• Warner/Chappell Music announced a sub-publishing deal with Disney Music Publishing. That puts the rights to over 10,000 Disney songs in the hands of Warner Music Group's publishing arm. (Read press release)

• UBC Media will launch a new service in the UK starting in May that will allow radio listeners to instantly download a playing song to a mobile phone or digital radio, as well as to their computer. Six radio groups and three major label groups -- WMG, Universal Music Group and EMI -- are on board; Virgin Mobile will be the first phone company to offer the service. UBC's chief executive calls it "radio's killer application," but there's a problem with the method of payment. Consumers will have to use a pre-paid account to buy the songs. Nothing says impulse purchase less than a pre-paid account. (Read article at The Scotsman)

• Fortune writer Devin Leonard asks, Can Web 2.0 can make music stars and rescue record labels? OK, who really thinks Second Life is a good place to market music? I'm skeptical. Selling music to virtual reality addicts who may or may not be avid music consumers strikes me as a potential waste of money. They're not the type of consumers who break a band, so if labels do go with Second Life it should be for established names. Anyway, the press labels will get from such different marketing strategies could be more productive than the actual marketing -- but that press will dry up eventually. Will Second Life break a band? Probably not. Will Second Life assist in breaking a band? Probably...but just assist. As with bands that supposedly rose to prominance through blogs, there's more going on than meets the media eye. (Read article at CNN Money)

• Speaking of breaking a band, here's another article on OK Go and YouTube. This one gets it right: "I don't think this works without all the TV appearances and endless touring these guys have done," said Capitol Records' Ted Mico. "It doesn't work in its own hermetically sealed box." (Read article at USA Today)

• Warner Music Group dropped to 25.80, is trading at a three and a half week low and has dropped below its 50-day moving average. On the positive side, WMG was trading at 17.80 a year ago. Encouraging results and EMI-related speculation pushed it higher, now some of that merger optimism is being squeezed out. WMG reports earnings this Friday. (Read article at Trading Markets, view at Google Finance)

• Country music makes its comeback in Los Angeles. (Read article at Los Angeles Times)

[music jobs] The Beggars Group & Matador Records is seeking a Paralegal