• The New York Post's Brian Garrity reported today that Amazon.com's digital music store will launch in mid-September. " The service is expected to carry somewhere around 1 million tracks at launch, featuring music from Universal Music Group, EMI and a large number of independent labels. But it will be missing music from two notable sources, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group. ... Unlike Apple, which charges 99 cents for songs with DRM and $1.29 for unprotected tracks, Amazon is expected to have at least two prices for individual songs: 99 cents for new and popular MP3s, and 89 cents for music from emerging artists and back catalog tracks. Albums are expected to cost between $7.99 and $9.99." (New York Post)

• Bertelsmann AG has agreed to pay $130 million to publishers who are part of the lawsuit against the original Napster. (Billboard.biz)

• Country group Diamond Rio has signed with Warner Music Group's Word Records and will release a Christmas album on October 9. (Music Row)

• SpiralFrog, still chugging along to an eventual U.S. launch, inked a deal with Universal Music Canada and Universal Music Publishing. (Press release)

• The Australia Recording Industry Association is pushing for Australian ISPs to cut the service of repeat copyright infringers. (Ars Technica)

• Portland's Musicfest NW has added national acts (Cat Power, Clipse, Grizzly Bear), will be broadcast by KEXP, and will have one of the first showings of the Kurt Cobain biopic "About a Son." The festival runs September 9-12 and wristbands cost $40. (Oregon Live)

• September will be a big month for new albums: Kenny Chesney, Kanye West, 50 Cent, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Babyface, Barry Manilow (more cover songs), Rascal Flatts, Foo Fighters, Melissa Etheridge, Iron & Wine and Steve Earle. (Variety)

• Darren Dean, an executive at record label Ruff Ryders, has been indicted on drug and weapons charges. (Newsday)

Posted by Glenn at 12:28 PM | Link
|A&R||Online Stores/Services|

• National retailer Borders Group reported a 10.4% increase in sales for Q2 2007. With the help of the latest Harry Potter book, U.S. comp store sales were up 4.6%. Music sales "continued to decline," though no hard number was given in the release. I listened to the conference call, and unless I zoned out at some point, music sales were not mentioned. (Earnings release)

• Music and video distributor Handleman reported a loss of $17.7 million for the quarter ended July 28, 2007. Revenues were up 14% even though last year's loss was only $5.9 million. The company's music category revenues decreased by $13.8 million versus last year. (Press release)

• Sony has another rootkit problem, this time from a USB drive that contained software that installs a hidden directory. (The Register)

• Jupiter's Mark Mulligan on Nokia's new mobile music store, Ova: "So was it worth the wait? Well the devices were, the latter two Xpress Music devices in particular from a music perspective. The three way sync is also a nice, innovative alternative to dual delivery. But beyond that, the music service is a disappointment. The music subscription service is a PC only streaming service that does not support portable downloads and as such is a generation behind current offerings. And it begs the question, why is a mobile handset manufacturer launching a music subscription service which does not support portable downloads or mobile streaming? Similarly the download service is essentially a ‘me too’ offering, based around 99 cents, windows DRM wrapped single track downloads." (Mark Mulligan's blog)

• Ween has signed to Rounder Records.

• Curb Records has signed 16-year-old Ashley Gearing, who is in studio with producer Bryon Gallimore. (Country Standard Time)

Posted by Glenn at 11:33 AM | Link
|A&R||Brick-And-Mortor Retail||Mobile Music|

• Album sales were down 2% last week and were 13% lower than the same week last year. For the year, album sales are down 14% (a number that is improving as the months pass). Digital track sales were up 1% last week and were 39% higher than the same week last year. For the year, digital track sales are up 48%.

• Terra Firma gained approval from 91.5% of EMI's shareholders and finally has control of the music group. (The Guardian)

• Virgin Entertainment Group North America posted a 15% comparable store increase last quarter. That's what shutting down underperforming stores will do for you. CEO Simon Wright says the chain's new-ish loyalty program has 150,000 members. The only thing I have to add about Virgin is that the Union Square store was practically a morgue when I walked in on an early Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago. (Billboard.biz)

• Douglas Wolk has an article on the inevitable Internet leak and how labels approach them. Its facts are almost correct, but I've heard from one label that Wolk got some of the details wrong. Doesn't change the main thrust of the article, though. I have a completely unproven theory that a leak does less damage the farther it is from the album's release date. When awareness of the leak comes near the album's release date, I think there is a convergence of awareness (album promotion plus leak hype) that is more detrimental to album sales. (Spin, via Idolator)

