February 25, 2009

By By Antony Bruno, Denver

- While it still trails Apple in market share, Amazon's digital music store is outpacing iTunes in customer preference, according to a recent Strategy Analytics report. Of the broadband Internet users surveyed, 26% reported they preferred Amazon to 23% opting for iTunes for downloading music.

- Continuing a pattern of naming pro-copyright regulators to top government posts, President Barack Obama is expected to appoint former MPAA lobbyist Jon Leibowitz as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, according to a Bloomberg report.

- The Republic Project is a new digital music service launched today (Wed, Feb. 25), that lets artists reach out to fans directly. Features include artist blogs, live chats, videos and pre-order sales in return for exclusive "fan only" content. Artists Tim Myers, Dexter Freebish, Steriogram, and Still Time, are the first on board.

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