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A big library of independent music is coming to TikTok
TikTok users will soon be able to choose from a huge variety of independent music to accompany their videos. Merlin, a digital rights agency for indie record labels, has signed a global partnership with the app, bringing music from labels like Epitaph and Sub Pop to TikTok's library. According to TechCrunch, the deal is also part of TikTok's rumored music streaming service, Resso, which is meant to compete with the likes of Spotify.
Merlin and Dubset strike a deal to help indie artists monetize DJ mixes
Last August, Sony Music made a deal with Dubset, a company that helps rights holders identify samples in songs to ensure they get paid. Apple and Spotify also connected with the licensing company for the streaming services' unofficial mixes, too. Now, indie label Merlin has struck a new deal with Dubset that will hopefully help independent musicians monetize their own samples.
Spotify lets thousands of indie labels limit free streaming
With an IPO looming, streaming music leader Spotify has been inking a number of new deals with record labels to ensure it has the content it needs to keep growing. The latest deal comes with Merlin, an agency that represents a swath of various independent record label around the world. In a press release today, Spotify noted that this new multi-year deal would keep ensure that Merlin's music stayed available on Spotify, something it'll certainly need going forward. All told, Merlin is the fourth-biggest music provider that Spotify works with, behind the three massive major labels.
SoundCloud inks licensing deal with 20,000 indie labels
SoundCloud continues to lend a hand to independent artists, and today the music site announced a royalty agreement with Merlin. While the name may not ring a bell, Merlin works with 20,000 indie labels and distributors including Beggars Group (Vampire Weekend), Secretly Group (Bon Iver), Domino (Animal Collective), Kontor Records (Tiësto) and more. Merlin works with smaller outfits to negotiate things like royalties and licensing, which is exactly what it's done here with SoundCloud. The deal means that on top of being able to pipe in content from labels and distro, the streaming repository will offer compensation when tunes are played. "You'll also be able to discover and listen to more new tracks from the best independent label creators on the planet, safe in the knowledge they'll now have the opportunity to get paid while you listen," a blog post announcing the deal explains.
YouTube's music service launches in 'weeks' following indie deal
After a long (and frequently contentious) negotiation process, YouTube's long hinted-at music service appears to be close to launch. Sources for the Financial Times claim that YouTube has finally signed a deal with Merlin, the rights group that represents about 20,000 indie music labels. The move gives the ad-free streaming option a well-stocked catalog ahead of its launch, which is reportedly due within "weeks." It's not clear just what broke the deadlock, but a tipster says that the new terms are "substantially more favorable" than what YouTube offered in June -- Merlin's decision to hold out (and risk losing revenue on music video streams) appears to have paid off. It's tough to tell if having indies onboard will help YouTube compete with music veterans like Spotify, but the agreement at least means that you won't be giving up a lot of big-name artists just to give the Google-powered service a spin. [Image credit: Jason Persse, Flickr]
Pandora deal helps indie musicians get noticed on internet radio
Pandora's relationship with music labels hasn't exactly been cozy, with more than a few legal disputes over royalties. Today, though, it's extending an olive branch. The internet radio service has forged a deal with the Merlin rights agency's 20,000-plus indie labels to help their artists get discovered. The move will use Pandora's music discovery techniques to bring "additional exposure" to these musicians when they're relevant to listeners. They'll also have direct access to playback data (to help decide on set lists and tour locations), and they'll get custom communication channels to reach fans.
Massive Mabinogi update introduces Merlin's magic
The magic of Merlin joined the world of Mabinogi yesterday in a large update that also included new character cards, a Hero Support System, a dressing room update, and in-game events. With the new Merlin content, players can now wield that magical power by utilizing the new Druid talent and accessing new advanced skills. The Hero Support System allows players to make progress on multiple characters simultaneously. The in-game beauty shop experienced some remodeling, adding a new UI and the ability to track and preview gear across all characters on the account. In conjunction with the dressing room update, Mabinogi is having a Fashion Bingonogi event, where players can spin the roulette wheel in hopes of snagging some new gear, including the Snowflake and Ranger outfits. Additionally, players who log in anytime during November 16th will automatically receive a non-tradable Shyllien Mana Knuckles magic weapon courtesy of the Magic Weapon Giveaway event. [Source: Nexon press release]
EVE Evolved: Fitting a brawler frigate for PvP
EVE Online's PvP usually has more in common with a game of chess than a dogfight; it helps to have more pieces on the board than the other guys, and tactics usually play a more important role than the size or cost of your ship. You can't automatically win by bringing a gun to a knife fight in EVE, but you can win by being better with a knife than the other guy or by bringing a dozen knives and just flinging them all over the place. The lowly tech 1 frigate may not seem so ferocious on its own, but a hundred frigates can smash even capital ships to bits. Despite the advantage of bringing more pilots to a fight, the frigate is also one of the best ships for soliciting solo PvP. Its superior speed and maneuverability will help you avoid groups of enemy ships and pursue individual targets. It's most common to find lone players in faction warfare areas and the borders of nullsec, and there are even dedicated wardec corps that will let you find solo PvP in highsec. Frigate duels can provide a fun and much more twitch-based style of combat than you'll find elsewhere in EVE, and a well-designed frigate can punch far above its own weight. The Rifter has always been the ship of choice for close-range frigate PvP, but Inferno 1.1 gave all four races an equivalent option. In this week's EVE Evolved, I give close-range PvP setups for the Minmatar Rifter, Amarr Punisher, Gallente Incursus and Caldari Merlin that make full use of the Inferno 1.1 overhaul.
