• Drop me a line if you will be today's FCC public hearing on media ownership in Nashville. (PDF of agenda here)

• EMI Music signed a pan-European deal with Yahoo! Music that will allow consumers to stream EMI videos at the portal. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• An anachronism to many, vinyl singles are at a ten-year high in England. (Read Billboard article)

• Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun is "reportedly very close to death in a New York hospital" and his doctors say it will be a "miracle" if he recovers. (Read article at Hurriyet.com, via The Velvet Rope)

• Melinda Newman asks, Are music sales lower because there are no women in charge of mainstream label A&R departments? Probably not. Sales were great just a few years ago under the same conditions. The mix of genres heard on radio and seen in stores, though, could possibly be different. (Read article at Los Angeles Times)

• As Tower Records goes out of business in the United States, its international franchises are doing well, and because they are independent of the U.S. home office will continue to operate. Even after Tower is gone, though, they are required to pay a percentage of sales. Whoever owns the Tower trademark will be the recipient of franchise royalties. (Read article at Sacramento Bee)

• An interview with Steve Grady, President and COO of RoyaltyShare, a company that manages royalties for online music sales. RoyalShare has deals with Epitaph, Razor & Tie, Koch and Sanctuary. (Read article at socialTech.com)