Dave Haynes

Here’s a round-up of some of the more interesting news from the week that was.

Amato Distribution closes
UK independent music distributor Amato goes into administration. Read the full story and updates here on Bytesize Music.

SpiralFrog reveals large losses
Ad-funded download store SpiralFrog reveals large losses and small revenues. Read some analysis and opinion here on Bytesize Music.

Sia third album
Ingenious Music VCT 2, a division of Ingenious, has invested more than £1m to back the third album from Australian songstress Sia.

Apple’s exclusive iPhone deals fall apart in Germany
Apple is forced to make its iPhone available to non T-mobile customers. What’s all the fuss about? Just get a Nokia N95, much better

Emi set for indie purchases
EMI has reportedly set aside $100 million to buy up a string of indie labels. This is something Universal has also been doing (eg. buying V2 and Sanctuary) so it will be fascinating to see who their targets are. They are also looking towards digital distribution to boost their bottom line.

Era calls for end to DRM
In a letter to the Financial Times UK music retail association states, “The independent sector was first to realise the value of the standardised MP3 file. More recently EMI has been the first of the four major record companies to adopt the MP3. For the good not just of the wider UK music industry, but of UK music fans, we call on record companies to adopt MP3 as the universal download format.” Full letter available via link to Music Week above.

Debate about release dates
The traditional Monday release date in the UK could be under threat as labels look to boost digital sales. Germany actually uses Friday release dates and i’ve always wondered if more labels should switch to this anyway in the UK. Anecdotal reports in the past have suggested that Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the busiest sales periods for the dance download stores (don’t know if this also applies as much to all other retailers?) so perhaps a switch to Thursday would be better still for some smaller labels?