Setback For Spotify’s U.S. Prospects

Spotify, the European streaming music provider, is approaching its licensing negotiations with U.S. labels entirely anew, in efforts to launch some version of its proposed “freemium” service Stateside before the end of the year, according to Billboard. The music trade magazine’s sources say negotiations “have reverted back to square one.” Hailed as a pioneering model for digital music distribution, Spotify’s proposed mix of free ad-supported streams and paid subscriptions threatens to be a non-starter with labels in the U.S. — even as the likes of Apple and Google are rumored to be hashing out details with labels for their own streaming music services. More analysis at All Things Digital, which raises the question of whether all four major label groups, or just some of them, are holding up the Spotify launch.

Title Contraction Paring Disc Sales?

Steph Sums It Up: Considering the headwinds, disc sales are pretty strong, showing consumers’ continued interest in owning the content they love the most.

‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ Creators Tout Unique Marvel Series

The X-Men and Wolverine have been done to death by Hollywood, but Josh Fine and Chris Yost, the associate producer and writer, respectively, of the Nicktoons Animated series “Wolverine and the X-Men” know they’ve created something unique.

U.S. Government Grants Anti-Piracy Exemptions For DVDs, Other Digital Media

Certain DVD users may now legally circumvent a disc’s CSS encryption scheme to incorporate short portions of video into new works of criticism or comment. That’s one of six new exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act declared yesterday by the Librarian of Congress. The country's copyright law requires the office to consider exemptions every three years. The DVD exemptions are limited to educational uses by college and university professors, and university film and media studies students; documentary filmmaking; and noncommercial videos. But the last category includes the posting of amateur video remixes to YouTube, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which lobbied for the exemption. Other exemptions provide for cellphone users to “jailbreak” their handsets in order to make them compatible with other carriers or to install apps not provided by the device manufacturer. On this point, Apple issued a statement reminding its customers that jailbreaking an iPhone is not so much an issue of legality as one of voiding the product’s warranty (via PC Magazine). More on the digital media exemptions, which also include provisions for videogame users and e-book purchasers, at the Hollywood Reporter’s THR, Esq. blog.

‘The Secret in Their Eyes’ Director Called on Personal Experiences

When Juan José Campanella walked up to grab his Oscar in March after his film The Secret in Their Eyes won the Best Foreign Language Academy Award, the Argentine director said he didn’t remember it happening.

Bob Kerrey To Head MPAA: Reports

The former U.S. Senator of Nebraska and current president of the New School in New York will become the Motion Picture Association of America’s new chair — it’s just a question of when, according to Hollywood and Washington insiders. The Wrap, which originally reported the deal back in May, wrote this week that Kerrey is in final negotiations with the Hollywood lobby — but that his contract with the New School is not up until June 2011. Nevertheless, an unnamed source tells the Hollywood Reporter, “I think it’s a done deal.”

BluFocus Event To Present Best Practices In Blu-ray 3D Authoring

Representatives from Hollywood studios and Blu-ray production facilities are convening in Calabasas, CA Aug. 3 for a hands-on seminar on Blu-ray 3D authoring. Blu-ray quality assurance specialist BluFocus is staging the “3D-Focus” event to foster broader awareness of emerging best practices in creating Blu-ray 3D titles. BluFocus CEO Paulette Pantoja explains that while other industry seminars have provided a top-level marketers’ view of 3D home entertainment, “3D-Focus” is the first to offer Blu-ray developers hands-on demonstrations of authoring systems and other tools. “The afternoon is designed for companies that currently develop or are interested in developing 3D Blu-ray material, as well as the customers they serve,” Pantoja says. “Our goal is to ensure the technology’s success by providing a forum for all involved to collaborate and learn how to create quality 3D material.” Pantoja adds that the event is platform-neutral, with representatives from all of the industry’s major Blu-ray authoring systems discussing their 3D solutions. 3D authoring and encoding, menu and subtitle creation, 3D playback tools, 7.1 surround audio for 3D, 3D testing, verification and certification, Blu-ray 3D disc replication, and the "human factor" -- a physiological review of 3D technology -- are all featured on the preliminary agenda. Presenting companies include: 1K Studios, ArcSoft, BluFocus, Deluxe Digital Studios, DTS Digital Entertainment, Intel, NetBlender, New Wave Entertainment, NVidia, Sonic, Sony Pictures, and THX. DTS will host at its Calabasas, CA facility. The event is sponsored by 3D @ Home Consortium, NetBlender, Sonic, THX, and MESA. Space is limited. To pre-register for complimentary admission, visit http://www.blufocus.com/3d-focus/part2.cfm.

Amazon Ups Q2 Profit 45%

Amazon reported second-quarter (ended June 30) net income of $207 million, up 45% from net income of $142 million during the previous-year period.

LA Conference To Discuss Storage For Content Delivery

A panel of storage media experts will examine the evolution of storage needs in content delivery at the fourth annual Creative Storage Conference (CS10), set for Aug. 3 at the Radisson Hotel West Los Angeles in Culver City, CA. The panel, moderated by MESA’s Guy Finley, will discuss why flash memory is showing up in edge delivery systems, as well as why larger and higher-performing storage libraries are needed for video on demand, cable and satellite distribution, and various methods of internet and mobile content distribution. Session participants will include Bert Hesselink of WD; Elliot Broadwin of SanDisk; David Sallak of Isilon; and Glenn Grube of ModusLink. The full CS10 agenda and speakers are available at www.creativestorage.org. Conference registration is open through July 27 at www.creativestorage.org/2010Register.htm.

Apple’s iPhone Growth Defies Analysts; iPod Sales Dip In Q3

Apple says it recorded sales of 8.4 million iPhones during its third quarter, a year-over-year unit increase of 61%. The iPhone 4, launched three days before the end of the quarter, accounted for 1.7 million units of that total, as MarketWatch reports. Analyst concerns that consumers would hold off on iPhone purchases until the release of the new model appear to have been unfounded. Apple also began selling iPads during the quarter: total device sales topped 3.27 million units. Meanwhile, iPod sales declined 8% during the quarter to 9.41 million units. In its earnings call yesterday, Apple executives insisted that they did not create supply shortages of the iPad and iPhone 4 to generate buzz – but that in any event, the supply problems were good ones to have. More at paidContent.

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