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Billboard •

Billboard FutureSound Conference To Showcase Tomorrow’s Startups; More Panelists Announced

Every conference needs keynotes and executives that everyone attending knows and wants to hear from and speak with. But we believe a good digital music conference should also be about discovering new companies and services you’ve not yet heard of or had the chance to fully understand.

That’s why we’ve put together the Visionary Showcase panel, which will bring together five startups doing new and innovative things in the digital music business.

Here are the companies we’ve chosen:

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Billboard •

Steve Jobs’ Music Legacy: The Cover Story

It was in the creation of the iTunes Music Store that Jobs’ personality and negotiating style really made a difference. Labels at the time saw the iPod as a way to listen to illegally downloaded music on the go. They were casting about for a legitimate way to sell music digitally, and all their internally built efforts were failing.

Given the desperation in the air, Jobs didn’t need to turn on the charm too high to get them onboard. He simply presented himself as the answer to their problems, a
Billboard •

Steve Jobs 1955-2011: The Father of Digital Music, and His Legacy

That a man who never played an instrument or so much as sang a note professionally could be considered one of the greatest rock stars of this generation speaks to the impact Steve Jobs had on the music industry, and the legacy on it he leaves behind.

In a way different from any artist or label exec, Jobs will remain an iconic figure in the history of the music business. The innovations he shepherded into the market changed not only the way music is distributed, sold and enjoyed, but also, to an
Billboard •

Shazam Reverts Back To Free

Shazam, the firm behind the music identification app of the same name, today removed the limitations on how many songs users can ID for free when using its free iPod app.

Those paying for the Shazam Encore premium app have long been able to ID as many songs as they like, but free users were limited to five songs a month. Removing that limitation is one less reason to buy the Encore version. But only Encore users will still have access to things like LyricPlay, which streams lyrics to songs as t
Billboard •

Zynga’s CityVille Finally Gets Music with Enrique Iglesias

Zynga’s CityVille, the enormously popular Facebook game boasting some 72 million users, has long been missing one critical element-music.

No longer. In the company’s first music-related project since GagaVille, Zynga is teaming up with Enrique Iglesias next week to help promote his Euphoria tour within the game. Under the deal, Iglesias fans will be able to add a Euphoria Arena as a building in their city, where visitors can visit and which earns virtual credits just like other CityVille buildi
Billboard •

FutureSound Update: More Speakers, Topics Confirmed

There are a lot of music-industry conferences these days, but we’re aiming to do something really different with Billboard’s inaugural FutureSound Conference, taking place Nov. 17-18 in San Francisco.

This conference is designed to drive past the usual platitudes you hear from the same speakers on talking about the same topics and the same roundtable discussion panels. We’re asking everyone involved-from speakers to attendees-to put a little more skin in the game. Our goal is to drive towards t
Billboard •

Jeff Bronikowski Leaves AOL Music for the Echo Nest

Jeff Bronikowski, who less than a year ago left Yahoo Music for AOL Music, has in turn left for a newly created position at the Echo Nest, according to a report in AllThingsD.

Bronikowski is now overseeing corporate development for the Boston-area startup, which offers a development platform for music app developers. The Echo Nest is perhaps best known for powering many of the apps created through the Music Hack Days it sponsors, but it’s also behind many large-scale operations as well. That in
Billboard •

MOG Now Available on Samsung TVs

Barely a week after unveiling an innovative new free usage tier, streaming music service MOG is now available on a range of Samsung-made smart TVs and Blu-ray players, expanding its interest into the living room.

The service makes its way to these devices via Samsung Apps, an app store created for Samsung’s line of Internet-connected appliances. That makes MOG available not only to newly-purchased devices, but also any Samsung smart TV or Blu-ray player bought since 2010.

However anyone access
Billboard •

Turntable.fm Co-Founder Seth Goldstein Talks Success, Licensing and What He’s Learned

After staying largely quiet all summer and letting the service do the talking, the founders of Turntable.fm have finally started talking. Last week, they confirmed a long-rumored $7 million round of funding. They began addressing their plans for establishing music licensing for the service. And they began dropping hints as to where the service might be going.

Seth Goldstein, chairman and co-founder of the company, will be presenting a keynote case study at Billboard’s FutureSound conference (ww
Billboard •

RootMusic Prepping Spotify Integration on Facebook, Others Sure to Follow

Something to watch for in the next few days will be what could be considered the “Facebook Effect” on music services. In addition to the many services announcing their integration for the new Facebook Timeline, many will be making changes to their services internally to better take advantage of the new Facebook capabilities.



Facebook Music: What it is, What it isn’t, and What it Means

Some already occurred, as the free music tiers introduced by MOG and hinted at by Rdio. Others will soon f