by limiting the type of device or number of computers on which they can listen.

Copy-protected songs sold through Apple's market-leading iTunes store generally won't play on devices other than its popular iPod digital player, and iPods won't play DRM-enabled songs bought at rival music stores, including gBox.

Although many independent music labels have for years sold their tunes without copy restrictions, the major recording companies have resisted.

Earlier this year, Britain's EMI Group PLC became the first of the major labels to embrace DRM-free tunes, letting Apple sell versions of songs with higher audio quality and without any built-in copying hurdles.

The test by Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, while only encompassing a portion of its catalog, is significant because Universal is the world's largest recording company. That raises the prospect that other major labels could follow.

Universal Music will make DRM-free songs available Aug. 21 to Jan. 31. Amazon.com Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co. and RealNetworks Inc.'s Rhapsody are among the other retailers selling such tracks, but only gBox will get Universal's Google referrals.

Although gBox won't formally launch until Aug. 21, it already has a site with music from Sony Corp. and independent labels. Artim said the company has negotiated deals with other labels, but could not disclose them until the launch.

She also said gBox was working with other major labels to sell DRM-free tracks like Universal's, but such talks are ongoing.

GBox now works only with Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser on Windows-based computers, but Firefox support will come by the launch date, Artim said.

It won't be compatible with Apple's Macintosh computers, however. Even though DRM-free tracks can play on any computer, the DRM versions won't, and gBox didn't want to confuse customers, Artim said.

GBox also is developing a "wish list" feature - software code that users can place on their blogs or social-networking profiles at News Corp.'s MySpace, Facebook and other sites. Friends visiting the blog or profile can buy a song for that user through gBox.

In relying on referrals through Google and social-networking sites, gBox is taking a different approach to marketing. Other retailers tend to drive music buyers to the store's home page to discover new songs and make purchases there.

"Instead of doing marketing and (advertising on) billboards on Highway 101 to go to gBox," Artim said, "we want to take advantage of the viral element that has been so successful for companies in the past."

Link to Forbes Article

Universal Music Group Spreads DRM-Free, Spites iTunes

Universal Music Group is now triggering a multi-month, DRM-free download experiment, a significant step that follows a similar move by EMI. But unlike EMI, Universal is leaving iTunes out of the fun, and playing a dicey strategic game in the process.

Just recently, the mega-label indicated that it would soon offer portions of its catalog DRM-free to a number of online outlets, including Rhapsody, Amazon, Wal-Mart, and even Google. But the iTunes Store is not being handed the same luxury, a move that follows a period of dissatisfaction with the online retailing giant.

In a discussion Thursday, an executive at RealNetworks confirmed that portions of the Universal Music Group catalog will be positioned on Rhapsody starting August 21st, and continuing through January. Those tracks will be playable on iPods and a broad number of other players, according to the source. The executive also noted that songs from 50 Cent, Amy Winehouse, Johnny Cash, and a long list of others will be offered as MP3s, and sold at the same price as protected songs. Tracks will be encoded in 256kbps quality.

Universal Music Group is expected to release more information in the near future, though the Rhapsody experiment is likely to resemble rollouts by rival retailers.

Link to Digital Music News

Music companies seek new money in old partners

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The world's leading music companies, hit by falling sales of CDs, are switching to a new groove -- buying merchandising, management and other companies to diversify and boost profits.

Just this week, Universal Music and Warner Music Group announced investments in companies specializing in artist management or Web networking, segments they might not have considered part of their core operations in the past.

"Our return needs to be enhanced through a broader partnership with artists," Warner Music Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman said on a conference call with analysts on Tuesday.

Warner Music said it had invested around $110 million to increase its stake in artist management company Front Line Management, whose clients include Jimmy Buffet, Neil Diamond and Christina Aguilera.

"While the overall music business, including management, touring, sponsorship, merchandising ..., is growing, the recording business at present is not," Bronfman said.

NO MORE BUSINESS AS USUAL

Music companies make most of their money from sales of recorded music, usually as CDs, followed by music publishing.

Major record companies have traditionally acted like venture capital firms by seeking out unknown talent, taking a risk in developing artists.

If an artist has a hit album, the record company can usually recover its investment and make a profit through CD sales. But CD sales have fallen 20 percent in the first half of the year, more than the companies and analysts had forecast, as fans increasingly buy music online.

Piracy also remains a major drain on profits.

And despite their role in cultivating unknown talent, record companies make no money from the artist's touring, personal appearances, advertising and merchandising.

That is why the music companies, from Vivendi's Universal Music to EMI Group Plc and Warner, are beginning to bulk up resources in areas which had previously only been ancillary revenue streams.

Warner's management has been one of the most vocal about the need to diversify its revenue sources to include areas such as new digital businesses, touring and merchandising.

In June, Warner Music formed a joint venture called Brand Asset Group with Violator Management whose clients include rapper 50 Cent.

