The Wall Street Journal (which has a subscription-based web site, but is free today as part of a special promotion), has an article on Sony BMG's decision to license music for a series of corporate podcasts being produced by Rock River Communications.

Why is this important? Well, the thing is the music industry has been slow to embrace podcasting. While there's been a relationship in place for decades allowing radio stations to license music for broadcast, there's been no such deal reached with podcasters. Sure, record labels benefit from the free publicity when podcasters feature their songs. But they also have to deal with the fact that a digital copy of their intellectual property is being thrown out into the ether.

In the meantime, a whole culture of "podsafe" music has arisen. Web sites including PodSafe Audio and the podsafe music network have filled the void by creating services that allow musicians to have their music heard, and let podcasters find freely available content for their programs.

Rock River is producing podcasts to promote companies like Daimler Chrysler and Ford Motor Company. Under the new agreement those companies will pay Sony BMG an undisclosed amount of money for the right to license music for podcasts which can be distributed for up to a year. That limitation is entirely on the producer side. Anyone who downloads the podcasts can keep them as long as they like.

While this does represent a major shift in the way the music industry approaches podcasting, it's important to note that we're talking about corporate podcasts here. It's unlikely that the average Joe putting together a weekly talk and music podcast can afford to license music. And even if he can, why would he, when there are so many musicians out there who are happy to give it away for publicity reasons? If the music industry had embraced podcasts a few years ago, the concept of podsafe music might never have taken off. But now that it has, I don't see it going anywhere.

The rumored Google-YouTube acquisition we talked about last week might imminent--perhaps as imminent as later today, according to the New York Times' DealBook blog. DealBook's Andrew Ross Sorkin writes, "Barring a last-minute snag in the talks, the boards of both Google and YouTube were scheduled to hold separate board meetings on Monday to approve the deal, with an announcement possible after the close of regular trading." Michael Arrington's scoop about the merger talks last week reportedly accelerated the schedule for Google's negotiators, who feared a third party swooping in and disrupting the $1.6 billion deal.

In related news, YouTube struck some major media deals today, inking agreements with CBS, Vivendi's Universal Music Group, and Sony BMG. CBS, which already runs its own Innertube video site, will have a branded channel on YouTube starting next month featuring short-form content. The Vivendi deal will put thousands of the record label's music videos online, much like the Warner Music deal reached last month. Likewise, Sony BMG has agreed to put some of its videos online. All three media companies will be sharing advertising revenue with YouTube and allowing Vivendi and Sony BMG will be allowing YouTube users to incorporate the music video content into their own videos.

In December 1990 there was a single web site on the Internet, and by the end of 1991 that figured had jumped to ten. Today there are millions of sites and billions of pages, and the web is a universe unto itself. It's impossible for any one person to keep track of even one percent of the interesting stuff happening on the web, but still we try until our favorites folders are overflowing, our social bookmark sites crash, and our inboxes choke on forwarded links. Occasionally, though, all of that collective interest organizes itself into something more orderly and, for a moment, it seems like everyone on the web is thinking about the same thing. Below are ten moments from the past year that the people who make the web found coolest, most interesting, funniest, and most throught-provoking.

10. Numa Numa Dance

What do you get when you combine a Romanian chart-topper, an American teenager, and a webcam? The Numa Numa Dance. New Jersey 19-year-old Gary Brolsma found Internet fame when he not only lip-synched, but did a slick choreographed routine—albeit without leaving his chair—to "Dragostea Din Tei," a dance track by Romanian pop trio O-Zone.

Though Brolsma ultimately shunned his fame, his performance is among the most-linked, forwarded, and immitated videos of the the year, even earning him a profile in the New York Times.