DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS – WEEK IN REVIEW

– Various creative unions demanded discussions over royalty allocations following an agreement between Apple and ABC/Disney. The agreement, which coincided with the release of iTunes 6 and a new video-enabled iPod, authorized several shows for download one day after broadcast. Meanwhile, Apple and Samsung dropped plans to partner on flash memory design and production following scrutiny from local regulators.

– EMI pointed to an earnings improvement, powered by some heavy-selling superstar releases and a growing digital picture.

– Motorola was quite active this week. The company dipped into mobile-based podcasting, teamed with MTV to offer a "mobisode," and opened its iRadio platform to independent artist content.

– Both iTunes and MTV delivered a series of digital exclusives this week for Madonna, part of a major pre-release blitz by the superstar.

And Sirius Satellite Radio unveiled two devices that broke the $50 price barrier, while XM announced a receiver giveaway promotion to attendees of the upcoming World Series.

– Meanwhile, Australian record labels won a favorable settlement against local ISP Swiftel this week. Various employees of the ISP were accused of operating a BitTorrent file-sharing hub.

Album sales in the US continued to drop.

– From Digital Music News