John Townley

Thomson multimedia has announced the signature of a letter of intent to purchase Singingfish.com, a privately-held company that helps search engines identify audio and video streams as well as MP3 audio files. Based in Seattle, Singingfish.com specializes in identifying, categorizing and indexing streaming media and downloadable media files on broadband networks and the World Wide […]

VMail Corp., a streaming audio/video company in Los Angeles, is offering free audio web commercials to qualified small businesses. At the company’s site, a small business owner can write his own “script” for his commercial. He then submits the script to VMail where it will be voiced, receive a music background appropriate to the industry, […]

The Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA) Friday partnered with idealive to fund the production and development of unsigned artists discovered from the IUMA community. As part of the deal, idealive investors will have early access to leading IUMA artists as they debut on the IUMA charts. “This partnership means that idealive investors will have access […]

Soundbreak.com, a developer of music Web sites, has added a division to bring its streaming media content to the broadband and wireless markets. The new unit was created to align Soundbreak.com with new technology and distribution partners. Jon Eastman is leading the initiative. Eastman was formerly at Pioneer and prior to that DIRECTV, where he […]

PacketVideo Corp. Thursday joined the Alliance Partner Program of Metricom Inc. to jointly develop content and applications targeted for personal digital assistants and laptop computers. Potential applications include wireless delivery of news and financial information, sports, weather, traffic reports, short entertainment clips, remote surveillance and music using full-motion video and audio, not just text. Under […]

Visiosonic Ltd. Wednesday announced it has developed a solution to digital music piracy it calls “Interactive MP3.” “We believe that artists and copyright holders should be paid for their product, yet the public has come to expect music on the Internet to be free, like it is on radio,” said Visiosonic’s chief executive officer, Joe […]

Listen.com and Trans Cosmos Inc., Wednesday launched Listen Japan KK, a search and directory service for legal online music in Japan. Trans Cosmos Inc. is a Japanese Internet business development and joint venture firm. Listen Japan features links to downloadable and streaming tracks from a multiplicity of artists, including links to free music files. The […]

eSynch Corp. has launched ChoiceCaster, its new media player. ZDNet will be exclusively featuring ChoiceCaster for download starting at 9 p.m. EDT, Monday. ChoiceCaster implements eSynch’s “Just Hit Play” approach to broadband media content. The new version provides the end-user with a single point of presence that aggregates all types of media, from entertainment to […]

With the shutdown of Napster pending, many of its 20 million users, like those furry rodents leaving the proverbial sinking ship, are switching to “peer-to-peer” file sharing networks like Gnutella and FreeNet. Unlike Napster, these networks are not owned by anyone and have no central server, so there is no company to sue and no […]

A federal judge on Wednesday issued an order temporarily shutting down Napster Inc., siding with recording industry arguments that the song-swapping service was a haven for piracy and copyright infringement. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel said the evidence indicated that Napster’s estimated 20 million users turned to the company to download copyrighted music. “When […]

Medium4.com Wednesday announced the launch of a new InternetOnly SuperChannel, ForeignTVIsrael.com. Broadcasting in streaming video, ForeignTVIsrael.com features a variety of news, travel and lifestyle programs. “We are thrilled to be able to offer the world this exclusive window into Israeli culture and current events by broadcasting globally via the Internet. Whenever and wherever they choose, […]

Gig.com has announced an Internet infrastructure and content management system designed to enable Music Service Providers to manage, store and deliver copyright-friendly “Jukebox in the Sky” digital music content and services to consumers. “Online digital music services will become the next ‘must-have’ services for music retailers as well as consumer Internet portals, much like e-mail […]