MBG, The Music Business Group, has backed proposals for a change in the copyright law within the UK. They’re looking for the law to give legal backing to the sharing of music via mobile phones and MP3 players.

MBG wants the copyright holders to receive payment for the sharing of music, meaning that piracy as it stands would become a thing of the past and the artists and studios could profit.

Richard Mollet, a spokesman for MBG said:

The proposal we have put forward through the Music Business Group would see format-shifting copying (i.e. “CDs to iPods”) brought within the law.

At the same time we propose that music rightsholders set up a licensing scheme, with government approval, by which manufacturers and importers of ‘enabling devices’ (e.g. MP3 players, iPods, phones) would pay rightsholders to share the value that they realise from consumers format-shifting.

The difficult part comes in persuading the manufacturers to agree to the license fee. Nokia have set the ball rolling as they’ve sought license deals already.

The real problem is that the proposals only cover ‘format shifting’, which means copying of files between the devices. It doesn’t cover downloaded files from the Internet or other forms of file sharing.

Philips has just released a new range of accessories for your MP3 players, iPods and mobile phones. The accessories include Apple iPod headphones and Bluetooth stereo headsets for the Nokia phone range.

Some of the products in the range include:

Bluetooth Stereo Headsets
The Philips Bluetooth stereo headset is both discreet and lightweight and can be used with any brand of mobile phone, using the Philips TailorMate technology. The in-the-ear headphones use superior technologies to offer high quality sound. You can also talk on your mobile using just the one earpiece.

Advanced Acoustics
After in-depth research from Philips on the human ear, the Philips Advanced Acoustic in-the-ear headphones were created. They feature a unique system called ‘Angled Acoustic Pipes’ that deliver the sound directly onto the eardrum.

Made for Nokia Range
Nokia’s XpressMusic music phones now have their own range of Philips XpressMusic music products, designed exclusively for the mobile phones so that users can listen to their MP3s on the move. All of the headphones made for the XpressMusic phones can be used with the phones, and also with any MP3 players. In addition to the headsets Philips have also released a set of music stands that allow you to turn your Nokia mobile phone into a stereo system.

Mix & Match with Made for iPod earphones
Philips range of iPod earphones use a system called Neodymium that produces a deep base sound with high sound sensitivity. The earphones themselves come in a range of colours and can be customised depending on your mood, or what music you feel like listening to.

Warner has come up with a suggestion to change the way music is purchased over the Internet. The idea is that everyone who uses broadband is forced to pay a mandatory fee with their monthly usage bill, allowing them to download music during that month.

According to the website ‘Portfolio’, the chief executive of Warner Music, Edgar Bronfman Jr, is hoping to form a new organisation within three years that can help struggling companies benefit from the Internet. He has apparently hired Jim Griffin, an industry veteran, to form the organisation.

Warner Music released a statement saying:

We are in the earliest stages of what is a dynamic conversation about licensing opportunities in the global digital marketplace. We intend to examine ways to work with new ideas advocated by people like Griffin to see if these new approaches can become a successful reality.

The represents an attempted fight back from music labels after new competition from the Internet has seen their profits take a serious hit.

Warner believes that CD sales and even paid MP3 downloads will become a thing of the past as music fans, more and more, turn to services such as BitTorrent for their downloads. Warner Music wants to cash in on peer-to-peer services such as BitTorrent by embedding a fee into web users’ subscription fees.

It’s finally happened. Music downloads have overtaken CD sales in the US… and we don’t mean illegal downloads either; we’re talking about genuine musical download sales.

Apple has announced that its iTunes online download store has surpassed Wal-Mart to become the biggest music retailer in the United States. CDs had a good run though, they’ve last twenty years.

This might not just stop at MP3 downloads either, it is expected that books and films will head in the same direction, which makes it very difficult for physical high-street retailers survive. Not only are they being beaten on price by the Internet, they’re being beaten on speed of delivery as well.

Steve Knopper of Rolling Stone magazine said about music downloads:

People have long talked about the shift to digital music sales but this seems to be a symbol it is actually happening.

This announcement came on the very same day that social networking website MySpace joined forces with three music labels, potentially poses some serious online competition for iTunes.

Apple stated that iTunes has received a staggering fifty million customers in just five years; purchasing a collective four billion tracks; scary figures indeed for any retailer.

The cheapness of the music downloads, coupled with the fact that music fans tend to download single tracks rather than albums has led the a decline in the sales of CDs.

In a poll of 293 MP3 players on the consumer reviews website reevoo.com, Apple’s iPod didn’t even make the top 3 despite topping the charts in the 2008 Brandjunkie survey last week.

To reach a list of the top 5 players, Reevoo looked at the reviews of over 4,000 customers who had bought MP3 players.

The results of the survey showed that Sony dominated, owning the top two positions with their NWE016BC and the Sony NWZA816 first and second respectively.

The Hitachi DMP20 2GB came in third, with Apple’s Green iPod Nano 8GB coming in fourth.

Apple have always prided themselves on their design, but shoppers gave the Sony NWE016BC 10/10 on that score, beating the iPod.

The reviews were based around eight different categories ensuring that many features of the MP3 players were covered. Sadly for the iPod, it faltered badly in the ‘battery life’ category.

The top five chart according to Reevoo is as follows.

