Record stores are disappearing faster than Kevin Federline’s “Playing with Fire” vanished from the Billboard 200. According to a recent report by NBC Nightly News, there were 4,685 chain record stores in 1992, compared with just 1,695 today.

SAN FRANCISCO - Swarms of online shoppers armed with new iPods and iTunes gift cards apparently overwhelmed Apple's iTunes music store over the holiday, prompting error messages and slowdowns of 20 minutes or more for downloads of a single song.

Cherry Frequency sells designer clothing and art, and works with local artists and fashion designers to sell their creations.

DETROIT - Bob Seger turned the page, and Metallica finally found justice for online fans. Now, only a few remaining big-name musical acts refuse to make their songs available on Apple Computer's popular iTunes Music Store.

LOS ANGELES - Internet giant AOL has revamped its Web-based music download service, adding music videos, streaming radio and user community features.

SAN FRANCISCO - It's time to buy, mix, and burn, according to Apple Computer Inc. The Silicon Valley company that angered the recording industry with its "Rip. Mix. Burn" ad campaign has won the support of all five major record labels for its new Music Store service, which makes more than 200,000 songs available online at 99 cents a download.

The marketplace for legal online music services is about to get more crowded with tech behemoth Microsoft Corp. entering the fray.

SAN FRANCISCO - An alliance of online music broadcasters sued the recording industry in federal court Wednesday, alleging major record labels have unlawfully inflated webcasting royalty rates to keep independent operators out of the market.

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Computer's new music service may offer a consumer-friendly method of downloading songs for a modest 99 cents each - and give the music industry an effective model for denting the popularity of illegal song swapping online.

SAN FRANCISCO - It was a strange sight Thursday - Steve Jobs touting a Windows product. But the chief executive of Apple Computer Inc. had a perfectly sensible motive.

For some music fans, an MP3 player crammed with thousands of songs is enough. For others, appreciating the music they love is still a more tactile experience.

For some music fans, an MP3 player crammed with thousands of songs is enough. For others, appreciating the music they love is still a more tactile experience.

For some music fans, an MP3 player crammed with thousands of songs is enough. For others, appreciating the music they love is still a more tactile experience.

CUPERTINO, Calif. - Allen Evans of Middlesex, Vt., is no stranger to digital music. About two-thirds of his music collection comes from free copies on file-swapping networks. The remainder was ripped from CDs he and his family already owned.

September 14, 2004

NEW YORK — Santa in the summer?

Six East Valley Sam Goody and Suncoast Motion Picture Co. stores are closing as part of a massive slimdown aimed to heal the ailing music and movie chains.

SAN JOSE, CALIF. - Apple’s iTunes Store started selling thousands of songs without copy protection Wednesday, marking the trendsetting company’s latest coup and a model for what analysts say will likely become a pattern for online music sales.

Are you a budding musician or photographer? Do you have a knack for handicrafts? Then why not make some money off of your talents? You can, thanks to the Internet.

NEW YORK - The Internet has a rising star whose name isn't Google. Just over 2 years old, MySpace now has 2 1/2 times the traffic of Google Inc., and it quickly eclipsed Friendster as the top social-networking site where users build larger and larger circles of friends.

NEW YORK - Only one in five online video viewers has watched or downloaded a full-length movie or television show, according to a new AP-AOL Video poll.

SAN FRANCISCO — Tax-free shopping is under threat for many online shoppers as states facing widening budget gaps increasingly pressure Amazon.com Inc. and other Internet retailers to start collecting sales taxes from their residents.

You think the things that you do online are between you and your computer. Not so. Your cyber-privacy is constantly being chipped away: by your Internet provider, your cellphone carrier and lawmakers. Before you post to a social-media site or browse the Internet for that report you're compiling on pedophiles, keep in mind how your actions online are anything but private.