Idol songs hit iTunes

Millions of American Idol fans who just can't get enough of the star-making show are now able to download songs from the show's final 24 contestants on iTunes. Apple and Idol inked a deal to sell performances by semifinalists on iTunes. Starting this week, the songs will be available for 99 cents each, the show's producers and Apple said.

Full video of the top 12 contestants will be available through iTunes starting March 11 for $1.99. The songs and videos will be posted to iTunes the day after the show airs. iTunes also lets consumers preorder tracks from a given contestant for automatic download the day after Idol airs. One-click access to the store is being made available from americanidol.com as well.

"We have some truly outstanding talent this year, and by working with Apple and iTunes, we're giving viewers another great way to enjoy America's brightest new stars from Idol," show creator Simon Fuller said in a statement. "I'm sure there will be many memorable performances that viewers will want to relive from this 2008 season."

MySpace reportedly eyeing music venture

Long the de facto way to hear music from emerging bands, MySpace is reportedly looking into a music store all its own. Multiple news outlets reported this week that the social-networking giant, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., is in talks with the four major labels on a new ad-supported music service targeting MySpace's massive audience of nearly 70 million unique users a month in the US.

Universal Music, Sony BMG, Warner Music, and EMI are all discussing the proposed venture with MySpace, according to the Wall Street Journal. Details of the possible MySpace music venture have not been finalized, but it will likely offer free music streams and paid MP3 downloads, which can be played on most portable devices. MySpace executives are also considering selling items such as T-shirts through the service, and offering a paid subscription service.

One obstacle facing such a service is a pending lawsuit against it from Universal Music in November 2006. The record label sued MySpace over copyright infringement for letting users post its artists' songs and videos on their profiles without permission.

Apple cuts price, ups storage of iPod Shuffle

Another day, another batch of iPod owners wishing they'd waited a bit longer to buy their prized MP3 player. Apple announced yet another price cut and storage increase this week, this time for its iPod Shuffle. Apple cut the price of the 1GB device from $69 to $49.

The digital media giant also announced that a 2GB version of the tiny player is on the way, available later this month for $69. The bigger shuffle, which clips onto clothing like the 1GB version, can hold about 500 songs.

"At just $49, the iPod shuffle is the most affordable iPod ever," Apple's Greg Joswiak said in a statement. "The new 2GB model lets music lovers bring even more songs everywhere they go in the impossibly small iPod shuffle."

The price cut and storage increase come just two weeks after Apple unveiled new iPhone and iPod Touch models with increased memory, including a 16GB iPhone ($499) and 32GB iPod Touch ($499). Apple also offers an 8GB iPhone ($399), and 16GB ($399) and 8GB ($299) iPod Touch models.

Online radio use rises in 2007

CD sales continue to plummet, but music fans continue to spend more time listening to music online every year. Time spent listening to online music radio was up 26 percent in 2007, logging 4.85 billion listening hours in 2007, according to a research report out from AccuStream iMedia Research.

AccuStream's "Net Music Radio 2007-2010: Listening Hour Analysis by Site and Brand" reports that total listening hours averaged 404.2 million hours a month in 2007, up from an average of 320.5 hours in 2006. That includes time spent listening to subscription music services Napster, Yahoo Music, and Rhapsody.

AOL's Shoutcast was the top radio destination, with 48.4 percent of the listening audience, followed by Clear Channel Online, Yahoo Music, AOL Radio Networks, and Pandora. AccuStream predicts that the segment could grow to $525 million in annual revenues once it fully matures.

DVD Jon refocuses on iTunes circumvention

The thorn in Steve Jobs' side just got a bit bigger. San Francisco-based DoubleTwist, the tech firm launched last year by famed Norwegian hacker "DVD" Jon Lech Johansen, has raised a new batch of funding. The new money helps the outfit in its aim to circumvent the DRM (digital rights management) used on Apple's iTunes, which is intended to restrict users from playing a downloaded song on anything but an iPod.

DoubleTwist has created technology that lets users convert purchased iTunes tracks into unprotected file formats, thereby allowing the songs to play on any device. A variety of DRM-busting technologies have been available online for years, but DoubleTwist intends to reach a broader consumer audience, with help from the additional funding.

The program lets people drag and drop songs from iTunes into a folder on their desktop, which in turn copies the files to other devices such as mobile phones and game consoles via the Web. In doing so, the software breaks the DRM.