Universal Music Group

News Byte

Harvey Geller, Universal Music Group’s Top Lawyer, Is Out

Peter Kafka in Media on May 16 at 11:17 am PT

Harvey Geller, Universal Music Group’s longtime lawyer, left the company earlier this week. A person familiar with Universal said Geller was now headed for another job but didn’t have other details. His name will be familiar to many digital-media companies, since he often led fierce and sustained battles against them on behalf of the world’s biggest music label.

Why You Can’t See SNL’s Great “Game of Thrones” Sketch on NBC.com

Peter Kafka in Media on April 16 at 1:35 pm PT

Or Hulu, for that matter. Luckily, there’s always Gawker.

Music News Site Asks for Help Fending Off Music Service

Peter Kafka in Media on April 6 at 7:17 am PT

Digital Music News asks for help fighting subpoenas from Grooveshark.

Beats Is Buying MOG Music Subscription Service

Peter Kafka in Media on March 20 at 10:41 am PT

Jimmy Iovine, Dr. Dre, and HTC will have their own music service.

Turntable.fm Gets Its Label Deals Done

Peter Kafka in Media on March 13 at 11:02 am PT

Its U.S. deals, that is. Next step: Getting its mojo back.

With a New Design, Vevo Asks Music Video Fans to Stick Around

Peter Kafka in Media on March 9 at 2:00 am PT

And if it makes the “Hulu for Music Videos” joint venture that much more attractive to suitors like Facebook, that doesn’t hurt, either.

News Byte

Yet Another New Digital Music Service, But This One’s for Pros

Peter Kafka in Media on March 6 at 9:00 pm PT

Here’s an online music service you are very unlikely to use: GreenLight Music, a Web-based music-licensing exchange run by Corbis, the Seattle-based company best known for its photo-licensing operations. GreenLight is designed to let professional users, like commercial producers, quickly clear the rights to songs owned by big labels like Sony, Warner Music and EMI. GreenLight will take a fee ranging from 10 to 20 percent of each transaction.

Anonymous Fails, Once Again, to Make Its Point

Arik Hesseldahl in News on January 20 at 1:58 pm PT

Big as they were, the attacks carried out in revenge for the Megaupload arrests accomplished nothing significant.

Grooveshark Fights a Copyright Lawsuit by Chasing After Anonymous Commenters

Peter Kafka in Media on January 18 at 6:22 pm PT

The music service sends subpoenas to Digital Music News, demanding to learn the identity of an accuser. Won’t happen, says publisher Paul Resnikoff.

News Byte

Join the Club: EMI Sues Grooveshark, Again

Peter Kafka in News on January 5 at 1:28 pm PT

EMI Music, which had sued music streaming service Grooveshark in 2009, then ended up cutting a deal with the company, is now suing Grooveshark again. EMI’s publishing unit claims that Grooveshark has yet to pay a royalty on its deal. As the New York Times notes, the suit means that Grooveshark is now in legal fights with all four major music labels.