Yahoo offers lyrics in service

Yahoo has inked a deal with Gracenote to provide lyrics to 400,000 songs in its Yahoo Music Unlimited service. The company hopes to offer a legal alternative to the dozens of sites that publish the words without the permission of the copyright owners. Calling itself "the Web's largest legally licensed database of lyrics," Yahoo Music will share with copyright holders the revenue from the ads that will be displayed alongside the lyrics.

Gracenote is the company that provides the database and metadata attached to music in digital stores like iTunes, as well as the software that recognizes a CD when it is loaded into a computer. The 400,000 song lyrics included in Yahoo's database span about 9,000 different artists, ranging from old standbys such as The Beatles and Bob Dylan to more recent stars like Radiohead and Beyonce.

AnywhereCD sues Warner Music

AnywhereCD, the music retailer launched by former MP3.com founder Michael Robertson earlier this month, has filed a countersuit against Warner Music Group over its ability to sell DRM-free versions of Warner's catalog in its store. AnywhereCD launched about two weeks ago, selling both CDs as well as MP3s without DRM software. While WMG had no problem with the San Diego start-up selling its artists' CDs over the Web, it abruptly removed its digital music within hours of AnywhereCD's site going live, alleging that it had not granted permission to sell digital music downloads without anti-piracy software. AnywhereCD claimed it had the right to do so.

The company filed a suit Friday in US District Court in New York against Warner for breach of contract, business defamation, and trade libel. WMG responded with its own legal action, asking the court to affirm its contract termination with AnywhereCD.

Warner settles Napster case

The age-old standoff between the record labels and the original Napster got closer to a conclusion today, as Warner Music Group said it settled its claims against German media giant Bertelsmann over the company's investment in Napster seven years ago. Warner said it will receive $110 million from Bertelsmann AG, ending its legal claims against Bertelsmann.

The original Napster, founded in 1999 by Shawn Fanning, was a pioneering file-sharing service that is largely credited--or blamed--for sparking the digital music revolution. The company was sued by the major music companies, including Vivendi SA.'s Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Bertelsmann's BMG Entertainment, EMI Group, and Warner Music. Napster was eventually shuttered by US courts in 2002 over copyright violations. Earlier this year, Bertelsmann settled with Universal Music for $60 million and EMI Group for an undisclosed amount. Napster's brand assets were bought by Roxio in 2002 to create the current Napster, a subscription-based service.

Qtrax inks deal with Sony BMG

Qtrax, an ad-supported peer-to-peer (P2P) music service that was formerly an illegal P2P service, has inked a deal that will incorporate the Sony BMG music roster into its own catalog. Users of Qtrax will be able to access songs from the giant label's catalog for a predefined number of times, now with a click-to-buy purchase option.

Qtrax already has deals to sell music from Warner Music Group and EMI Group, and it's in negotiations with the fourth major label, Universal Music Group, and Merlin, an agency that represents many independent labels.

Qtrax hopes to offer users free, unlimited rental access to its catalog in exchange for watching advertisements. Users will be able to listen to a song up to five times before having to download it. Ad revenue would be used to compensate the music labels that make their songs available, just as television commercials fund the production of shows. Qtrax can be downloaded for free, and besides its music networking software, it also provides users with a player that can play MPQs (Qtrax's format) as well as MP3 and WMA tracks.

In related news, Lance Ford and Robin Kent, formerly the CEO and chief marketing officer at SpiralFrog, another fledgling ad-supported service, have formed a new company called Rebel Digital, which will seek to sell advertising for Qtrax.

Meat maker inks music download deal

What's the only thing better than ground meat encased in synthetic intestines? That same meat accompanied by downloadable music, of course. Looking to tap into the popularity of digital music, meat maker Carl Buddig & Co. and its subsidiary Old Wisconsin sausages have inked a deal to offer a free download in its packaged deli meats and specialty sausages.

The firm has hooked up with digital music provider Puretracks, which is layering a free download into about 15 million Buddig and Old Wisconsin packages. Puretracks has a catalog of 2 million songs and connected with the meat maker through Promotional Currency, a Dallas-based marketing strategies firm that specializes in digital entertainment promotions. Each specially marked Buddig or Old Wisconsin package will include a unique package code, along with a pointer to the firm's Web site to retrieve the download.