DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS – WEEK IN REVIEW

A new paid download milestone was reached this week, as Gwen Stefani’s "Hollaback Girl" crossed the one-million mark. And overall, an IFPI report showed that global paid download volumes for the first half of the year tripled when compared to the same period in 2004.

But the results weren’t so rosy in the physical sector. Both the RIAA and IFPI reported sizeable  declines during the first six months of this year, and cumulative yearly CD sales in the US now lag 10.5 percent behind comparable figures from 2004. Meanwhile, P2P file-sharing cooled a bit in September, though volume has increased tremendously when compared to the same month last year.

In the dealmaking corner, Universal Music Group licensed its content to the upcoming Motorola iRadio service. And licensing negotiations between Microsoft and the Big Four came to an abrupt halt.

In the satellite radio sector, Sirius tacked on 239,000 new subscribers in the third quarter, perhaps fueled by Howard Stern fans.

The EU appeared to inch closer to a pan-European digital music licensing process. And the RIAA faced a countersuit from an accused file-sharer, who opted to use RICO laws against the music trade group (Atlantic v. Andersen).

But perhaps the biggest news this week wasn’t news at all, as Apple fanned the flames once again with the announcement of a special unveiling next week. Many are pointing to the release of a video-enabled iPod.