America Online is disabling a feature of its popular music software that had been used to evade copy-prevention features of digital music services, the company said Friday. The company’s Winamp software was identified by bloggers this week as part of a process that transformed copy-protected music downloads into songs that could be burned by the …

For more than six months, Israel’s iMesh has been the strangest of beasts in the file-swapping world: a fully functioning peer-to-peer network operating with the blessing, albeit temporary, of the recording industry. That status is coming slowly to an end. The company is working to build a record-label-approved peer-to-peer service, using song-filtering company Audible Magic’s technology to help turn unauthorized …

It’s like the old Napster all over again: all the music you want for free, as long as you’re willing to get a little geeky. Blogs were buzzing Tuesday about the resurgence of an old technique for recording music on a computer, reapplied to Napster’s all-you-can-eat subscription music plan. Using software freely available from America Online’s Winamp division, it’s possible …

Apple Computer’s iTunes Music Store is having a sale on albums with Grammy-winning songs, the company said Monday. All albums sold through iTunes that include an award-winning track can be downloaded for $2 less than their original price. This brings most of the albums down to $7.99, according to the company, which rarely discounts music. iTunes rival MSN Music had …

Yahoo has renamed its online music service Yahoo Music. The service had been operating under the brand name Launch, which was acquired by Yahoo in 2001. But now, Yahoo wants to showcase all its music products and services under a single brand, the company said. The service already has begun operating with a new logo. Yahoo Music offers streaming audio, …

Fee-based digital music is gaining popularity among downloaders in the United States, according to market research company Ipsos-Insight. Related story The company is putting$30 million in marketingbehind a new Microsoft-backed “portable”subscription service. About 47 percent of people who downloaded music in December and who were age 12 or older paid a fee to do so, the market researcher said. That’s …

MP3tunes.com introduced its digital music service on Wednesday, offering 300,000 songs at 88 cents each from mostly independent and unsigned artists. As earlier reported, the new download service is the brainchild of Michael Robertson, current chief executive of Linux software company Linspire and Net-calling service SIPphone. His creation of MP3.com in 1997 helped establish the online digital music business. MP3tunes.com …

Online storage company Xdrive is setting its sights on the multimedia market, offering streaming music capabilities to its subscribers for the first time. The company, which allows subscribers to store gigabytes of data online, said its customers can now upload MP3 files, create playlists, and stream that music to PCs or smart phones that support Web surfing and music playback. …

The difference between Napster and Apple Computer music offerings was made clear during Sunday’s Super Bowl: Apple is a high-end fashion statement, while Napster is about value shopping. That may be an extreme take, but it isn’t far from the advertising messages the two companies are now sending as they square off at different poles of the digital-music markets. Napster’s …

After years of reluctantly treating music videos as free promotional tools, record label Universal Music Group is planning to charge Internet and satellite companies whenever they play. The change, which is likely to be followed by other record labels, marks a potentially substantial shift in the economics of the online-entertainment world. Some of the most popular entertainment services, such as …