• Another entry into the alternative distribution model game: MySpace will allow users to download an upcoming album by punk group Pennywise by adding as a friend mobile music distributor Textango. Free music on the Internet...no, it's not that unique. What is unique about this is the level of the band involved, the involvement of MySpace and the fact that the album can be downloaded rather than streamed. The difference between streams, which MySpace has plenty of, and downloads is all the difference in the world. (AdWeek)

• Sony BMG finalized an on-demand video licensing deal with Yahoo. The deal includes the ability for users to put Sony BMG music in their user-generated audiovisual content. (Press release)

• Video game "Guitar Hero III," developed by MTV Networks-owned Harmonix Music Systems, had sales of 1.4 million in its first week of release. (Billboard.biz)

• Nokia has inked a deal with EMI U.K. to offer to its Nokia Music Store subscribers Kylie Minogue's new album five days before its general release. The album will cost £8 or 80 pence per track. (Mobile Today)

• Haier has launched the Ibiza Rhapsody, a Linux-based, WiFi-enabled portable music player that integrates the Rhapsody music service. The device costs $330 and has 30GB of storage space. (Engadget)

• JupiterResearch put the five-year outlook of the U.S. digital music market at $3.4 billion per year and says "on-demand subscription services will appeal primarily to niche audiences among music aficionados" for the foreseeable future. Not a big surprise there. The typical American just don't see much value in subscription services. (Digital Music News)