DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS – WEEK IN REVIEW

– The biggest news this week came over the weekend, with Live8 drawing a massive audience both online and off. Over 2 billion reportedly viewed the event worldwide in some form, while AOL set a streaming record through its multi-city coverage. MTV, VH1 and ABC also carried the event, though ratings were low and many complained about limited coverage.

-The satellite radio sector was predictably active, with XM announcing the addition of 640,000 new subscribers. That brings the US market leader to a 4.4 million total.

– In the portable mp3 space, HP completed its co-brand support for all iPods, with the shuffle rounding out the lineup.

– In online music, Target is reportedly preparing a digital music store, and Apple started the countdown towards half-a-billion paid downloads.

– And P2P trading volume increased in June, with average simultaneous users nearing 9 million worldwide. That is part of a steady climb.