Space X successfully test-fires Merlin 1D engine, forgets to buy marshmallows
SpaceX has added another string to its now weighty bow by successfully test firing the Merlin 1D engine, which will propel future craft into the thermosphere. The 1D is the sequel to the Merlin engines used to convey the DragonX to the International Space Station, with an improved thrust-to-weight ratio that reportedly makes it the most efficient booster engine ever built. It's hoped that the gear will be ready to make the jump to full use in time for the sixth flight of the Falcon 9, currently pencilled in for 2013. If you're the sort who enjoys watching a big pile of fire being pushed into a concrete chamber, you're really gonna love the video after the break.
EVE Alliance Tournament X details posted
EVE Online's Alliance Tournament X is just around the corner. In anticipation of the kickoff, the game's official blog has been updated with some more information about the tournament. The blog has a lengthy schedule laid out that covers everything from the qualifying rounds beginning on the 30th of June to the finals on July 22nd. The blog's also chock-full of information about streaming and commentary. Own3d will be carrying the Alliance Tournament live streams. Additionally, replays of previous tournaments will be available in the weeks leading up to the tournament. Unlike in previous years when qualifying rounds weren't streamed, every match will be available with livestreaming. Although an exhaustive list of commentators wasn't provided, the first two weekends of qualifying rounds will be commentated by kil2, Raivi, Michael Bolton III, Zastrow, and Lazarus Telraven. The most important part of the post? Prizes. The Caldari State has created two ships, based on the Osprey and Merlin hulls, as prizes: The Osprey hull is Etana. The name is drawn from the same branch of mythology as the Gallente Ishtar and the AT8 Utu, and has a nice connotation with some ancient Caldari-Gallente history involving Caldari Prime. This variant, which is the first prize, is a pioneering logistics ship with the added capacity to fit a covert ops cloak along with some very powerful skill bonuses. The Merlin hull is Cambion. The name comes from a half-demonic entity which ties in nicely in with the description of a crazy, fiery rocket brawler with mad overheating bonuses plus it's believed that the Merlin of wizard fame was either a cambion or descended from one. Hit up the blog post for the full schedules and replay details.
Dolphins enter cute-animals-using-iPads race, are in it to win it
Researchers at Dolphin Discovery in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico have been teaching two year old Merlin how to nose-touch operate an iPad by matching physical objects with their virtual representation on screen. Merlin is a dolphin. "This is an easy task for a dolphin, but it is a necessary building block towards our goal of a complete language interface between humans and dolphins," said one of the insane people attached to the project.
ARM planning three new Cortex CPUs, Eagle headed for smartphones
As if the Cortex-A9 isn't stirring up enough emotion all by itself, ARM revealed the roadmap for an even faster iteration of its Cortex-A series of chips during its earnings call a few days ago. Codenamed Eagle, the new processor is slated for a production run of 3 billion units annually, but alas this slide shares no more information on it beyond the intended market of smartphones, mobile computing, and digital TV products. (We've definitely heard that it'll be a 28nm multi-core part destined to ship around 2012, however.) There's also word of a pair of embedded chips, dubbed Heron and Merlin, which will find roles to perform in automotive and audio processing environments. Unsurprising that ARM isn't standing still, but we could've done with a little less mystery and a few more specs. [Thanks, Kamal]
Merlin medical implant monitoring system approved for use in Europe
Merlin.net, a medical monitoring system developed by St. Jude's Medical has been approved for use in Europe (after previous approval in the US). The system transmits medical information from an implanted pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), to a Merlin monitoring unit in the patient's home, which then transmits the information to the hospital or caretaker. Transmitting the data can occur at any time, regardless of whether the patient is even awake, and provides constant monitoring of the patient. If the system detects a possible problem or "event," it will alert the doctor by text message, email or fax, making possibly emergency situations more easily treatable. Merlin is expected to be marketed to health care provides starting in the spring -- which is currently happening -- so any day now. [Via Medgadget]
Rogers slated to get Novatel X950D and MC950D data cards
Rogers seems set to sponge as much cake as they can out of your overtaxed mobile pockets with the announcement of two new HSPA data devices, the Novatel X950D and MC950D. We've seen the USB-friendly MC950D pop up before, but as a refresh: it rocks 7.2 Mbps triple-band HSPA, supports most popular OSes, quad-band GPRS / EDGE, and may well still be the world's smallest HSPA USB modem. The X950D, however, will be making its worldwide debut on the friendly Canadian provider's network, and we're sure a goodly pile of Canadians will be whooping it up at this news. Sporting triple-band HSPA, Mac and Windows-friendly, quad-band GPRS / EDGE, Novatel's newest express port product also features backwards compatibility with a handy PCMCIA adapter. Pricing on both is apparently the same: $49.99 on a three-year contract. Of course, with data rates what they are, that $50 is definitely gonna get you in a whole heap of trouble if you don't mind your bits.
