Hypebot’s New Music Industry Briefing For Tuesday May 9, 2006

UPDATED: Digital Music distributor The Orchard has added Muiscane to it’s list of offerings.  Orchard labels will now be able to sell downloads from their own or the band’s site and have then counted on Soundscan.

Apple has applied for patents for a number of possible iPod add ons that allow safer use while driving or otherwise engaged including one that talks back to the use and another that uses a touch screen interface. (DailyTech)

– Amazon has two exclusive Raconteurs videos, part of its growing foray into music. Fans can also pre-order their new album which then provides access to three streaming audio tracks from the release. (Digital Music News)

– Downloading of classical music is exploding.  When the BBC offered all nine Beethoven symphonies for free, they expected 25,000 requests and got 1.3 million. The music industry is taking notice. (Listen @ NPR.org)

– "There has to be a reality check on the modern music industry. We’re dealing with yesterday’s music business in terms of webcasters and how they approach record labels."  – Brian Cullinan, VP of Digital Media Marketing in RAIN.