Google launches music service (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Google Inc has turned on the music at its new online store, aiming to wrest the lead from Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc in audio entertainment distribution despite the absence of a major record label.

Google Music, with more 13 million songs, will be integrated with Android Market, the company's online store for smartphone apps and videos as it plays catch-up with its rivals. Apple, Amazon and Facebook have to varying degrees integrated music into their core online and mobile products.

Google Music will allow the Web search leader to do the same by letting consumers access music from various Internet-connected devices and easily share tracks with friends.

But analysts said the lack of soundtracks from Warner Music - a major label whose artists include Led Zeppelin and Prince, among others - will limit the appeal of Google Music.

"They've got to get that catalog filled pretty quickly," said Mike McGuire, an analyst at industry research firm Gartner. "It's a launch, but it's kind of like a work-in-progress."

Google Music was unveiled at a splashy event at the Mr. Brainwash Studios in Hollywood, California on Wednesday.

Google has negotiated U.S. deals with three of the four major music companies: Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group; Sony Corp's Sony Music Entertainment; and EMI. It has also signed deals with the increasingly influential independent label group Merlin and London-based Beggar's Banquet label group, home to the year's biggest selling artist, Adele.

Analysts say selling online music is unlikely to provide much of a lift to Google's revenue. But they say Google needs to be in the market to ensure that its Android-based mobile efforts can match offerings from competitors.

Android is the world's No. 1 smartphone operating system, powering about 200 million devices worldwide. But without a music service, Android-based smartphones and tablets may not be as attractive to consumers seeking a product that offers a seamless media experience.

And with music storage increasingly moving to remote Internet servers in "the cloud" rather than on the device itself, companies like Google and Apple have a way to keep users locked in to their respective mobile services, said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

"Everyone is using music and media as a jail. Ultimately, this stuff is going to be stored in the cloud and it becomes harder and harder to switch systems," he said.

To help jump-start the new music store, Google said it will offer one free song for consumers to download every day.

Google will also allow consumers to share purchased songs with friends on the Google+ social network. The feature will give users of Google+ a "free, full-play" of songs purchased by their friends.

"Recommendations from friends are the single most important way that people discover music and we think that this feature has the potential to really transform purchasing behavior," said Zahavah Levine, Google's director of content partnerships for Android, at Wednesday's event.

Music executives said that even though sales have struggled in recent years, music usage has never been more popular on different types of formats like social networks and mobile devices.

Facebook, the world's largest social network, unveiled a tab in September through which music services like Spotify, Rdio and MOG enable Facebook users to share music. Amazon has also long been a major music retailer and has a music locker service

Earlier this year, Google unveiled the Google Music beta, which allowed users to upload their music to Google servers, and access the music from multiple devices.

Shares of Google, which finished Wednesday's regular session at $611.47, were up 72 cents in after-hours trading.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles, Yinka Adegoke in New York and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Bernard Orr and Richard Chang)

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Google launches music service

1 of 10. Jamie Rosenberg, director of Digital Content (Android) at Google, speaks at the launch of Google Music in Los Angeles November 16, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

By Lisa Richwine and Alexei Oreskovic

LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:09pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Google Inc has turned on the music at its new online store, aiming to wrest the lead from Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc in audio entertainment distribution despite the absence of a major record label.

Google Music, with more 13 million songs, will be integrated with Android Market, the company's online store for smartphone apps and videos as it plays catch-up with its rivals. Apple, Amazon and Facebook have to varying degrees integrated music into their core online and mobile products.

Google Music will allow the Web search leader to do the same by letting consumers access music from various Internet-connected devices and easily share tracks with friends.

But analysts said the lack of soundtracks from Warner Music - a major label whose artists include Led Zeppelin and Prince, among others - will limit the appeal of Google Music.

"They've got to get that catalog filled pretty quickly," said Mike McGuire, an analyst at industry research firm Gartner. "It's a launch, but it's kind of like a work-in-progress."