Merlin XU870 meet Verizon; Verizon, Merlin XU870
There's no doubt that The Network gives its customers plenty of options, especially when it comes to traveling across the pond -- and the latest addition to its ExpressCard lineup is no exception. Enter the Merlin XU870, which rocks triband 850 / 1900 / 2100MHz HSDPA and quadband EDGE and GPRS support. Yes, that's right, this is a GSM piece meant exclusively for Verizon's global roamers. The XU870 is expected to support Windows, Apple, and Linux operating systems and is expected to cost $370 with no contract, $299 with a one year contract and $249 on a two year indentured service contract on Verizon's GlobalAccess plans. You should be able to buy this around April 12.[Thanks, HTC Kid]
Novatel's Merlin EX720 ExpressCard hits Sprint shelves
The world just became a little less of a cold, dead, meaningless (or at least data-less) wasteland for Sprint customers rocking ExpressCard slots (of either the /34 or /54 variety) thanks to the official release of Novatel's Merlin EX720 modem on Sprint's website. Riding atop Sprint's glorious EV-DO Rev. A airwaves, the EX720 should deliver up to 1.4Mbps down and 500kbps up to virtually any ExpressCard-equipped device that needs it (MacBook Pros included), provided that the requisite $179.99 (after contract and rebates) has been forwarded to the appropriate bean counters over at your network. We can almost picture Cingular and T-Mobile folks seething -- for what it's worth, we feel your pain -- but hey, Sprintheads, go get your WWAN on.
Novatel's Merlin EX720 launches on Sprint's Rev A network
Hot on the heels of Novatel giving a bit of Rev A love to Verizon with the USB720 comes the company's tailored-for-Sprint version of the adapter, the Merlin EX720 ExpressCard. Nothing too special here, aside from its ability to hit up Sprint's Rev A EV-DO network for average upload speeds of 300 to 500Kbps and download rates topping out around 1.4Mbps. Interestingly, it does tout Assisted GPS (A-GPS) location-based capabilities, which should allow users to locate nearby "restaurants, gas stations, banks, etc." without having to input their current address. The card itself will play nice with Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, and even Mac OS X users won't have a problem utilizing the Merlin on their shiny MacBook Pro, and if all goes as planned, you should see these cards popping up in Sprint retail channels in just a few weeks.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Novatel gets their XU870 HSDPA ExpressCard out the door
They laughed when you bought that fancy new laptop with an ExpressCard slot, they scoffed when you "gave into the man" and signed up for Cingular, and they've been waving that PCMCIA EV-DO card of theirs in your face for what seems like an eternity now, but your vindication is finally nigh! Novatel just announced that their Merlin XU870 HSDPA ExpressCard, the first of its kind, is now shipping. The card can manage HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE and GPRS, both here and abroad, and while it currently tops off at 3.6Mbps, a forthcoming software update will bump that to 7.2Mbps once the carriers are ready. Apparently this thing has already started to ship to leading carriers in Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal and New Zealand, and while we're not exactly sure when you'll be able to grab this thing off the shelf of your neighborhood electronics shop in the States, the XU870 is official, legit, "shipping," and all that good stuff, so we're going have a party all the same. Who's bringing the chips? [Via laptoping]
Novatel's XU870 HSDPA ExpressCard
It's not exactly a mystery as to which US carrier would be interested in picking up an HSDPA ExpressCard, but now that we're finally starting to see these 3G devices announced (by Novatel, anyway), our appetites are whetted and we're sitting on our hands awaiting carrier announcements. Novatel's Merlin XU870, when snagged by Cingular (or T-Mobile Europe, or Vodafone, etc.) will serve as your basic tri-band HSDPA / UMTS / EDGE / GPRS device capable of 3.6mbps speeds out of the box, and future upgradeable to 7.2mbps (via software update as new HSDPA revisions roll out). In other words, please get us a few of these immediately, thanks.
Novatel's EV-DO Merlin XV620 ExpressCard gets PCMCIA approval
Novatel's announced that their EV-DO-rocking Merlin XV620 Wireless ExpressCard has gotten approved by the PCMCIA trade association, making it the first EV-DO ExpressCard on the market -- albeit a bit later than the rumored May launch. Still, the news should please users with a laptop that has an ExpressCard/34 slot but no built-in 3G support, who can now take advantage of the speedy, although somewhat pricey EV-DO network, getting data speeds up to 2.4 Mbps. Now, one of the biggest markets for the card would seem to be MacBook Pro users, but according to Novatel's website the XV620 only supports Windows XP and 2000. Which means Mac users will either have to forego their precious OS for the unfamiliar waters of Windows via Boot Camp or wait who knows how long for Novatel to release some native Mac drivers.
