Mike Butcher

Music, not Gaming could become more successful than mobile gaming, according to a study released Tuesday by market research firm In-Stat.

Music companies sell bootlegs to fight piracy(WSJ): Vivendi Universal SA’s Universal Music and Instant Live, owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc., have announced a blanket licensing agreement that lays the groundwork for Instant Live to issue concert recordings by Universal recording artists – provided the acts want to participate.

It’s like when they invented Quark Xpress. Or the photocopier. Wired thinks there’s a podcasting goldrush on. Well, maybe. Podcasters are mining everything from commercial sponsors to paid guest appearances in the quest for profitability.

Yahoo Music plans to support so-called “TrustedFlash” cards. These new cards let consumers access premium content like music, movies and games on the mobile devices and securely use the Internet or their mobile network.

Virgin’s independent-style record label, V2 Music, and mobile video solutions developer Rok Player have announced the release of an indie music video album on a memory card.

Reuters: Sanctuary ends all buy-out talks: The debt-laden music group that has issued a string of profit warnings in recent months.

Music Labels Finally Cash In On Videos – Forbes: MTV and Warner Music Group have signed a mobile content deal in the US. The idea is to do what music companies did with music videos when MTV started – use mobile videos to sell music. Duh. See also Business Week: Warner Music, MTV sign licensing deal

(AP): Four music giants and their local subsidiaries are suing Baidu.com, China’s largest Internet search engine, for copyright infringement (See also: Forbes)

The iPod nano is fast becoming Apple#039s next Cube – as, it#039s flawed hardware. SiliconValley.com reports that, like the small desktop PC Apple launched in the late 1990s, the Nano is being criticised for its alleged cosmetic defects, including problems with the screen.

(AP): Four music giants and their local subsidiaries are suing Baidu.com, China#039s largest Internet search engine, for copyright infringement (See also: Forbes)