• Roadrunner Records and music exec Tom Lipsky, formerly the CEO and president of Sanctuary Music Group's North American operations, have formed a joint venture that will release music by classic rock artists. Almost three-quarters of Roadrunner Music Group, the parent company of Roadrunner Records, was purchased by Warner Music Group in January 2007. (Billboard.biz)

• Last week Borders released its Q3 2007 earnings. Same store music sales were down 13.1% over Q3 2006. That's a big drop but not as bad as Trans World's Q3 music sales decrease (21%), and not as bad as the overall CD (about 20%) and album decrease (about 14%) in 2007. (Borders Earnings Release)

• Ben Sisario has an article on the growing number of Western acts performing in China. It's a well-rounded look at an emerging market that may offer clues of the future of the music business (the ubiquity of corporate sponsorships, for example, and labels' acceptance of piracy). (New York Times)

• A profile of Koch Distribution. (Newsday)

• The Winnipeg Sun started a four-part series on the changing music industry. The first installment looks at CD sales in Canada. CD sales dropped 19% from January to August of this year. The cause of that decline is definitely up for debate, and the article examines a few possibilities: piracy, the "today's music is no good" explanation and a consumer backlash against "overpriced" CDs. To no surprise, the article didn't even mention 2007's extremely thin release schedule. Whether compromised of future classics or pop fluff, a busy release schedule would have helped sales this year. (Winnipeg Sun)

• Although there is much debate over file-sharing's impact on sales in Canada, the Canadian Recording Industry Association is not happy with the country's digital laws and wants new laws to encourage investment and improve consumer education. (London Free Press)

• A profile of legendary music exec Frank Dileo, who moved to Music Row in January 2007 and is now starting a management company and plans to launch a publishing company. (Nashville Scene)