New Music Industry Briefing For Friday May 26, 2006

UPDATED:

–Cingular Wireless logged an amazIng 64.5 million American Idol-related text messages which breaks the previous-year record of 41.5 million. The massive total comes from a range of Idol related votes, trivia contests, and chats with contestants. (Press Release)

– Sprint is releasing the Fusic line of mobile phones designed for the music enthusiast.  Users can access the Sprint Music Store and stream music from Sprint Radio, Music Choice, Rhapsody Radio, MTV Mobile, and VH1 Mobile. Features include a miniSD memory slot, an FM transmitter to beam tunes to your car stereo, bluetooth, stereo headphones, a 1.3 mp camera and more. (press release)

– Shares of XM ave been battered after the company cut its 2006 subscriber forecast to 8.5 million from 9 million citing "overall softness" of sales of XM receivers. Sirius once considred an also-ran promised aggressive subscriber growth for the rest of the year. (WebProNews)

– NBC joined the Apple parade Thursday when it announced that it will become the first broadcast news organization to offer programming for sale through iTunes. (AP) 

– UK musicians are losing work under a new licensing act because owners of clubs . find the application process too complicated. Many venues have stopped using live performers and reverted to recorded music. (The Stage)

Canadian students send open letter to government protesting potential new digital rights restrictions. (Full text of letter)

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