• Album sales increased 5% last week but were 17% lower than the same week last year. Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride debuted at #1 with sales of 527,000 units (9% digital). For the year, album sales are down 14%. Sales of digital tracks dropped 2% last week and were 38% higher than the same week last year. Chris Brown's "Kiss Kiss" was the top digital track again last week, with sales of 187,000 units. For the year, digital tracks are up 46%.

• Sony BMG UK is the last of the four majors to sign on with Cliq, a music purchase system that will allow -- on 85% of U.K. mobile phones -- users to buy music when they hear it streamed on their mobile phones. (Thomson Financial)

• Though the Sony BMG merger passed a second European Commission review, a member of the European Parliament has questioned the commission's reasoning. Said Guy Bono, member of the Committee on Culture and Education, "The European Parliament is exercising democratic control over European institutions by interrogating the Commission on the Sony BMG merge." He continued to say that "music suffers from chronic concentration" and that "cultural diversity" should be at the heart of EU policy. (Billboard.biz)

• The Forms gave away a copy of their new CD to each ticket buyer at last night's show at NYC's Cake Shop. And an open bar. Free music and free alcohol, a combination for an ailing industry. (The Forms, via Brooklyn Vegan)

• An interview with Trent Reznor, who is now free from his contract with Universal Music Group. "Radiohead is one of my favorite bands. When they announced they were releasing that album for free, I got dozens of text messages. It gave me goose bumps? It's such an exciting way to sell a record. ... I think there were some serious flaws with how they executed but it was a good idea." (News.com)

• A Maryland couple has ended its lawsuit against Wal-Mart stemming from obscene lyrics in an Evanescence purchased at a Wal-Mart store. The judge refused to classify the suit as class action. The couple settled with Sony BMG in 2005. A similar lawsuit is still alive in Illinois. (AP)

• It's hard to say much about a greater trend, so let's keep this as an isolated incident for now: a radio station in Hartford has gone back to alternative rock after switching to hip hop four years ago. Said the local operations manager for Clear Channel, "What we've been hearing since the [modern rock] format left the city, is ... that women and men between the ages of 25 and 34 in the Hartford area really don't have a radio station to listen to." (Hartford Courant)