• PureTracks is the first Canadian retailer to offer EMI downloads in unprotected MP3 format. Even though the tracks will cost CDN $1.29, the press release does not indicate if the downloads have a higher sound quality than the standard DRM'd, WMA downloads. I really think it would be a mistake to raise the price and not raise the bit rate in tandem. (Press release)

• Epic signed Alkaline Trio. As Kings of A&R points out, major labels are attracted to bands that have done the dirty work and built up a following (not a make believe Internet following, mind you, but a real following based on years of touring and recording). There's less risk, less tour support and a better payoff at the end of the day. (Press release, via Kings of A&R)

• Good news for the concert business: The Eagles are planning to tour extensively in 2008. (Hollywood Reporter)

• Lots of articles have been written about iTunes reaching three billion downloads. All of them missed a few key points. First, iTunes is not just an American store. It has stores in many countries, and they all contributed to the sales of three billion. Sales have picked up as more iTunes store have launched. Second, it doesn't matter what profit Apple makes from iTunes (yes, there is a profit in there). The iPod would not be as successful without the iTunes store. They're a package deal. If you're going to look at profits of one, include the profit of the other.

• I'll be back in Nashville in two weeks and will have to check out the city's traffic lights that play country music. (The Tennessean)

Posted by Glenn at 12:23 PM | Link
|A&R||Brick-And-Mortor Retail||EMI||iTunes|

• Mobile carrier Amp'd, which counts MTV and Universal Music Group as its investors, has shut down its service and owes over $100 million to creditors. The company had filed for bankruptcy last month. (Variety)

• Sanctuary has sold its 49% share in the Rough Trade label to the Beggars Group for £800,000 (US $1,651,507). (The Guardian)

• XM and Sirius promised that in the event the two satellite companies merge, the companies will offer a variety of subscription packages. The lowest-priced package would get 50 channels and cost $6.99 a month. Said an analyst, "If the Department of Justice approves the merger, it will be difficult for the FCC to say no." (Reuters)

• Dallas-based hip hop label Clout Records has inked a distribution deal with EMI. Cloud will release Lil Prince's Young and the Wreckless on September 25. (Hip Hop Elements)

• Kansas City-based rock band Vedera has signed with Epic Records. (MySpace, via Kings of A&R)

• Oklahoma state representative Randy McDaniel has proposed a study to find out what incentives Nashville and other cities offer musicians. McDaniel sits on a committee that deals with Oklahoma's tourism, arts and culture. (The Journal Record)

• Ted Cohen, a former EMI exec and now part of TAG Strategic consulting, is on the board of advisers at Txttunes. The company just announced the launch of its text-based distribution and social networking service. Fans can use their cell phones to purchase and download MP3s. Artists can use Txttunes to send text messages to fans. (Press release)

• A profile of Ventura, CA-based Salzer's, where vinyl sales are up 20% this year. (Ventura County Star)

• AllHipHop.com got a makeover and has some new features. The site has partnered with Amazon.com to create an e-store that uses Amazon.com's technology and content. AllHipHop is working with iTunes on a Black Music Month promotion. The site will give away 250,000 promotional codes that can be redeemed for a free mix tape at iTunes. (Press release)

Posted by Glenn at 8:03 AM | Link
|A&R||Brick-And-Mortor Retail||Mobile Music||Sirius||XM|

• Album sales were flat last week and were down 11% year-over-year. For the year, album sales are down 16%. Digital track sales dropped 2% last week and were 38% higher year-over-year. For the year, sales of digital tracks are up 50%.

• It's a momentous event of sorts, I suppose: The first artist signed to Justin Timberlake's Tennman Records is YouTube star Esmee Denters. Now comes the hard part: Getting people to pay for it. (Billboard.com)

• Microsoft's new Ignition marketing program is a good use of the company's division. The program's first band, Warp Records' Maximo Park, will get pushed across the Zune Marketplace, the Xbox Live marketplace and the MSN.com portal -- that's 30 million regular users. (Reuters)

• A music analyst for Gracenote has started a website called Music Appraisals that, yes, appraises music and music memorabilia. (East Bay Express)

• Mexican indie label Noiselab and music download site Beon.com have created an MP3 store. Look for the "Beon MP3" tab on the right side of the middle section of the home page. (Billboard.biz)

Posted by Glenn at 7:31 AM | Link
|A&R||Marketing||Online Stores/Services|

Warner Music Group's Lyor Cohen, who came up the ranks as a hip hop artist manager and then exec at Def Jam, has a piece in Forbes (registration required) in which he assesses the state of the industry's artist discovery networks. The established network, he wrote, is "at risk of collapsing under its own weight." He calls for the industry to reinvent the discovery process and take advantage of the smaller networks that already exist around the country. Online and wireless is changing how labels find and promote artists, and he claims "Warner is ready."

