Apple faces $600M fine over iTunes pricing

While most of the music industry was abuzz yesterday with the announcement that iTunes would be selling EMI's music catalog without DRM by May, the European Commission was slamming Apple for its iTunes pricing in Europe and wielding a $600 million fine. European Union regulators accused Apple and the major record labels of restricting consumers' choices by forcing them to buy music from the iTunes online store in their country of residence. Apple's iTunes checks which country consumers live in through their credit card details, it said. In doing so, the commission pointed to the fact that Apple charges 79p in Britain for a song and 99 euro cents (67p) in Europe.

"Consumers are restricted in their choice of where to buy music, and consequently what music is available and at what price," the commission said in a statement. "The very fact that you are unable to buy the same tune for the same price or you are unable in some cases to buy the same tune at all is a problem for us. This is an arrangement that is imposed on Apple by the major record companies.''

NPR petitions board for hearing

When the Copyright Royalty Board issued its ruling on the rates that Internet radio broadcasters must pay to stream music last month, many of the biggest names in Internet radio, from Pandora and Live365 to the nation's public radio stations, were caught flat-footed. Now National Public Radio is petitioning the board for a public hearing on the matter that would allow for additional testimony.

"In this filing, we are asking the Copyright Royalty Board judges for a public rehearing where we can provide supplemental testimony and oral argument of its motion, on the public record," Andi Sporkin, NPR's vice president of communications, said in a statement. "We are also asking the CRB and the recording industry to remember public radio's non-commercial status and our public service mission, as other royalty groups and decisions have done for years."

Meanwhie, SoundExchange--the entity set up by the record industry to collect royalties from Webcasters--called on the CRB to reject webcasters' motions for a rehearing. "Just because you don't like the outcome of a fairly played game doesn't mean you should ask the referee to order the game replayed," said SoundExchange executive director John Simson.

Guitar Hero maker spawns Rock Band

Band practice is about to get a whole lot more fun. Harmonix Music Systems, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based maker of the popular Guitar Hero game, announced this week Rock Band, doing Guitar Hero one better by featuring guitar, drum, and microphone peripherals, allowing wannabe rockers the ability to turn the party out. Harmonix is releasing the game in conjunction with MTV Networks and Electronic Arts, and the game is expected to be in stores in time for the holiday shopping season on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Like Guitar Hero, Rock Band will feature licensed music. Thanks largely in part to its new relationship with MTV, Harmonix was able to wrangle multitrack master recordings from the catalogs of some of the biggest record labels in the business. On board to offer access to their portfolios are EMI Music Publishing, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Hollywood Records, and Warner Chappell Music. Check out GameSpot.com for full coverage.

Napster boasts subscriber gains

Largely due to its acquisition of AOL Music Now's subscription business, Napster said today that it closed out fiscal 2007 with more than 830,000 paying accounts, a big jump from its previous tally of 566,000 the company had just three months ago. Napster, which hasn't uttered a word about being on the block in months, said today that it expects to report more than $28 million in revenue for the quarter that ended in March, topping Wall Street estimates of $26.6 million. More than 225,000 of Napster's new subscribers transitioned to the service when it picked up AOL's subscription business. Napster will report its quarterly earnings on May 16.