
MUSICMATCH EXTENDS ''MUSIC ON DEMAND'' TO CANADA
SAN DIEGO - As part of an expanded agreement between Musicmatch Inc. and Bell Canada, the Southern California-based company's streaming music technology will enter the Canadian market as part of Bell's premium consumer DSL service.
The relationship between Musicmatch and Bell Canada represents the first time a digital music service has been integrated with an Internet service provider access service and localized outside the US.
Additional unique services include French and English customer service and billing support; and a custom French hits music station. "Musicmatch's legal music services are part of our vision to simplify the way Canadians access and enjoy online content through our various Internet access services," said Charlotte Burke, Bell Canada's senior vice president - Next Generation Services. The agreement will give Bell Canada's customers access to a catalog of more than 10,500 artists, including those from all five major music labels, as well as several independent labels. Musicmatch has more than 138,000 active paying subscribers in the US. The company invented the digital jukebox concept in 1997, and since then has registered more than 35 million users of its on-line MUSICMATCH Jukebox.
Go
back, or read the latest Page Two stories:
MEXICO LIFTS CALIFORNIA LETTUCE BAN

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – 10/20/06 – The weeks-old ban on California lettuce shipments to Mexico has been lifted after US Department of Agriculture tests for the E. coli bacteria proved negative; California is the country’s leading producer of lettuce with an estimated 70-75% of the total US production of iceberg lettuce and between 80-85% of the leaf lettuce.

NAPSTER ENTERS THE JAPANESE MARKET

LOS ANGELES – 10/16/06 – Napster, the digital music service provider, has entered the Japanese market with the introduction of a new subscription model that allows subscribers, who until now acquired digital music by paying for each track and album individually; currently, Japan is largest music market in the world outside of the US.

GUESS? IN NEW MEXICAN JV

SAN FRANCISCO – 09/29/06 – Fashion marketer Guess? has inked a manufacturing and marketing joint venture agreement with Mexico’s Grupo Axo; the Mexico City-based company will engage in the production, wholesale distribution and retail sale of Guess? fashion apparel, accessories and other related products throughout the country.

GOOGLE BELGIUM TAKEN TO COURT

BRUSSELS, Belgium – 09/20/06 – Internet search engine Google has been ordered to cease reproducing articles from French-language publications in the news sections of its Belgian website; the court order threatens the company with a fine of $1.3 million daily if it does not comply.

NEW OAKLAND INTERMODAL FACILITY PLANNED

OAKLAND – 09/11/06 – The 425-acre former Oakland Army Base will be converted into the Port of Oakland’s newest intermodal rail yard under the terms of an agreement reached between the port and several local and state government agencies; the planned OHIT – or Outer Harbor Intermodal Terminal – is expected to significantly reduce container transfer times, increase throughput, and reduce truck traffic in and around the port when completed within the next several years.

INTEL MAY LAYOFF THOUSANDS

SANTA CLARA – 09/04/06 – Chipmaker Intel is reportedly planning to announce a massive layoff within weeks that could eliminate as many as 10,000 jobs or one-tenth of the company’s total global workforce; the move was spurred by several financially disappointing quarters and the results of an internal corporate analysis conducted in April.

|