The last part of the article is Cohen's attempt to de-hype Web 2.0's importance to the A&R world.

"And yet, the Web is also a limitation. No matter what people say about the power of sites like MySpace and YouTube, you can't absorb the essence of an artist until you see him or her perform live. And you can't determine if their following is genuine unless you experience it firsthand. In the 1980s an interactive video channel called The Box emerged as a possible platform for hip-hop. The labels and artists' managers soon discovered they could "jack" The Box--hype results by having a group of people phoning in to order the video plays. Today we're seeing similar distortions on some social networking sites. That's another reason that live performances tell you something. Live doesn't lie.

As much as technology transforms the world, as powerful as all these peer-to-peer or social networks are becoming, the most important network is still composed of real, live people dealing with one another face-to-face. Showing up in person still matters. It's true in friendship. It's true in business. It's true in music. When certain people walk into a room, molecules change, energy shifts--and things start to happen."

Posted by Glenn at 2:14 PM | Link
|A&R|

• New Island Urban president Jermaine Dupri has signed Jagged Edge to his So So Def imprint. Island Urban itself signed California rapper Hot Dolla. (Billboard.biz)

• Sirius and XM executives were questioned by a Senate anti-trust panel yesterday. Questions about market competitiveness rest on whether or not satellite radio faces competition from local terrestrial radio stations, or if its a market unto itself. While no single terrestrial radio station is in direct competition with XM or Sirius, I think consumers view satellite and terrestrial as substitutes -- and anti-trust regulators should take the viewpoint of consumers when assessing the merger's impact. (Forbes.com)

• A court rules that TVT Records must pay Slip-N-Slide $9.1 million for blocking the release of an early Pitbull release. (Vibe.com)

• Borders may sublease four Chicago-area stores as part of a cost savings strategy. The company, which has an earnings announcement tomorrow, has issued a profit warning due in part to sales declines in the music category. (Chicago Tribune)

• Career announcements are a dime a dozen, but this one stands out for an obvious reason: Koch Records has named Scott Givens as its new VP of metal. That's gonna be one sweet business card. (Billboard.biz)

• Albums on flash drives may (or may not) shake up the pop charts. HMV stocked 7,000 flash drives for the new Fratellis album. Hey, if it works, the industry has a new format to milk for a few years, and they'd probably be more than happy to sell protected files in a physical format for a change. (BBC News, via The Velvet Rope)

• Oddity: At one point yesterday, Amy Winehouse's Back To Black was both the #1 and #10 album at iTunes. (iTunes carries both the explicit and clean versions, and both are currently priced at $7.99.) Another SXSW buzz band, The Fratellis, was also in the Top 10.

Posted by Glenn at 11:34 AM | Link
|A&R||Brick-And-Mortor Retail||Sirius||XM|

• Entertainment One Income Fund sold its investments -- which include Koch Entertainment Distribution -- to Marwyn Investment Management for approximately US $161 million. (Video Business)

• More Koch: The company announced the formation of Koch Records Jazz/Adult Division. Chuck Mitchell, former head of Verve Records, will head the new operation. (Jazz News)

• Warner Music Group announced a partnership with Norway-based mobile operator Telenor that originally covers nine of Telenor's mobile operators. (Press release)

• Nic Feldes has a good recap of EMI's current situation. (The Independent)

• Read the text of Edgar Bronfman's keynote at the 3GSM Conference in Barcelona. Here's a sample of the frank commentary: "Actually, it’s amazing that we’ve generated as much revenue as we have through mobile music, given how cumbersome the consumer experience can be." (Download PDF)

• Actor Heath Ledger has partnered with musician Ben Harper to start the new Masses Music Co record label. First singing: Australian Grace Woodruffe. (StarPulse)

Posted by Glenn at 7:10 AM | Link
|A&R||EMI||Indies||Mobile Music||Warner Music Group|

• MySpace is testing an Audio Magic content filter to block unauthorized videos. (Question: What about homemade videos with copyrighted music playing in the background? Looks like they'll skate through.) Universal Music Group, NBC/Universal and Fox are taking part in the test. (InformationWeek)

• A Goldman Sachs analyst believes XM and Sirius should work together to lower marketing and promotion costs, but not worry about merging for another three to four years. In that time, possible synergies would be able to be realized and regulatory uncertainties may have passed. (Forbes.com)

