— Ticketmaster will introduce its paperless ticketing technology in Canada with a Metallica concert on October 12. (Press release)
— Blogs may be the future, but they may not pay the bills as well as once thought. Buzz Media, formerly Buzznet, is laying off 20% of its staff. Buzz Media owns popular music blogs Stereogum, Idolator, The Gauntlet, Absolutepunk and a handful of pop culture-themed blogs. The company has received funding from Sutter Hill Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Anthem Ventures, NEA and Universal Music Group. (paidContent)
— Topspin Media CEO Ian Rogers posted about a few artists he saw perform recently who don’t sit passively at the merch table and wait for foot traffic. What he describes is the kind of direct-selling entrepreneurism that more artists should exhibit. “These artists aren’t waiting for someone at the label to make them a priority (though I think both are priorities for their respective labels). They’re using the tools, doing the work, connecting directly and building real relationships with fans. That’s as close to a silver bullet as you’re going to get.” (Topspin Media)
— Here’s video of a Palm Pre demo with Pandora, Amazon.com and other apps. Pandora comes in at about 3:00 in the video. An extremely brief glance of Amazon.com’s MP3 store is at 5:50. (Engadget)
— Judging from posts at his blog, Harvard Law professor Charlie Nesson, who is representing Joel Tenenbaum in a closely watched lawsuit brought by the RIAA, believes file-sharing is fair use and may use the argument in court. Experts, such as Lawrence Lessig and Terry Fisher from Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, as well as some of his students, disagree with Nesson. One thing is for sure: This is going to be one entertaining court case. (Ars Technica)
— Arvato Digital Services now controls the maintenance and deliver of the complete central media archive of Universal Music Group International. The deal includes the preservation and digitization of UMGI’s analog assets dating to the beginning of the 20th century. (Press release)
— Mubito, a Swedish company that builds direct-to-consumer web platforms for music and entertainment companies, has gone into administration. The company has an office in London and a development center in Kiev, Ukraine. (Music Week)
— Nokia is bringing to an end some of its B2B white label music retail stores to concentrate on the consumer-oriented Nokia Music Store and Comes With Music. (mocoNews)