Google Music was unveiled at a splashy event at the Mr. Brainwash Studios in Hollywood, California on Wednesday.

Google has negotiated U.S. deals with three of the four major music companies: Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group; Sony Corp's Sony Music Entertainment; and EMI. It has also signed deals with the increasingly influential independent label group Merlin and London-based Beggar's Banquet label group, home to the year's biggest selling artist, Adele.

Analysts say selling online music is unlikely to provide much of a lift to Google's revenue. But they say Google needs to be in the market to ensure that its Android-based mobile efforts can match offerings from competitors.

Android is the world's No. 1 smartphone operating system, powering about 200 million devices worldwide. But without a music service, Android-based smartphones and tablets may not be as attractive to consumers seeking a product that offers a seamless media experience.

And with music storage increasingly moving to remote Internet servers in "the cloud" rather than on the device itself, companies like Google and Apple have a way to keep users locked in to their respective mobile services, said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

"Everyone is using music and media as a jail. Ultimately, this stuff is going to be stored in the cloud and it becomes harder and harder to switch systems," he said.

To help jump-start the new music store, Google said it will offer one free song for consumers to download every day.

Google will also allow consumers to share purchased songs with friends on the Google+ social network. The feature will give users of Google+ a "free, full-play" of songs purchased by their friends.

"Recommendations from friends are the single most important way that people discover music and we think that this feature has the potential to really transform purchasing behavior," said Zahavah Levine, Google's director of content partnerships for Android, at Wednesday's event.

Music executives said that even though sales have struggled in recent years, music usage has never been more popular on different types of formats like social networks and mobile devices.

Facebook, the world's largest social network, unveiled a tab in September through which music services like Spotify, Rdio and MOG enable Facebook users to share music. Amazon has also long been a major music retailer and has a music locker service

Earlier this year, Google unveiled the Google Music beta, which allowed users to upload their music to Google servers, and access the music from multiple devices.

Shares of Google, which finished Wednesday's regular session at $611.47, were up 72 cents in after-hours trading.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles, Yinka Adegoke in New York and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Bernard Orr and Richard Chang)

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Neil Young launches film of storied benefit concerts

Canadian music legend Neil Young smiles while attending the Dreamforce event in San Francisco, California August 31, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith

By Ros Krasny

BOSTON | Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:25pm EDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - A concert DVD featuring Neil Young and a generation of music icons will launch this month with live screenings across the United States.

The movie and related CD collection showcases rare live, acoustic performances by many of music's biggest names, all of whom have played over the past 25 years at the annual Bridge School benefit concerts organized by Young and wife Pegi.

The more than two dozen artists range from Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney to David Bowie, Patti Smith and Metallica.

The film will screen for one night only, Oct 24, in 22 cities, coinciding with the CD and DVD release by Warner Bros. Records.

The charity concert is held annually at the outdoor Shoreline Ampitheater in Mountain View, California.

It supports The Bridge School, a facility for children with severe speech and physical impairments that specializes in alternative communication methods.

The Bridge School was founded in part by the Youngs, when they were unable to find a suitable learning environment for their son Ben, who has cerebral palsy, and by Jim Forderer, another parent of a special needs child.

The first benefit concert was held in October 1986, and has been held each year apart from 1987, the year the educational program was launched.

The event has become a pilgrimage for Young's fans, nicknamed Rusties, many of whom hold their own gatherings around the time of the shows.

Young, the Canadian rocker, is heavily involved in selecting the show's lineups, which usually comprise a mixture of music legends and emerging talent.

This year's concerts will be held Oct 22 and Oct 23. Apart from Young, performers will include rockers Foo Fighters, crooner Tony Bennett, British folk rock band Mumford & Sons, and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

(Reporting by Ros Krasny; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

View the original article here

Coldplay launches fresh chart assault with fifth album

Coldplay lead vocalist Chris Martin performs at the Rock in Rio Music Festival in Rio de Janeiro October 1, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON | Fri Oct 21, 2011 10:42am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - You may not understand the title of Coldplay's new album let alone be able to pronounce it, but "Mylo Xyloto" is a name music fans may have to get used to as the group launches a fresh assault on the world's charts.