• The White Stripes are reportedly going to sign with Warner Bros Records. (Billboard.biz)

• Warner Music Group is going full steam ahead with its corporate social responsibility agenda. By the end of March of 2007, all standard CD and DVD products in the U.S. wil use "ecologically-enhanced paper packaging." The company's Grammy party was carbon neutral. A distribution deal with Righteous Babe would fit the strategy, but I won't hold my breath. (Press release)

• Singshot.com, an online kaoroke site that is run by a former Rhapsody exec and has licensed over 3,000 songs, was purchased by Electronic Arts. (Forbes.com)

• Michael Robertson, founder of MP3.com and MP3Tunes, issued his own open letter that challenged Steve Jobs to sell music in open formats, open up the iPod to other software and make an iTunes for Linux. (MichaelRobertson.com, via Wired's Listening Post blog)

Posted by Glenn at 9:34 AM | Link
|A&R||MySpace||Satellite Radio||Sirius||Warner Music Group||XM|

Before the merger with Capitol Records, Virgin Records inked Australia-by-way-of-L.A. band Sick Puppies (pictured). The band recently caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey through its connection to the "Free Hugs" campaign (watch video at YouTube). This article at The Sun says the band has been added to K-Rock and has "signed with one of the biggest book agencies in the world."

Theory 8 Records' Forget Cassettes has signed a European deal with One Little Indian and Tangled Up Records. The two labels will re-release the band's album Salt, originally released by Theory 8, on March 5, 2007.

Ben Mills, a contestant on the British music talent show "The X Factor," has signed a five-album deal with Sony BMG. Mills' debut album is due out in March.

Posted by Glenn at 9:33 AM | Link
|A&R|

Rounder Records has signed Dean & Britta (a.k.a Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips from the band Luna). The duo's record will be out February 27.

Nashville rock band Bang Bang Bang (pictured) have signed to Warner Bros Records. The four-piece plans to spend the first three months in the studio in Los Angeles. An EP will arrive soon (available digitally, at shows and at indie record stores) and the band self-released an album in 2005 (which Kings of Leon fans should check out).

More Nashville (lots of info on the Nashville scene in this article at The Tennessean): artsy indie rock band De Novo Dahl signed with Roadrunner Records and plans to release an album in the spring.

Animal Collective has signed with Domino Recording Co. The indie rock band was formerly with Fat Cat Records.

Warner Chappel has signed Warner Bros Nashville band The Lucky Bucks, according to MusicRow.com. The Nashville-based three-piece will release its debut album later this year.

Billboard has an article on Shanachie Entertainment's foray into country music. The New Jersey-based label has signed David Ball, Daryle Singletary and Confederate Railroad.

Posted by Glenn at 10:33 AM | Link
|A&R|

• Capitol Records Nashville is releasing to all digital music stores the complete career catalog of late country star Chris Ledoux. The catalog spans thee decades and 37 years. Digital ringtones for some songs are also available. (Read article at MusicRow.com)

• Detroit rapper Trick Trick says he will sign with G-Unit Records in early 2007 and have an album out as early as July. Trick Trick was formerly with Universal Motown. (Read article at SOHH)

• Insound.com now sells digital downloads. Only complete albums are sold, priced at $8.99 or $9.99. Files are 192kbs MP3. A quick glance at the indie rock offerings revealed a catalog that is also available, for the most part, at eMusic. (Via Digital Audio Insider)

• Dennis Romero, aka, Danceblogga, has an article on dance-oriented digital download store Beatport. It sells unrestricted, CD-quality .wav files for prices between $1.99 and $2.49 per track. (Read article at LA City Beat)

• Wired reviews applications that organize MP3 tags. (Read article at Wired)

Posted by Glenn at 1:52 PM | Link
|A&R||Digital Distribution||EMI||eMusic|

• Drop me a line if you will be today's FCC public hearing on media ownership in Nashville. (PDF of agenda here)

• EMI Music signed a pan-European deal with Yahoo! Music that will allow consumers to stream EMI videos at the portal. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• An anachronism to many, vinyl singles are at a ten-year high in England. (Read Billboard article)

• Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun is "reportedly very close to death in a New York hospital" and his doctors say it will be a "miracle" if he recovers. (Read article at Hurriyet.com, via The Velvet Rope)

• Melinda Newman asks, Are music sales lower because there are no women in charge of mainstream label A&R departments? Probably not. Sales were great just a few years ago under the same conditions. The mix of genres heard on radio and seen in stores, though, could possibly be different. (Read article at Los Angeles Times)