1. Sony NWE016BC – 9.8/10
2. Sony NWZA816 – 9.7/10
3. Hitachi DMP20 2GB Black – 9.4/10
4. New Apple iPod Nano 8GB Green – 9.2/10
5. Samsung YP-P2JCB 8GB Black – 9.2/10

One of Nintendo’s best-loved and most successful games, Mario Kart, is released today on the revolutionary console, the Nintendo Wii.

In this new version of the classic Mario Kart, as well racing as the usual Nintendo characters such as Mario, Wario and Donkey Kong, players can also race as themselves using their personalised Mii characters. You can then also see other Mii characters that have been created offering you moral support from the crowd as you race along the tracks.

The game can be played by up to four people, or twelve players can play at once using the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. You can even compete in tournaments and see when your friends are playing online by visiting the Mario Kart channel.

One of the great features with this version of Mario Kart is that you can buy an add-on steering wheel that allows you snap in the Wii Remote and control the game with a wireless steering wheel in mid air.

This will feel natural to anyone who has ever driven before, or played racing games in the arcade.

Since the first MP3 player came on sale just over ten years ago, there have been a lot of advances within the technology. Companies such as Apple, Sony and Philips have released countless models, all with slightly different features and USPs.

This can make it difficult to choose which MP3 player is right for you. It’s not a simple question of picking the best one, as they are all different, you need to pick which one suits you.

For example, are you looking for an MP3 player to take jogging with you, or to the Gym? Of course, you can also elaborate on this question. You should ask; if you do intend to go jogging, will you be jogging for an extended period, or for just a few minutes?

If you’re going jogging for just a few minutes, say half an hour, at a time then a small, light, flash based player that will fit in your pocket would be your ideal MP3 player.

If however you intend to use your player at home, or at work, then you’ll probably want a larger capacity player that can hold a lot more of your music, something that will easily see you through the eight hours you’ll be at work for. You could choose a smaller capacity player that uses flashcards, but then of course you have to carry them round with you!

Maybe you’re interested in watching video on your player? If so you’ll require a hard-drive based player, but be warned that they have a much shorter battery life… especially if you are watching video on them. Another thing to consider is the size of the LCD screen. The larger the screen, the easier it tends to be to locate your files.

So before you choose an MP3 player, ask yourself what you actually intend to do with it first.

It might surprise you to know that MP3 players aren’t just for listening to music. Sure you can store your entire record collection on them and carry every song you’ve ever liked with you wherever you go, but music isn’t their only use. You can also use MP3 players for educational purposes, light entertainment of even self-improvement.

Let’s have a look at some of the alternative uses for an MP3 player, that doesn’t involve your music collection or downloading the latest tracks from iTunes.

Listening to Podcasts
Podcasts are recorded MP3s of radio shows, monologues, comedy routines; anything in the spoken word. You can usually download podcasts from websites such as the BBC for free. Many blogs also have podcasts that you can download and copy to your MP3 player.

Learning a Foreign Language
Learning a foreign language for that holiday in the sun is something that is very easy to do with an MP3 player. You can download an entire course onto your player with ease, or copy any educational CDs onto the MP3 player.

Self Help
Self help CDs have been around for many years, where someone tries to instil the virtues of being the best or tries to motivate you. Again these can be copied onto your MP3 player and listened to at any time.

Self-Hypnosis
If you need to quit smoking, lose weight or give up any other vice then self-hypnosis CDs can help you out. Even better are self-hypnosis MP3s, which can be downloaded from many hypnotherapy websites.

These are all uses for any MP3 player that go beyond the conventional use of simply listening to music.

If you’re one of those people who’s violently opposed to all things Apple, and has resisted the urge to delve into the murky waters of iPod ownership, you might be wondering what options are out there for you that don’t go towards lining the pockets of Steve Jobs.

If that is the case (as it certainly is with me) you could consider Philips a viable alternative to the overly hyped Apple line-up.

I’ve owned a Philips before and have to say their players always stylishly designed and well built. No, Philips don’t get all excited about them like Apple do with the iPod, but they don’t need to. The product speaks for itself.

The visual effect of the player is impressive and it comes with a scroll wheel that is very easy to use. The downside though is the operating system isn’t quite as intuitive as (and it pains me to say this) the software found on an iPod.

The player comes with a 2.2 inch screen which allows you to watch video in a 320×234 pixel resolution. You do need to turn the player on its side in order to watch the video though.

The biggest drawback with the player is the limited storage space, coming with a very meager 2GB. This only allows for 4 hours of movies or 9 hours of music playback.

Anyone upwards of 30 is most likely to have a varied (or not so varied if your tastes are a little niche) collection of vinyl records. Of course the chances are that the vinyl records aren’t the only formats in your music collection, as the last 30 years have seen cassette tapes, CDs and Mini Disks come, and in the case of two of them, go again.

That’s a lot of different formats to keep, and different media players required to listen to the music. With an MP3 player such as an iPod however you’re able to take your entire music collection, be it Vinyl, Cassette Tape, Mini Disc, CD or any other format and capture them all together on one MP3 player device.

While CDs, tapes and mini discs have always had portable player options, vinyls have never had that luxury, so travelling with your favourite tunes when you’re a vinyl lover has never been a viable option. With an MP3 player however you can gather together your entire music collection on one small box, no matter how many records you own (unless you happen to be a professional DJ of course!).

If you’ve held off on any advances, or supposed advances in music technology over the years now’s the time to change your mind and buy the latest technology, for converting your music into MP3s doesn’t mean you have to swap your beloved vinyl for anything else. It just means you can take it with you wherever you go.