The English quartet's fifth studio album hits shelves in Britain on Monday and the United States on Tuesday, and early critical response is mostly positive for a record aided and "enoxified" by Brian Eno.

Judging by comments made during a blitz of interviews to publicize the album, Coldplay could do with a little love, something that might seem strange given their success.

Their last record, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," was released in 2008 and went on to become that calendar year's top-selling album at 6.8 million copies.

The one before that, "X & Y," claimed the same honor in 2005, shifting 8.3 million copies globally.

They are one of the world's biggest bands, have multiple Grammys and album sales of around 50 million to their name.

Yet that has not shielded the unusually unassuming rock stars from criticism that tends to focus on their clean-cut "middle class" image and music that naysayers label as "bland" and "Radiohead-lite."

Guitarist Joe Satriani also sued the band, alleging that their chart-topping and award-winning "Viva La Vida" contained elements of his "If I Could Fly." The two sides reportedly settled out of court in late 2009.

"We got to a very low place on the last record where we felt not very popular," lead singer Chris Martin told the Sun tabloid.

"But it was refreshing as it made us start from scratch. A clean slate. So many people had made up their minds about us already that we had nothing to lose."

YOUNG COMPETITION

That sense of defiance came with a realization that, in order to rule the charts again, Coldplay are not up against "stadium bands" like, say, U2 but teen sensation Justin Bieber and English singing sensation Adele.

"Now we have Justin Bieber and Adele to compete with and they're a lot younger," 34-year-old Martin, who is married to Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow, said in a recent interview.

"We have to have the energy to put as much effort into our work as they do. If it's over, it's over and I can live with that. The most important thing always is to proceed as if every album is the last and not expect anything more."

Early reviews of Mylo Xyloto have been generally positive, with critics remarking that, while offering some fresh twists, the sound is essentially the Coldplay of old.

"It's a surging, chiming, upbeat epic, almost thunderously enthusiastic," wrote Neil McCormick of the Daily Telegraph in a four-star review.

He went on to call the album "irresistible," but voiced reservations, shared by Alexis Petridis of the Guardian in a three-star review, about the lack of depth in lyrics and music.

"Questioned about the title, Martin has insisted 'it doesn't have any meaning'," said McCormick. "His defiant inarticulacy feeds the notion that Coldplay are a pop group in rock clothing."

Rolling Stone magazine's Josh Eells gave the record three-and-a-half stars, commenting: "On Mylo Xyloto, the choruses are bigger, the textures grander, the optimism more optimistic. It's a bear-hug record for a bear-market world."

Martin, along with bandmates Jonny Buckland (guitar), Guy Berryman (bass) and Will Champion (drums), have produced a concept album loosely based on a love story set in a dystopian world.

In June, Coldplay released its first single "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" followed by "Paradise" in September.

Among the highlights of the 14-track album are "Princess of China," featuring Rihanna on vocals, and "Charlie Brown," which Billboard magazine called the record's best song.

Coldplay is signed to EMI Group Ltd.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

View the original article here

Neil Young launches film of storied benefit concerts (Reuters)

BOSTON (Reuters) – A concert DVD featuring Neil Young and a generation of music icons will launch this month with live screenings across the United States.

The movie and related CD collection showcases rare live, acoustic performances by many of music's biggest names, all of whom have played over the past 25 years at the annual Bridge School benefit concerts organized by Young and wife Pegi.

The more than two dozen artists range from Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney to David Bowie, Patti Smith and Metallica.

The film will screen for one night only, Oct 24, in 22 cities, coinciding with the CD and DVD release by Warner Bros. Records.

The charity concert is held annually at the outdoor Shoreline Ampitheater in Mountain View, California.

It supports The Bridge School, a facility for children with severe speech and physical impairments that specializes in alternative communication methods.