• As Tower Records goes out of business in the United States, its international franchises are doing well, and because they are independent of the U.S. home office will continue to operate. Even after Tower is gone, though, they are required to pay a percentage of sales. Whoever owns the Tower trademark will be the recipient of franchise royalties. (Read article at Sacramento Bee)

• An interview with Steve Grady, President and COO of RoyaltyShare, a company that manages royalties for online music sales. RoyalShare has deals with Epitaph, Razor & Tie, Koch and Sanctuary. (Read article at socialTech.com)

Posted by Glenn at 10:38 AM | Link
|A&R||Tower||Warner Music Group|

Sanctuary Records imprint Sequel signed Idlewild, The Cooper Temple Clause and former Cranberries singer Delores O'Riordan.

New York rapper Mims (pictured) has signed with Capitol Records. His album, Music Is My Savior, is scheduled for early 2007.

Producer Jonathan "J.R." Rotem inked a deal with Epic Records for an imprint called Beluga Heights. The label's first signing was Miami rapper Sean Kingston, who is in the studio with Rotem working on his debut.

South African rock band The Parlotones signed a worldwide deal with Universal Music.

Sqad Up and their label Money Yung'n Records have a deal with Def Jam to release a CD/DVD combo titled We Here Now, due in Spring of 2007.

Posted by Glenn at 4:47 PM | Link
|A&R|

• Soundscan unveils its mastertone sales data this week. Edna Gunderson has an article on a global market that is projected by one firm to gross $6.8 billion by 2010; U.S. sales are projected to be over $600 million in 2006. How are sales right now? Recently, an average of 4.6 million ringtones have been sold per week at an average cost of $2.40. (Read article at USA Today)

• Columbia Records has named Michael Caplan as its new Senior VP of A&R. Previously he held the same title for the Sony Music Label Group. (Read article at Hits)

• Here comes the video revenue streams (one day): Warner Music International has launched a new video content division called Warner Music Entertainment (Read article at Variety)

• House of Blues is considering building a 7,000-seat music venue at the Great America theme park in Santa Clara, CA. The site is adjacent to the site the San Francisco 49ers are considering for a new stadium. (Read article at Inside Bay Area)

• Not that it matters much to Americans, but Charlotte Church has parted ways with Sony BMG to concentrate on her TV talk show. Check out her theme song and her infamous cover of "Beat It" with an incapacitated Amy Winehouse. (Read article at Metro)

• A report of healthy HD radio sales. (Read article at Radio Ink)

Posted by Glenn at 7:58 AM | Link
|A&R||Live Music||Radio||Ringtones||Sony BMG||Warner Music Group|

Rapper Raekwon has signed with Dr Dre's Aftermath Records. Dre will produce the majority of the tracks on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Part 2, due out this summer.

Stolen Transmission has signed PlayRadioPlay. The band is comprised of 17-year-old Daniel Hunter, obviously a fan of The Postal Service. The band's website has a music page with 15 MP3s, if you want 'em.

Righteous Babe Records signed Vermont singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell (pictured). The Brightness will be released on February 13, 2007.

Bad Boy Entertainment is going to jointly release and market Elephant Man's next record, due out in early 2007. The controversial dancehall star will be the opening act on Diddy's Press Play world tour that starts in February 2007.

I'm From Barcelona, a 29-member, super-cheery twee pop band from Sweden, has signed with Mute North America. Their album, Let Me Introduce My Friends, was already released by EMI Sweden and is scheduled for a North American release on March 20, 2007.

The hip hop/rock hybrid is, surprisingly, still viable. Detroit's Critical Bill has signed with signed with Strange Music, a subsidiary of Universal Music. Their album Downtown The World is due in January 2007.

The Twenty Twos announced their break up last week (read about their horrible Sony Music experience at this MySpace entry). If frontwoman Jenny Christmas starts a new band, A&R weasels may want to take a look.

