• Radio giant Entercom Communications, which owns 105 radio stations around the country, will pay $4.5 million to end Eliot Spizter's payola probe. The company will pay $3.5 million to fund music education and appreciation programs, and pay $750,000 to the state of New York. Among the reforms Entercom agreed to are refusal of payments and other inducements from record labels in exchange for radio play, banning payments from independent promoters, and the hiring of an internal compliance officer to monitor promotion practices. (Read AP article and Spitzer press release)

• Hot 97 has partnered with Amp'D Mobile. The NYC station will be streamed exclusively to Amp'D Mobile customers, while Hot 97 listeners can purchased Amp'D Mobile phones at www.hot97.com. (Read article at Radio Ink)

• An interview with Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio. On the possibility of a merger with XM: "Who knows? Obviously, consolidation has, in my opinion, been successful in the media business. ... I certainly think there would be advantages if the two companies merge, with cost-savings and the like, but our business plan doesn't contemplate that. There's no reason to believe that XM has any interest in selling themselves." (Read article at The Hollywood Reporter)

• Beyonce will record a Spanish version of "Beautfil Liar" with Shakira. The track will be included on a new edition of B'Day along with three other Spanish-language tracks. As Shakira knows, tossing a new song on an old album and then calling it a new version of the same album is a really good way to improve sales. (Watch interview at Univision, via Billboard.biz)

• Embattled Russian music site AllOfMP3.com issued a brief response to a lawsuit brought by major music companies. The company called the lawsuits "imprudent" and bruskly noted they were filed in New York while the company "operates legally" in Russia. Music groups allege massive copyright infringement. The Russian government has pledged to address U.S. complaints against the download site, and Visa and Mastercard now refuse transactions at the site. (Read press release)

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