• Apple is said to be negotiating deals with major labels that will expand the variety of ringtones and other mobile features available for the iPhone. (NY Times Bit blog)

• News Corp is reportedly negotiating a deal with rapper 50 Cent that would include a stake in all aspects of his brand. (SF Chronicle)

• Three-day passes to the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival are sold out. (Pitchfork)

• TicketMaster will launch a new paperless ticketing technology that will allow customers to bypass willcall and enter via a credit card swipe at the door. (Ticket News)

• Punk band Pennywise has been getting good results from its free album giveaway at MySpace. There have been 400,000 downloads as well as 20,000 CD sales and an increase in ticket and ancillary revenues. (Digital Music News)

• A list of winners from last night's Academy of Country Music Awards. (CMT.com)

• Pirate Bay has cracked Alexa's Top 100. The site now sits at #97 and the second most-visited torrent site. Almost 28% of the site's visits originate in the United States. (Torrent Freak)

• Groups are battling for title rights in an effort to restore and revive Chicago's Uptown Theater. The holders of the first mortgage reportedly want to work with Live Nation. Local promoters Jam Productions is part of a company that holds the second mortgage. (Chicago Sun-Times)