Crenk

Apple has pushed the new iPod Touch Firmware 2.0 to iTunes. All iPod Touch users can upgrade to this latest firmware by paying a one-time fee of $9.25.

iPhone users, however, get to upgrade to firmware 2.0 absolutely free of cost. As I find this kind of unfair on part of Apple to charge only iPod Touch users, so I am going to help you upgrade iPod Touch to firmware 2.0 absolutely for free.

If you want to have an updated iPod Touch 2.0 for free, then just follow the steps below:

1. Download iTunes 7.7 from Here.
2. Hold Shift and click Restore.
3. Select iPod1,1_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw
4. Enjoy!

The iPod1,1_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw firmware can be downloaded from any of the mirrors below. It is the complete stable and final iPod Touch Firmware 2.0 (5A347) and has been checked and tested.

Rapidshare mirror (Join parts using this software)

http://tinyurl.com/ipodtouch-firmware-2-part1
http://tinyurl.com/ipodtouch-firmware-2-part2
http://tinyurl.com/ipodtouch-firmware-2-part3

Uploaded.to mirror

http://uploaded.to/file/ih0z65/iPod1,1_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw

Freakshare mirror

http://freakshare.net/files/30208/iPod11_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw

Once you download the firmware locally on your PC, follow the steps above to update iPod Touch to Firmware 2.0.

While at the SummerMash party in Austin last week, I was introduced to a breakthrough site that had just launched in beta the week prior, MySites. A MySites representative spoke with me briefly to highlight some of the amazing features his site offers.

Some might say that MySites tries to be too much, but I think they execute their offerings very well. Let’s take a look at the Virtual Desktop aspect first.

MySites does a great job of storing up to 10GB of items, to include photos, movies, and music. While it can’t necessarily import files from Flickr, iTunes, or any other site, you can personally upload your own files. With 10GB of space available you can set up your virtual desktop with more than enough to keep it functional. The files are stored in folders that you have to double click to open, just like your real desktop. You have access to the full customization of MySites which makes it a great addition to the usual items you can place on there like calendars, emails, sites, etc.

The flipside of MySites is the Social Networking aspect. MySites fully intends for you to share your content with friends and across as many sites as possible. With the ability to add buddies and designate which files can be accessible, it’s sure to be a great place to gather to share all of your uploaded files. Seeking others with similar interests is also possible, and is encouraged to fully extend your network via MySites.

As of last week MySites could not connect to any currently existing social network site, but again the site is in beta. I was assured that future offerings would be made available as the site is built out.

Im not too sure if this article will apply to the majority of our readers, but I thought I would run through a list of music distribution companies and work out who is worth using and who is not. All these companies are digital distribution companies, so they take music from artists all over the world and then distribute that music to the worlds largest online stores. All these companies take a cut for providing this service in some form or another.

We are also going to run through an example of how each site will work in terms of revenues for the artist. We will place 1 album per year for 2 years on each site. Each album will have 13 tracks. The artists actual sales were $0.99 per track and sold 1,000 tracks.

Cdbaby - Cdbaby is one of the old companies in this market and they provide some great services, even though the website they use seems to be outdated approx 5 years ago. The prices are as follows:

Setup: $35 one time fee

Cut for Distributor: 9% of all income

Partners: You dont have a choice at which online stores your music goes to, except for a very small list of selected retailers. The Cdbaby service is completely non-exclusive and doesnt tie up any of your rights. Their distribution partners include iTunes, eMusic, Hear Music, Last.fm, MusicNet, Napster, Rhapsody and others.

Example: The artist has to pay $35 upfront for first album and then another $35 for second album, totally $75 in initial outlay. Sales would be $0.99 x 1000 tracks sold, which equals $990, and the artist would receive $900.90. Profit equals $900.90 less $75 costs = $825.90

Tunecore - Tunecore is the new player on the block who has been getting a lot of press attention for their business model, while at the same time they have been signing some very big album distribution deals.

