• Short of any reaction to the following news, this could be the last Tower Records bankruptcy post: A judge approved bonuses for two top Tower Records executives, CFO Rebecca L. Roedel and corporate secretary Nicolas Thakar, who remain at the company. The amounts of the bonuses were not disclosed. The AP reports bankruptcy records show Roedel collected almost $426,000 in the 12 months prior to Tower's filing for bankruptcy. (Read AP article)

• Garage rock evangelist Little Steve has strated his own record label. Wicked Cool Records has a direct-to-retail sales strategy (the Forbes.com article mentions a deal with Best Buy and six initial releases to the chain) and a "unique" 50/50 profit-sharing arrangement with its artists. The label's first release will be Davie Allen's Fuzz For The Holidays on December 14th. (Read article at Forbes.com)

• Beyonce has joined a select group of female artists. In 2006, she became the only the second woman to replace herself at #1 as a songwriter (first "Grillz," then "Check On It"). She is tied with Diane Warren for third on the list of female songwriters with #1 hits ("Irreplaceable" is her ninth). There is one title that Beyonce has all to herself: At 13 letters, "Irreplaceable" is the #1 song with the longest, one-word title. (Read article at BIllboard's Chart Beat Chat)

• The Sacramento Bee has a fantastic three-day series titled "To Live and Rap in South Sac." Articles, photoessays and podcasts document South Sacramento's rap scene and some of its biggest artists (Brotha Lynch Hung, Zigg Zagg, BeGee, Young Meek, Pain, First Degree the M.E. and Big No Love).

[music jobs] Director of Content at Dada Entertainment; New York, NY.