Universal Music Group has begun an experiment with a handful of small artists by signing them to a digital-only label – Universal Music Enterprises Digital. This is a great benefit to small acts that will can receive greater online distribution than independent record labels usually provide by releasing music for these artists through digital only services such as Apple’s iTunes, RealNetworks’ Rhapsody and Microsoft’s MSN Music. If digital sales are substantial (at least 5,000 copies), Universal has the option to release the song or album in CD form and begin retail distribution.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has announced that it will begin filing lawsuits against “John Does” who they believe have pirated movies on their hard drives. Using a similar method employed by the RIAA, the “John Doe” approach subpoenas the names of those with the hard drives containing illegal material, so that the defendants may be tried.

U2’s soon-to-be-released album, How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, has found its way to the peer-to-peer networks. CNN reports that a London spokesperson for the band was aware that the songs are now widely available to steal from the internet. Ironically, U2 is involved in a special promotion with Apple Computer and their iTunes music service which includes national ads featuring “Vertigo” – a stripped down, upbeat yet catchy song that has hit written all over it.

As the number of songs downloaded from Apple’s iTunes Music Store crosses 98 million soon, Apple will begin the countdown to 100 million songs by giving away 50 special 20GB iPods — one to the purchaser of each 100,000th song downloaded between 95 million and 100 million songs. In addition, the person who downloads the 100 millionth song will receive a 17-inch PowerBook, a 40GB iPod, a gift certificate for 10,000 iTunes songs to create the ultimate music library for their iPod and the opportunity to create their own Celebrity Playlist to be published on the iTunes Music Store. All iTunes Music Store customers in the US, UK, France and Germany are eligible.

Walmart.com is now offering its own download service that charges 88 cents per song. The service does not charge a monthly fee and there is no subscription charge. It offers a variety of songs and full album downloads that can be found only on walmart.com in their ‘Walmart Exclusives” section. This month their exclusives include songs from the finalists of Oprah Winfrey’s Pop Star Challenge, the acoustic version of the 3 Doors Down song “Here Without You” and the international radio version of the Black Eyed Peas newest release “Hey Mama.”