• Garth Brooks' catalog will once again be available through all retailers through his own Pearl Records. For two years Brooks had an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart. His next release will be a three-CD, "best of" box set with a $12 wholesale cost (which puts it in the $20 list price area). His catalog will be reissued as well, with a $7.85 wholesale cost. Wal-Mart did not report Brooks' sales to Soundscan, but publicly Wal-Mart boasted that Brooks' six-CD box set quickly went platinum and "achieved Wal-Mart's highest volume of sales ever for the first day of a musical release." (Hollywood Reporter)

• LiveNation has introduced tools to help people search for and buy tickets. The Exclusive Concert Tools page has three items: a concert search module that can be inserted into personal web pages, a venue widget and a search bar add-in for Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox. Also available s a LiveNation Google Gadget, a U.S. concert and ticket search. (Press release)

• ASCAP and BMI have launched RapidCue, a website that allows members to enter cue sheets online. (Billboard.biz)

• Parallel Entertainment is launching a record label with Jeremy McCombs as the first artist. The production and management company is known for its work on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. On Parallel's talent roster are Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy and Reno Collier. The company already has a record label, Jack Records, a venture with Warner Bros. Records that has released mostly comedy albums. (Music Row)

• Hypebot has a brief interview with RealNetworks about Rhapsody's plans for Universal Music Group's DRM-free downloads. Tracks will be 256kbs, DRM-free MP3s. Unlike the way iTunes sells EMI's DRM-free files, Rhapsody will offer only a DRM-free version and will not sell a protected version. Rhapsody subscribers will pay $0.89 per track for UMG's MP3s while non-subscribers will pay $0.99. (Hypebot)

• Clear Channel will host a shareholders meeting on September 25 to allow investors to vote on its $19.6 billion privatization plan. Two private equity groups already very involved in the music business, Bain Capital Partners, LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners, will offer $39.20 per share. (Radio Ink)