COMPANIES

• Napster Unlimited Streaming for $5
• Spotify and EchoNest demo a new recommendation engine at the San Francisco Music Tech Summit
• Spotify New Facebook App
• Project Playlist acquires the assets of TotalMusic and announces e-commerce plans
• Pandora sees profits coming in 2010, launches a premium service and desktop app, PandoraOne, and adds lyrics
• TuneCore and Amazon unveil on-demand CD sales
• ReverbNation to pay artists for free promotions
• CDBaby plans Single Song Download
• MySpace Music and Toyota and the unsigned musicians contest

ARTISTS

• Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse Release A Blank CD-R. Free streaming available online
• Eminem using Twitter to build buzz around his new album
• Dave Matthews Band launches TapTap game and announces live streaming of a concert through Hulu
• Jay-z ditches on DefJam
• Take That the newest iTunes Pass addition
• Kate Perry calls back her fans
• Trent Reznor trying to save a life
  

READING

• TheRegister: The Great Spotify Mystery
• TheGlobeandMail: Download Decade
• MusicAlly: Labels on Trial
• TechDirt:Ask Jim Griffin questions about Choruss
  

Napster started the music revolution 10 years ago with its file-sharing network. Today’s announcement on the roll-out of a $5 subscription for 5 downloads and unlimited streaming might not sound as epic.

But the fact of the matter is that it officially sanctions the shift from Downloads to Streaming.  From Ownership to Access.

We are not yet into the full-fledged Access Era as depicted by Caraeff and Masnick with interactive listening and your library in the cloud.

And this is yet a model from the past – the subscription- which has hardly won the music fans. But it is a step into the new era where listening comes first and then there is Upselling of additional and targeted value added services.

Spotify is leading the way – at least on paper, even though the balance sheet might not look too nice, as of yet.