• Though December is usually a time of many important new releases, last week was really slow. (Other than Christmas, Tuesdays near holidays tend to be avoided for a new album launch.) The top 49 albums are all holdovers. Josh Groban's Noel increased 33% to 539,000 units. Due to a profile on "60 Minutes," The Eagles' Long Road Out of Eden jumped 70% to #2 313,000. Alicia Keys' As I Am fell a spot to #3 with sales of 357,000. The week's best debut was Pitbull's The Boatlift with 22,000 units.

• Chrysalis Music Group USA, Red Light Management (part of the Coran Capshaw empire) and Vector Management have teamed up to form Crossfire 3 Publishing, a venture that will be based in Nashville and run by veteran exec Steve Markland. (Press release)

• More on Chrysalis: The company, which is based in the UK, says it is in preliminary takeover talks. The company is having discussions with "select parties" that "may of may not" lead to a bid for its remaining music publishing business. (Thomsan Financial)

• Record Time in Ferndale, Michigan (Detroit area) is closing its doors next year. The Roseville location will remain open. (Detroit News)

• A new report by market research firm Understanding & Solutions says mobile will account for 30% of global recorded music revenues by The company estimates mobile currently accounts for 13% of global revenues. You don't need a calculator to see that U&S is predicting explosive growth. U&S forecasts slight growth in total global revenues over that same time period. (View report at U&S, via Digital Media Wire)

• Investors obviously believe music discovery tools make for good business models. (Making sense of the digital glut certainly offers a lot of potential. It's a mess out there.) MyStrands received $24 million in funding lead by Spanish bank BBVA. (Digital Music News)

• Music Intelligence Solutions, which provides music discovery and market potential prediction tools for online and mobile services, has completed a $7 million round of funding. (Press release)

• This is a great idea: New York record store Other Music has launched a film series called Live At Other Music that will host video of its in-store performances. (Actually, it's more a feature than just performance footage, judging from the first installment.) That's good for two reasons. One, they host some great artists. Two, the store is so small it's easy to get stuck out on the sidewalk during the performance. (Other Music, via Brooklyn Vegan)

• Digital distributor The Orchard has hired David Hazan to be its new Head of Brand Entertainment. Hazan was previously Senior Vice President of US Concepts, a leading event marketing agency. (Press release)