Posted by Glenn at 1:40 PM | Link
|A&R|

• SoundExchange, the performance rights organizaion that collects digital royalties, released the results of a study it funded that was done by Dr. Yoram Wind, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of Business. Its finding: "Music is key to survival of satellite radio." In terms of dollars and cents, the study found subscribers would be willing to pay only $6.15 per month for a satellite service without music, as opposed to the current $12.99 per month. The study's point is clear by the end of the press release. SoundExchange wants at least ten percent of satellite radio revenues. CRB, XM and Sirius, it says, have proposed a rate of less than one percent of their total revenues for the next six years. (Read press release)

• Bids for Clear Channel Communications are reportedly due in the coming days. The country's largest radio company is considering plans to be taken off the market and has hired Goldman Sachs to help look at its options. (Read Reuters article)

• An article on All Angels, the "world's first female classical supergroup." Universal signed the group -- made up of four teenage girls -- to a £1 million, five-album deal. Their debut album comes out next week in the UK. (Read article at The Scotsman)

• Warner Bros. Nashville will sign the winner of "Nashville Star 5." The lastest season of the country "American Idol" starts January 11th. (Read article at Reality TV Magazine)

• Hypebot interviews a Tarek Al-Hamdouni of J Records to find out about the label's online marketing efforts. Read parts one and two.

• RIP Gerald Levert. (Read AP article)

Posted by Glenn at 5:11 PM | Link
|A&R||SoundExchange||Universal Music Group||Warner Music Group|

• Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, with financing from JP Morgan and Citigroup, offered $50.8 billion for Vivendi, parent company of Universal Music Group. It didn't amount to anything, though, reportedly because of tax issues. A deal with the buy-out company would have annulled the tax benefits granted by the French government. (Read article at Financial Times)

• Vivendi is seeking permissiion from the European Union to purchase BMG Music Publishing. A combination of BMG and Vivendi's Universal Music Publishing would have a market share of 22%, larger than current #1 EMI. (Read article at Reuters)

• Tower Records is trying to unload founder Russ Solomon's contract, which pays him $400,000 per year. (Read article at the Sacramento Bee)

• XL Recordings has created a new imprint, Abeano Music. The new London-based label is already working with three bands: To My Boy, I Was A Cub Scout and Blood Red Shoes. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• Iron Maiden manager has left Sanctuary and has taken Iron Maiden with him. (Read article at Dot Music)

• No big loss: Microsoft will stop selling downloads at its MSN Music Store. Millions ask, "Microsoft has a download store?" Microsoft's Zune Marketplace arrives November 14th, the same day MSN drops its downloads. (Read post at ZDNet)

• Billboard's article on Goldfrapp's "long string of licensing coups" reads more like a label press release. The British duo's music has been licensed by Verizon, Diet Coke, "The OC" and "Grey's Anatomy." The latest deal puts Goldfrapp's music in Target's holiday campaign. Licensing does drive album sales, but the sales of Goldfrapp's latest album, Supernatural (Mute Records), shows a different story. Since its March 2007 release, the album has sold 62,000 units. Slightly more than the group's previos two, yes, but nothing that shows licensing is responsible for a big uptick in album sales. (It could be the result of the upstream to EMM from Caroline.) However, there has been noticeable increases in downloads of the songs "Ooh La La" and "Strict Macine." (Read article at Reuters)

Posted by Glenn at 10:30 AM | Link
|A&R||Indies||Licensing||Publishing||Universal Music Group|

• Rob Thomas is starting a record label called R Tel Records. I saw this article and then located Rob's mention of the label in an August 31st post at the Atlantic Records message board. Wrote Rob: "one of the first artists is HODGES who some of you saw open for me in portland. it's something that we are keeping under wraps until we're done recording, but i thought you would want to know." Hodges is Hodges Taylor, a Los Angeles-based singer. He is recording his debut album, My Side of the Story, with producer Aaron Kamin.

• Great use of YouTube #1,476: Working the kinks out on new material. Brett Anderson (former singer for Suede/London Suede) posted on YouTube his new song "Scorpio Rising." It's just Brett, a mic, a guitar and a messy desk in the background. Says the text at the clip: "The first in a series of solo performances by Brett. Material will range from brand new songs to very old songs. The season kicks off with an exclusive world premiere of 'Scorpio Rising', a song from the new album ,'Brett Anderson', released in early 2007." (Via Chromewaves)

• Billboard professional rates are currently $99 for 26 weekly issues. It's not a bad deal, really -- if you can expense it.