"This where the restructuring they talk of becomes important," said Tuna Amobi, analyst at Standard & Poor's.

"The challenge is to work with the artists and come up with management models that are beneficial to the label," he said. "It's not going to be an easy thing to do.

THE FULL BENEFIT OF TALENT

Other industry majors are looking to reduce their reliance on recorded music sales.

Universal Music Group said on Monday it had taken a stake in Loud.com, a hip-hop social networking site which offers competitions to win cash and recording contracts.

The deal follows an $88 million deal by Universal to buy British management and merchandising firm Sanctuary, whose artists include James Blunt and Elton John.

Though analysts understand why the majors are making the moves, they caution these companies will need to change the way they work with their most important asset: the talent.

"The Big Four have always been predatory and artist management is a very personal kind of business," says Bishop Cheen, analyst at Wachovia Securities.

"With the big majors this has not always been their strongest suit," he said. "But diversifying is still absolutely the right strategy."

Link to Yahoo! News Article

Universal Music Takes Stake in Loud.com

Universal Music has made an investment in hip-hop music-focused social network Loud.com, reports The New York Times.

Loud.com allows members to upload homemade rap creations and share them with friends. They're also eligible for a recording contract competition through SRC Records, owned by Universal.

Financial terms of the investment, which was made in exchange for a stake in the company, were not disclosed.

Link to Marketing VOX Article

Universal Music Proclaims OTA Download Record

Universal Music Group is now hoisting a full-track, over-the-air (OTA) download record, one that unsurprisingly comes from Asia. The accomplishment, reached last week, was delivered by an anonymous group of Japanese medical students known as GreeeeN. The act, signed to Universal Music Japan, sold one million OTA copies of their third single, "Aiuta," which roughly translates into "Love Song". According to Universal, the track is also available in a number of other mobile configurations, including ringtones, ringback tones, and video ringtones. In total, the collection has drawn three million sales.

The development highlights the extreme geographical differences found in the mobile music market. The sales performance of GreeeeN comes alongside a whole-hearty embrace of mobile music formats in Japan and throughout Asia. That has enriched providers like KDDI, NTT DoCoMo, and a number of well-planted mobile operators. Elsewhere, Europe has also experienced success, though the sales story is far more subdued than its Asian counterpart. And reactions in the United States have been mostly soft, prompting carriers like Sprint to lower pricing dramatically.

Link to Digital Media News Article

YouTube Partners With Interscope To Find Next Rap Star

GOOGLE'S YOUTUBE IS SET TO launch its second sponsored music promotion, this time in conjunction with Universal's Interscope Records, to discover hip-hop's newest rising star.

When the YouTube OntheRise RAP Edition contest begins next Friday, users 18 and older are invited to submit a video featuring original lyrics and production, competing for a chance to record a single for Interscope's G-Unit and win a $10,000 gift card from Guitar Center.

Hip-hop artists 50 Cent, Common, and Polow Da Don will choose 20 finalists at the close of the contest on Aug. 17. On Aug. 29, the winners will be presented to the YouTube community for voting, and the grand prize winner will be unveiled in early September.

Banking on the success of last year's YouTube Underground contest an effort co-sponsored by Cingular and ABC, the OntheRise effort will have a total of three genre-specific installments. Hip-hop/rap is the first, with the OntheRise Rock promotion slated to launch in Q4.

While neither company gave details of the financials of the project, a rep from Interscope did confirm that YouTube's value as a medium to generate artist awareness and Web site traffic did factor into the equation. "It's a promotional trade," said Ravid Yosef, digital marketing, Interscope. "50 will receive promotion for his upcoming album both editorially, and through advertising."

In addition to the sponsored page on YouTube, Interscope plans to promote the contest both on its own Interscope.com and 50cent.com.

Link to MediaPost Article

Research Reaffirms Dominant Universal Music Market Share

Universal Music Group continues to carry a dominant global market share, according to reaffirming research issued this week. The report, published by UK-based Informa Telecoms & Media, noted that UMG is leading the pack in both physical and digital formats. Specifically, the group carried a 26.5 percent share of digital recorded sales in 2006, larger than its combined share of 25.7 percent. In terms of digital-only assets, Sony BMG fell in second with 22.5 percent, Warner Music Group grabbed third with 16.0 percent, and EMI trailed with a 10.5 percent ranking.

In the broader recorded category, the ranking was similar, though percentages shifted somewhat. Specifically Sony BMG pulled a 21.2 percent share, Warner Music Group grabbed 13.8 percent, and EMI earned 12.8 percent. Perhaps the most interesting component of the report involved the independent sector, which rallied an impressive 24.5 percent of digital receipts, and 26.5 percent of broader recorded revenues, both second-place finishes. Meanwhile, Informa noted that rankings based solely on recorded assets may become less important in the future, especially as labels increasingly invest in related streams like touring, synchronization licensing, and merchandising.

Link to Digital Media News Article