Spotify’s early traction in its native Sweden gives the world a glimpse at what a market looks like when strong music subscription services flourish, converting listeners from ownership to access.

A new twist today in the battle of media companies trying to stop their content from being distributed by illegal means online: the UK’s main music trade body, the BPI, has today teamed up others in the creative industries to request BT (NYSE: BT), the UK’s leading broadband provider, to…

According to figures from IE Market Research, there are currently 832 million paid users of digital music worldwide, with that number expected to rise to 1.6 billion by 2014. Today, announcements from streamed entertainment provider Aspiro and the music download service 7digital point—respectively announcing a new white-label distribution deal and…

Big U.S. publishers are now reporting that e-books now make up between 15 and 20 percent of their sales—a dramatic and quick rise since 2010. But in the rest of the world, it’s a very different story. In the UK, e-books make up about six percent of sales, but that’s…

Frustrating news for those in the UK who have eagerly been awaiting the first 4G services. The country, home to some of the most mobile-savvy consumers in the world, is now facing a delay well into 2012 before its national operators can even begin to consider how they would deploy…

Sony (NYSE: SNE) has declined to comment on reports that it is considering a bid to buy out Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC) from its Sony Ericsson handset joint venture as the company’s stock dropped in trading today.

After years of effort and speculation, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has pieced together nearly 40 broadcast services from around the world to boost the on-demand programming available through Xbox Live. It took a shift in strategy to make room for broadcasters like the BBC, the trend toward authentication to bring on…

Many consumers were never completely sure of the correct way to pronounce it, and it has had mixed success as a household name synonymous with cloud-based entertainment, so it comes as not too much of a surprise to hear that Sony (NYSE: SNE) has now dropped the Qriocity brand. Instead,…

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has all but cornered the market for tablets in the U.S., say researchers at Forrester, who predict that its iPad will take 80 percent of all tablet sales this year in North America. But that’s not entirely the case in Europe, it seems.

We spoke with an executive very close to Spotify and several advertising executives to understand the company’s strategy behind its hybrid ad-driven/subscription model now that it has launched in the US and become a global company. We learned that Spotify was able to charge charter sponsors $1 million each for…

Before it has even hit the market, the N9 from Nokia (NYSE: NOK), its first Meego-based device, has caused almost as much excitement as it has frustration—excitement for all the promise that Nokia seems finally to have delivered on, and frustration for executing on it just as it prepares to…

Despite the big stories about the iPad 2 selling out in the U.S., and the question marks over how events in Japan might affect consumer electronics supplies, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is going ahead with its scheduled launch of the iPad 2 outside the U.S.

Swedish publisher Bonnier, which introduced its Mag+ concept for iPad magazines last year, has now spun the idea out in to separate business.

That was quick: the WikiLeaks app on Apple’s App Store, published only on December 17, was early today removed by Apple (NSDQ: AAPL). The developer, Igor Barinov, confirmed as much in a tweet.

Britain’s high court today granted bail to Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who is wanted in Sweden for questioning over allegations of rape. Mr Justice Duncan Ouseley agreed with a decision by City of Westminister magistrates court earlier in the week to release Assange on strict conditions: £200,000 cash deposit,…

A British court today granted bail with strict conditions to Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks website, who faces allegations of rape in Sweden. Assange’s lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson, asked the city of Westminster magistrates court in London for bail on the following conditions: £200,000 in security, surety from two…

One school of thought, in the challenged news business, holds that publishers should augment their conventional income from ads and circulation sales with new revenue streams. But offering loans has to be one of the most original we’ve seen.

Swedish film streaming site Voddler, still in beta, has picked up a further 26 million Swedish kronor (£2.25 million, $3.5 million) in funding. This round comes from Eqvitec Partners and brings the total amount that Voddler has received up to SEK150 million (£13 million, $20.2 million), according to a spokesperson…

Has the tide turned against bedroom P2P file-sharers in the music industry’s epic fight against piracy? The IFPI’s branch in Sweden—the home of illegal file-sharing—is reporting that Swedish music sales rose 18 percent in the first nine months of the year, after seven years of consecutive decline, following the introduction…