The Bridge School was founded in part by the Youngs, when they were unable to find a suitable learning environment for their son Ben, who has cerebral palsy, and by Jim Forderer, another parent of a special needs child.

The first benefit concert was held in October 1986, and has been held each year apart from 1987, the year the educational program was launched.

The event has become a pilgrimage for Young's fans, nicknamed Rusties, many of whom hold their own gatherings around the time of the shows.

Young, the Canadian rocker, is heavily involved in selecting the show's lineups, which usually comprise a mixture of music legends and emerging talent.

This year's concerts will be held Oct 22 and Oct 23. Apart from Young, performers will include rockers Foo Fighters, crooner Tony Bennett, British folk rock band Mumford & Sons, and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

(Reporting by Ros Krasny; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

View the original article here

Coldplay launches fresh chart assault with fifth album (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – You may not understand the title of Coldplay's new album let alone be able to pronounce it, but "Mylo Xyloto" is a name music fans may have to get used to as the group launches a fresh assault on the world's charts.

The English quartet's fifth studio album hits shelves in Britain on Monday and the United States on Tuesday, and early critical response is mostly positive for a record aided and "enoxified" by Brian Eno.

Judging by comments made during a blitz of interviews to publicize the album, Coldplay could do with a little love, something that might seem strange given their success.

Their last record, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," was released in 2008 and went on to become that calendar year's top-selling album at 6.8 million copies.

The one before that, "X & Y," claimed the same honor in 2005, shifting 8.3 million copies globally.

They are one of the world's biggest bands, have multiple Grammys and album sales of around 50 million to their name.

Yet that has not shielded the unusually unassuming rock stars from criticism that tends to focus on their clean-cut "middle class" image and music that naysayers label as "bland" and "Radiohead-lite."

Guitarist Joe Satriani also sued the band, alleging that their chart-topping and award-winning "Viva La Vida" contained elements of his "If I Could Fly." The two sides reportedly settled out of court in late 2009.

"We got to a very low place on the last record where we felt not very popular," lead singer Chris Martin told the Sun tabloid.

"But it was refreshing as it made us start from scratch. A clean slate. So many people had made up their minds about us already that we had nothing to lose."

YOUNG COMPETITION

That sense of defiance came with a realization that, in order to rule the charts again, Coldplay are not up against "stadium bands" like, say, U2 but teen sensation Justin Bieber and English singing sensation Adele.

"Now we have Justin Bieber and Adele to compete with and they're a lot younger," 34-year-old Martin, who is married to Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow, said in a recent interview.

"We have to have the energy to put as much effort into our work as they do. If it's over, it's over and I can live with that. The most important thing always is to proceed as if every album is the last and not expect anything more."

Early reviews of Mylo Xyloto have been generally positive, with critics remarking that, while offering some fresh twists, the sound is essentially the Coldplay of old.

"It's a surging, chiming, upbeat epic, almost thunderously enthusiastic," wrote Neil McCormick of the Daily Telegraph in a four-star review.

He went on to call the album "irresistible," but voiced reservations, shared by Alexis Petridis of the Guardian in a three-star review, about the lack of depth in lyrics and music.

"Questioned about the title, Martin has insisted 'it doesn't have any meaning'," said McCormick. "His defiant inarticulacy feeds the notion that Coldplay are a pop group in rock clothing."

Rolling Stone magazine's Josh Eells gave the record three-and-a-half stars, commenting: "On Mylo Xyloto, the choruses are bigger, the textures grander, the optimism more optimistic. It's a bear-hug record for a bear-market world."

Martin, along with bandmates Jonny Buckland (guitar), Guy Berryman (bass) and Will Champion (drums), have produced a concept album loosely based on a love story set in a dystopian world.

In June, Coldplay released its first single "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" followed by "Paradise" in September.

Among the highlights of the 14-track album are "Princess of China," featuring Rihanna on vocals, and "Charlie Brown," which Billboard magazine called the record's best song.

Coldplay is signed to EMI Group Ltd.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

View the original article here