Hypebot’s Digital Music QuickNews:
iTunes Corrects Controversial Feature – "A controversial feature in Apple’s recently updated iTunes v6.0.2 is the iTunes MiniStore, which tries to make suggestions for what to buy from the iTunes Music Store based on you’re listening to. Now the MiniStore will only operate if you give it permission first," Peter Cohen reports for Playlist. "The iTunes MiniStore appears below the song list 
area in the main iTunes window."
Apple Shows Record Growth & Earnings – Apple announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday showing revenues of $5.75 billion for its fiscal Q1 including impressive iPod sales of 14 million units. Profits were pegged at $565 million. Compared to the same quarter last year, revenues jumped 64.8 percent and profits increased an amazing 91.5 percent.
Napster hits 500,000 subscribers – Amid rumors of layoffs and downsizing, the increase represents a 100 percent jump over last year. "Doubling our subscribers over the last twelve months demonstrates the mass market potential of our music subscription model and the powerful appeal of Napster to music fans who want it all," Chris Gorog, chairman and CEO of Napster told Digital Music News. Stay tuned for more on this story and their Feb. 8th earnings report.
Universal announced it is adding more than 100,000 older and rare tracks to it’s digital download offerings. Artists include Marianne Faithfull, Fairport Convention, Brian Auger, Nirvana, Chris DeBurgh, Big Country, Jacques Brel, Nana Mouskouri, Brigitte Bardot and many others. Expect more of this mining of catalog from other labels soon.
GroupieTunes, Mobiletoolbox, Summus, and Xingtone join Orchard’s netowrk of almost 200 mobile music and ringtone providers including Sprint, Vodafone, T-Mobile, and Zingy. "Coming on the heels of our full-song-download-over-mobile deals with Verizon Wireless and Groove Mobile, which we announced earlier this month, we are committed to maintaining our leadership position with respect to mobile music distribution and marketing," said Greg Scholl, chief executive of The Orchard.
