Tom Loosemore has an interesting discussion of when you are liable to pay the license fee. Apparently in the UK, you have to watch the BBC in order to have to pay license.

In Denmark it is enough to be in possession of a mobile phone (or any other electronic device) that has the capability to show one of the national TV channels:

It looks like there is still some way to go here in terms of harmonisation within the EU, but watch out if you borrow a computer from a friend in Denmark, you may have pay a license fee while you browse the your Facebook profile and enjoy a latte in your local café.

I have previously blogged about NovaTunesand my frustration at not being able to purchase Simon Lynge’s forthcoming album. Finally, it looks like NovaTunes will launch on Mondayand I can get the new Simon Lynge album. Forgive a dedicated fan’s ramblings.Apparently, the delay has been caused by the development of a new Novatunes platform, and I am getting curious whether this has been worth waiting for. On the description on the website Novatunes write the following:

“The music on NovaTunes is sold in a new digital album format called the ‘DP’, which stands for Download Pack. Each DP comes with high quality DRM-free music tracks playable on any device. The package also contains printable artwork, with a bio, lyrics, credits and liner notes and an iPod-ready video. NovaTunes cuts out the middle man. [...] with the average DP selling for around $7. Additionally NovaTunes gives regular customers an ‘All Access’ status, where they can download albums to listen to on their iPods and decide to pay later. NovaTunes pays 70% of music revenue to the artist at the moment of purchase, thanks to it’s innovative payment solution and transparent accounting system. “

The unique selling point of Novatunes seems to be this new format and for the first platform which allows users to listen to music on their iPods and other devices before they decide to buy. The cynic would probably doubt whether anyone will ever pay for the music and I am not sure whether Radiohead’s esperiment with allowing users to pay what they wanted ever worked, but I certainly welcome this experiment in music distribution, it can only be an improvement from file sharing.

The New York Times have in a surprising move decided to offer all of their content for free.

I think this is interesting, especially since NY Times say that the subscription has met the expectations in terms of revenue, but they they expect that by offering all their content for free, they will be able to attract more visitors and generate more revenue.

 In general I think it is wonderful if a business model with free content can survive.