Monday’s Music Briefing: Last.fm, Kyte, Layoffs, Midem & More

I'm still at Midem.  The wider trade show has opened and while some say its a bit slower than usual, 8000 plus are here and deals are getting done. You can find our coverage so far here.

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  Last.fm announced saw triple-digit growth in U.S. unique visitors (204%), site visits (147%), page views (219%) and total minutes spent on the site (141%) in 2008, according to Nielsen Online data. (DMW)
• The Orchard today announced a strategic alliance with Avex, an independent music company and key shareholder in Japan’s dominant mobile content joint-venture, Label Mobile. (press release)
• Universal has signed a deal with Kyte to provide live mobile video streams for its acts. (press release) I've seen Kyte in action and its incredibly easy to use with strong quality. Some acts like 50 Cent are already using it very effectively.
  
• It ain't pretty out there. Various reports have staff cuts at Sony, Transworld and Clear Channel.
• Sonicbids CEO Panos Panay has an interesting guest post on the MidemNet blog "Music In The Obama Cabinet". Panos is 100% right. Almost every country has a government supported booth here…except the U.S.  Sometimes its considered an "export"; other times its "art and culture". Either way if we hope to rebuild our image in the world, this is a great place to start.