• "This has been a bad year for independents," said John Phillips of Select-O-Hits. The Memphis-based distributor is owed over $500,000 by Tower. Unlike the majors, indies are unsecured credits and are unlikely to get anything from Tower's liquidation. "That could shut some doors," said one consultant. (Read article at Sacramento Bee)

• Big promotions changes at Columbia and Epic Records. Ken Lane is out at Columbia. Lee Leipsner is in. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• Caroline Distribution will close its Los Angeles sales office in December. Three employees will be moved to an EMI office, the others will be laid off. Three sales reps from the Los Angeles office were laid off on Thursday.

• Some have likened Burnlounge to a Ponzi scheme. That term is not used in this interview. (Read article at Digital Media Wire)