July 09, 2008

By By Antony Bruno, Denver

- Last.fm has "officially" launched its artist royalty program, originally unveiled in January. The program pays unsigned and independent artists for each time their music is played on the free streaming music service. Since January, more than 450,000 tracks have been uploaded by participating bands. Last.fm did not disclose how many artists are participating at this time, nor is it clear how much artists will earn from each stream through the system.

- Social media and networking service Buzznet has partnered with the heavy metal online community The Gauntlet to add genre-specific news, reviews and fan interaction to Buzznet's stable of services.

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