links for 2009-02-10

* Is the music download about to consign the CD to extinction?
* Can a radically revamped EMI regain traction, or do its investors and staff risk losing everything this year?
* Against a backdrop of collapsing ad revenues and expanding online alternatives, what is the viability of print music magazines?
* Meanwhile, web music sources like iTunes, Amazon, Nokia and Myspace battle for dominance. and face new rivals.
* The implosion of key distribution channels – including Woolworths and Zavvi – has left the industry facing real challenges. Will consumers be able even to find music on the High Street by the end of 2009?
* Online launches could be the way ahead. or was Radiohead's success a one-off?
* The 360-degree deal, where labels control everything from touring income to merchandise, faces new scrutiny from artists and managers.

An international survey of more than 1300 music fans has found that the music industry is offering them the wrong kind of new music services. In the research conducted by The Leading Question and Music Ally in the UK, US and France, music fans overwhelmingly backed Internet Service Providers as their favoured music supplier when asked to choose amongst a variety of possible providers.

Announcing record results for 2008 worth over £600m in royalties to UK songwriters, composers and music publishers, the UK collection society also reports a 15% growth in broadcast and online, a 10% growth in public performance sales and a 10% growth in international. Meanwhile, it has also signed various deals with a variety of publishers and Amazon in the UK for its download service.

The government's long-awaited interim Digital Britain report has just been released [29.01.09]. It's a lengthy document that lays out UK thinking about universal broadband, spectrum reform, and digital radio, but nestled right in the middle of the report is one of the most controversial ideas: a mandatory "code" for ISPs to follow, and the creation of a government "Rights Agency" to help stakeholders deal with the issue of civil copyright infringement online.

MusicTank, a business development network for the UK music industry, owned and operated by the University of Westminster – it's purpose; to engage with industry, innovation and change across the music business.