Not to be left out of the blitz of digital music news being made by Google and Facebook today, MySpace is rolling out major upgrades to MySpace Music. The changes include the integration of music recommendation service iLike, which it bought in August, a slew of new licensed music videos…

The iTunes Store will not be offering downloads from Michael Jackson’s posthumous album, This Is It, according to confidential information leaked late Tuesday to Digital Music News. Already, the lead single, “This Is It,” is making waves at radio, though the big release - a stand-alone, double-disc audio set -…

*Apple* already sells iPods through kiosks in airports and stores, but the company also has plans for units that will let people load up on digital movies and music on the go. AppleInsider dug up a patent detailing Apple’s plan to develop a kiosk that will let owners of iPods,…

Just before Tony Bennett sang goodbye to the Moscone Center faithful with “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) confirmed at its final Macworld Expo that it will drop DRM copy protection across 10 million iTunes Store songs from all majors, as per CNET’s earlier report. The…

Sir Paul McCartney has thrown some cold water on hopes that Beatles’ recordings would finally make it to iTunes, saying that negotiations with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) Inc. have stalled, AP reported. As has happened many times before, fans of the band’s music thought they might finally be ready for the…

Guess it’s a good thing that Apple made nice with NBC (or vice versa) so that NBC’s TV shows would be available on iTunes again, because the platform’s TV show business is booming. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has sold more than 200 million episodes in the three years since iTunes first…

And what took so long? YouTube has added a no-brainer: affiliate download links from Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) and iTunes for music and other kinds of downloads, from any specific video on its site. For instance, if a user is viewing a video of music artist, then links from Amazon and…

While we’re on the subject of music royalty rates... Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) says it might pull the plug on its uber-popular iTunes store if the Copyright Royalty Board jacks up the amount it owes per track that it sells. Yep, the company made the “don’t come near me or I’ll…

Apple’s (NSDQ: AAPL) addition of a music recommendation engine to iTunes this week will have brought a nervous gulp from those already in that space. One such, Peter Gabriel-backed TheFilter, saw fit to issue a press release last night, designed to differentiate its nascent offering from that of Steve Jobs.…

Had a chance to talk with JB Perrette by phone as he left San Francisco for NBCU’s leadership meetings in LA. Perrette, president of digital distribution, said the deal that put NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) programming back on iTunes is multi-year: “We’re now fully back in business.” As for the…

Reunited and it feels so good ... some more details on today’s announcement that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and NBCU are best friends again: — As part of its back-to-Apple publicity, NBCU will offer one free download from each of its top series—in standard or HD—during the next two weeks. —NBCU…

Updated: NBC Universal’s (NYSE: GE) return to the U.S. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iTunes store will be was announced at the Steve Jobs show just getting under way in San Franciscio, paidContent has learned. NBCU gets its variable pricing with rates ranging from $0.99 for deep library to $1.99 for new…

Apple’s (NSDQ: AAPL) Steve Jobs took the stage in San Francisco this morning with a blaring quote overhead that read: “reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” Then he broke into the task at hand. In addition to bringing NBC content back to the iTunes store, Apple is also adding…

This has become the equivalent of first snowfall stories that local TV news stations do every year: this gripe against Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iTunes has been trotted out every year for the last five years or so, and now WSJ spends tons of words to rehash it again, though with…

Like clockwork, the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iTunes subscription music service rumors are cropping up, again, and three Apple sites—MacRumors, MacDailyNews, and The Unofficial Apple Weblog—are reporting that it will be launched in September. The rumors all came from the same source, it seems, and details are: “$129.99 stand-alone or $179.99…

Guess I owe Howard Schultz a thank you for helping me cut back on CD purchases ... Starbucks is dramatically reducing the number of CDs carried in its stores, promising to remove the rotating racks from 6,500 locations by September. Instead, a spokesman told the Seattle Times the company will…

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) announced today that it has sold a total of about 5 billion songs, up from the 4 billion mark it announced in Jan this year. The more interesting bit is that it is now renting and purchasing over 50,000 movies every day, the company says. Apple has…

We wrote yesterday about HBO’s plans to offer shows through Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iTunes. The companies have now officially announced the details and some other unofficial ones: —In another departure from rival TV deals that iTunes has, episodes will not be available for purchase until they hit the DVD window.—Earliest…

HBO, which has always made it interminably difficult to find any of its shows online (that’s because they aren’t, at least legally), is close to announcing a deal with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) to sell its wares on iTunes, reports Portfolio, citing sources. The announcement will come in a week or…