Setup: $19.98 Per Album Per Year Storage. Plus $0.99 per store per album. Plus $0.99 per track.

Cut for Distributor: Nothing in terms of income

Partners: The choice is yours, you can send your music to one or all of their partners. Partners include, iTunes, Amazon, Lala, Napster, Rhapsody, Music.com, eMusic and GroupieTunes.

Example: Costs would equal $19.98 x 2 for two years ($59.94), plus $0.99 per album for 5 stores ($9.90), plus 13 tracks on both albums at $0.99 each (25.74). Overall costs equal $95.58. Profit equals $990 less $95.58 in costs = $894.42

The Orchard - The Orchard is currently one of the worlds largest online distributors, they have over 350 retails partners in a variety of areas. Im not going to run through their sections because they are very straight forward. The Orchard as far as Im aware dont charge for inclusion into their catalogue, they also have a huge list of retail partners, but the big down side is that they are known for taking a very large percentage cut. Plus, everytime I rang them, I could never actually get to speak to a person with a little bit of intellegance that atually got back to me on time with information about what they can provide. The worst service I have seen in the industry.

RouteNote - RouteNote is the new player on the block. They have a very basic distribution model and a growing list of retail partners. Since they are new on the block they dont have as many retail partners as their rivals, but look for this to grow.

Setup: Free

Cut for Distributor: 10% of income

Partners: The choice is yours, you can send your music to one or all of their partners. Partners include, iTunes,  eMusic, Limewire and Audio Lunchbox. They are also in talks with Amazon and Rhapsody to add their options to the RouteNote service.

Example:$990 is sales and the artist would receive = $891 (with no upfront costs)

After this analysis it shows that Tunecore is the best option for artists to retain the most revenues. However, that being said the artist will have to pay a cost of $95.58 upfront and tasks the risk of having to make sure they sell 1000 tracks to make the correct money. RouteNote is a new service but the results speak for themselves. Their service brings is nearly as much money as Tunecore, but the artist doesnt have to pay anything upfront at all!

Disclosure - Im currently CEO of Insomnia Ltd which owns RouteNote.

Crenk has long been a part of the Insomnia Media Group, which today is launching our music initiative.

RouteNote is a user driven music distribution service, allowing indie artists to get access to major online retailers and make their music available to film, radio and other media producers for quick, easy licensing.

The site is launching into public beta which involves our distribution section. Distribution through RouteNote will allow unsigned artists and independent labels from all over the world to sell their music in some of the worlds largest online stores. RouteNote is a completely non-exclusive music distributor that has some of the best rates in the industry. Artists are able to sign up for FREE, uploading as many tracks as they would like and being able to keep 90% of the revenues from download sales.

What RouteNote offers:

• Retain 100% Ownership of your tracks
• Non-exclusive
• Worldwide Exposure
• No Signup Fees
• Receive 90% from all download sales
• It wont stop you from signing up to a record label in the future
• Forward looking partnerships and marketing expertise

RouteNote is a unique service that can help hundreds of thousands of artists all over the world. So why not signup today.

Stay tuned for more features to also launch over time.

Here at Crenk we have already reported about Myspace and their new music offering several times. It seems now that the launch is imminent. The LA Times has reported that Myspace will be launching their music offering as early as tomorrow. The new service will compete directly with iTunes and will be offering music downloads, streams, videos and mobile phone ring tones, along with related items, such as merchandise and concert tickets.

Stay tuned for more coverage about the launch in coming days.

Starbucks said it will be giving away millions of songs via download on iTunes. It is reported that more than 10,000 US Starbucks locations will be participating in the give away, which will be running from October 2 to November 7. Customers can receive “Song of the Day” cards redeemable on Apple’s iTunes store for a complimentary song selected by Starbucks. Starbucks said it will give away 1.5 million downloads per day for a total of more than 50 million free songs. Customers will have until the end of the year to redeem the song on iTunes.