— The Coalition of Independent Record Stores (CIMS) has launched ThinkIndie, its own digital download store. Individual track prices are $1.11 and albums cost $9.99. Files are 320kbps MP3s. Each store in the coalition has its own branded page and will get a cut of sales from its site. Prices are relatively high, the site’s editorial is thus far lacking, and the layout and ease of use is below those of its competitors. Two important points of differentiation will be exclusive content and the local flavor each store brings to its site. (Star Tribune)
— Live Nation is reportedly trying to get out of its lease for the Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan. (Brooklyn Vegan)
— An update on the Nielsen study that revealed Twitter’s too-low retention rate: After receiving some feedback and criticism, Nielsen updated the study to include applications and services that feed into Twitter (such as Tweetdeck and Tumblr). The results were unchanged. “The results verified our initial findings: about 60 percent of people on Twitter end up abandoning the service after a month.” (Nielsen Wire)
— In Spain, government-mandated talks between ISPs and content owners have failed to reach an agreement on how to find a mutually acceptable solution to illegal file-sharing. The two sides will not present separate proposals to the government. (TorrentFreak)
