Rock Band will offer more than 500 songs by the end of the year, according to information confirmed by developer Harmonix on Wednesday. The disclosure came during a private gaming preview at the E3 gaming conference. "We'll have 500 songs by the end of the year," Sean Baptiste, manager of Community Development at Harmonix, told Digital Music News.

Baptiste stopped short of naming names, though he pointed to "big bands" ahead. Ahead of a September release, Rock Band 2 is rolling with a catalog that includes AC/DC, Bob Dylan, and an exclusive Guns N' Roses track.

Currently, the game offers more than 200 songs, either from the disc itself or download. Rock Band has already amassed 16 million in-game downloads, according to up-to-date figures supplied by an MTV representative. The game is published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts.

A licensed file-sharing framework could soon hit the United Kingdom, according to a report surfacing Thursday in London.  The Register pointed to 'legal broadband subscription services that permit file sharing' by the end of the year, citing industry sources.  Last week, multiple sources in London pointed Digital Music News to ongoing negotiations between ISPs and various rights holders, spurred by the governmental threats. 

The possibilities remain open-ended, though a ISP-driven, all-you-can eat system is one option reportedly under consideration.  The Register hailed the potential move as 'the most radical supply-side reform ever considered by the music business in the modern era,' and pointed to a launch as early as the fourth quarter. 

But getting from a-to-b on such a grandiose initiative would undoubtedly require a serious licensing and structural overhauls.  That makes the timetable aggressive, especially for an industry famous for disharmony.  And devilish details and potential disagreements could surround usage terms, payout levels, tracking specifics, participation terms, and top-level pricing.

That makes the story somewhat speculative, though a broad-based, blanketed access model could make perfect sense for the market.  A recent survey by British Music Rights (BMR) strongly advocated the outcome, and major labels - most notably Warner Music Group - are actively considering the possibility. 

Coldplay recently scored first-week sales of 721,000 on Viva la Vida in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan data confirmed Wednesday morning.  That falls below a first-week tally of 737,000 for the previous, mid-2005 release, X&Y, though few are discounting the performance.

This time around, Coldplay was boosted by a record-setting digital performance.  In conversations with Digital Music News, Apple confirmed that Coldplay smashed both pre-sale and first-week digital album sales records. 

Apple declined to offer hard figures, though digital album totals across various retailers topped 288,000, according to figures supplied by major label executives.  Of that, iTunes carries a commanding percentage, one that may have pushed past 275,000, according to a separate estimate.

In total, nearly 40 percent of albums sold were digital, a remarkable chunk.  Perhaps more impressive, the digital sales tally came against a free alternative, albeit from the more murky channels of BitTorrent. 

Meanwhile, the strong online performance on Viva la Vida created a nice lift for previous albums.  Sales of X&Y jumped by a factor of 40, and earlier titles also enjoyed multiples.  That catalog effect also bled into the physical realm, part of a time-worn spillover on big-charting releases.

Facebook is still leading MySpace across unique visitor and pageview metrics, according to global figures released by comScore Media Metrix.  Specifically, Facebook grabbed 123.9 million uniques in May, an increase of 6 percent; while MySpace pulled 114.6 million, down 1 percent.  On the pageview front, Facebook also pulled ahead with views of 50.7 billion, compared to 45.4 billion for MySpace.

That follows a serious surge for Facebook, though MySpace retained strong leadership within the US.  According to the figures, US-based uniques totaled 73.7 million in May for MySpace, compared to 35.6 million for Facebook. 

MySpace was first overtaken by Facebook in April, at least on a global scale, according to comScore.  MySpace recently unveiled a site redesign, though the traffic implications remain unclear.

UK-based 7digital is now planning a major sponsorship with Puma Fragrances, according to deal points shared with Digital Music News.  The deal specifically involves 7digital indiestores, a vehicle that allows artists to sell directly to fans.  Downloads from those artists will be factored into a pan-European promotional campaign designed to splash the fragrance line, starting July 1st.  

The 'Puma Free Flowing' campaign is being spearheaded by Spin, a music-focused advertising agency.  According to the parties involved, Puma will be seeking content from the 7digital roster that contains a 'sense of energy and vitality' to boost the product line accordingly.

The pan-European promotion will spread the selected downloads across Puma Fragrances websites in 15 countries, and link back to the appropriate 7digital indiestore.  Additionally, a select group of those artists will subsequently be featured in a television campaign.