Posted by Glenn at 7:30 PM | Link
|A&R||YouTube|

• EMI Music Publishing has been acquiring positions in Broadway musicals. Chairman Martin Bandier explained that investing in the musicals -- and thus getting a share of all revenues -- is better than being limited to a licensing fee. There's more risk, too. (Read article at New York Post)

• Sales of 7" singles are exptected to top 1.5 million in the UK this year. That's up from 178,000 in 2001. Why the increase? "CDs and downloads are great for mainstream sales, but vinyl still represents the very essence of music," said a spokesman for HMV. "It has a mystique all of its own and is part of the mythology of rock 'n' roll." (Read article at The Mirror)

• Need to brush up on Brightcove, the online video company that just signed a deal with Warner Music Group? Here's an article. Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff said the company's plans "knocked my socks off." (Read article at USA Today)

• Pop-laden emo band Sherwood says it will sign with MySpace Records. (Read post at Punknews.org)

• R.E.M. and Van Halen will be on the next ballot for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Read article at Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Posted by Glenn at 7:04 AM | Link
|A&R||EMI||Warner Music Group|

• The Eagles follow in Garth Brooks' footsteps by creating a "long-term strategic marketing agreement" with Wal-Mart. The Eagles' stated reason for being attracted to Wal-Mart is the company's position on sustainable business practices. While Wal-Mart is indeed getting serious about its responsibility to stakeholders, I'm sure The Eagles were attracted to the control and expected revenue from the deal. (Read press release)

• Australia's music download tally is predicted by one research company to double next year. Analyst Marc Ganz of Ibis World sees the CD now going past the maturity stage and into the life-cycle's decline phase. I don't agree with one thing he said, though. Ganz thinks the lower price of digital music will drive down CD prices. All I've seen from labels -- other than Universal Music Group -- is extra content and stable prices, not less content and lower prices. Next year, EMI will add content to every CD. Do you think it's going to drop prices? I don't. Not in the next year or two. (Read article at ABC.net)

• Orange Country emo-ish band Midnight Hour has signed with Interscope Records. (Read post at Punknews.org)

• Not a surprise, but it's nice to have it in writing: JupiterResearch predicts the iPod's market share is safe from Microsoft's Zune for 12 to 18 months. (Read article at Digital Trends)

Posted by Glenn at 11:06 AM | Link
|A&R||Research||Wal Mart||Zune|

• "The CD is dead," said EMI chairmand and CEO Alain Levy to an audience at the London Business School. What he meant is the plain CD is no longer viable. "By the beginning of next year, none of our content will come without any additional material." Here's a good question: What makes CDs more attractive, a lower price or more content? Hard to say, honestly. If EMI is going to jazz up CD content, it's going to need more than a few videos and a screensaver. (Read article at Marketwatch)

• Just when Andy Slater's A&R efforts come into doubt, Capitol Records goes and signs Roxette for the U.S. Kings of A&R posted this, then I found an article with more details. A new album will be released on December 26th....gift certificate season.

• There's been talk on The Velvet Rope about layoffs at Sony BMG. Tower's demise means fewer employees on the payroll. Best of luck, Eddie. (Read thread at The Velvet Rope)

• Chalk up another advertising revenue-sharing agreement: Warner Music Group signed a deal with Internet TV provider Brightcove that will provide video content through ad-supported video players. The Brightcove video player requires no download. Fans will be able to put the player on websites and blogs and, I assume, MySpace pages. (Read press release)

• Music blogs are business: Word is out about Stereogum's investment deal with the Pilot Group. Financial terms are not out, but it's said that blog founder Scott Lapatine will retain creative control. Naturally. (Read post at paidContent.org)

• Through September, 2006 touring dollars are up 10.5% over last year. Attendance figures were down 1.2%. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• For you Long Tail fans: Harvard's Working Knowledge on video sales: "Consumers can find videos online that they can't find anywhere else. And yes, there is a shift in sales to the tail—but there is also an increasing number of titles that do not sell at all." (Read post at Working Knowledge, via Digital Audio Insider)

• An interview with Steve Kaneko, Design Director, Entertainment and Devices Division for Microsoft's Zune. (Read post at Zune Insider)

Posted by Glenn at 8:53 AM | Link
|A&R||EMI||Sony BMG||Touring||Warner Music Group|

V2 has signed Alkaline Trio. The band's most recent albums were released on Vagrant. Good Mourning, released in 2003, has sold 246,000 units. Crimson, released last year, has sold 185,000.

UK's The Klaxons signed to Polydor. Their first single, "Magick," will be released at the end of this month.

Equal Vision signed Arizona's Dear and the Headlights. The group's next album, Heavy Hooves, has been recorded but no release date is set.

Former Blackstreet singer Chauncey Black has signed to Flipmode Squad. Black's solo debut will feature The Game, Young Buck and Rah Diggah, and production from Dr Dre and Teddy Riley.

EMI has signed Australian brother-and-sister duo Angus and Julia Stone. Their debut album was recorded in London and the pair will support Kasey Chambers on tour next month. The songs on the pair's website sound like a mix between Joanna Newsom and Cowboy Junkies. Americans can see them at a New York showcase on October 24th (no venue is given on their MySpace page).

Island Def Jam signed St Louis band Ludo earlier this week.

Kill Rock Stars founder Slim Moon is moving the label to New York and will take an A&R position at Warner Music Group's Nonesuch Records.

Actress Scarlett Johansson will release an album of Tom Waits covers through Rhino Records. The album, which is currently being recorded, will be released next spring.

Posted by Glenn at 11:05 AM | Link
|A&R|

Calling it "the future of our business," Epic Records president Charlie Walk announced the label's profit-sharing agreement with a revitalized Menudo. MTV and producer Ben Silverman will produce a ten-episode reality show centered around the band's development.

Terms of the deal were not given. Billboard.com reported that Epic would share revenue from other revenue streams (such as ringtones, touring and a cartoon series). Partnerships with wireless providers and clothing brands are planned.

Deals like this and EMI's profit-sharing deal with Korn show the future of major labels is in dealmaking as much as it is breaking new artists. Everybody likes an investment without the guesswork. Major labels like to invest in projects that are guaranteed to hit store shelves with high awareness. They really crave projects that build that awareness on somebody else's dollar. Call it the "American Idol" syndrome.

Posted by Glenn at 11:06 AM | Link
|A&R|

From Hits: A press release about Jakob Dylan's involvement with the upcoming television series "Six Degrees" (he wrote the theme song) "noted in passing" the Wallflowers frontman is now signed to Columbia. The "Six Degrees" theme song was produced by Columbia A&R exec Steve Lillywhite.

Siouxsie Sioux has signed to Universal Music imprint W14.

Apple In Stereo have hooked up with Simian Records -- founded by actor Elijah Woods -- and will release New Magnetic Wonder on February 7th. Simian is a joint venture with Yep Roc Records and will be co-released by and distributed via Yep Roc Records, Elephant 6/ and Redeye Distribution. Whew!

Australian Love of Diagrams has signed a worldwide deal with Matador Records. The band's MySpace page is currently streaming three three songs. "Favourite Things" is an outtake from the group's upcoming Bob Weston-produced album. "All Over The World" is an outtake from the Weston sessions.

Geffen signed 18-year-old Drew Alexander (via Kings of A&R). His MySpace page is currently streaming songs produced by Tommy Henrikson.

Posted by Glenn at 12:01 PM | Link
|A&R|

Hits has an article that laid out some A&R reps' complaints about the Internet event known as blog buzz.

"Several label execs shared with us that the blog hype for bands is blurring what’s real and what’s not. It has obviously helped initiate the buzz for acts like Tapes ’N Tapes and the Cold War Kids. And hey, we understand what spreading the buzz is all about—this space has been winding up deals for years. That said, the gripe we’re hearing is that a blog band of the month may end up packing the Mercury Lounge on their third show ever, but a few months later, after all the bloggery has gone away, they can barely fill half the room. In other words, as one senior label rep put it, blog hype for a band tends to create an artificial following."

Can't tell which buzz will last two weeks and which will last two years? You're in the wrong business. The funny -- some might say ironic -- thing about this is that A&R reps have been known to feed off hype from magazines, managers and well-run publicity campaigns. If it's not blog hype then it's some other hype. It's not any less real because it was generated by a blog. Don't gauge popularity on the number of people who have taken a free download. Free means nothing. If a band raised the price to a dime, a lot fewer people would be interested.

Advice for A&R reps, if they're really having a tough time: Have less enthusiasm and more skepticism, and when you go to a show at the Mercury Lounge be sure to check out the crowd. A lot of people go to such shows out of curiosity, not out of love for the band.

Posted by Glenn at 12:31 PM | Link
|A&R|

• The bidding for BMG Music Publishing has narrowed down to 12-15 bidders. Sony Corp is not one of the finalists. EMI, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group are beilieved to still be in the running. (Billboard.biz)

• The Songwriters Guild of America puts itself on the side of the RIAA in its legal fight with XM Satellite Radio over portable devices that record songs broadcast on XM. (Digital Music News)

• Warner Music Group announced a quarterly cash dividend of $19.3 million, which turns out to be $0.13 per share of common stock. (Press Release)

• Kevin Federline has inked a deal with Sony BMG. His album Playing With Fire will be released on October 31st on his own Federation Records. No, he's not managed by Nettwerk and Terry McBride. (AllHipHop.com)

• WOXY is going off the (Internet) air on September 15th. (WOXY.com)

• Warner Music Group's Kevin Liles on P. Diddy: "Our expectation when we did the deal with Bad Boy was to break one new artist every 18 months and to reintroduce P. Diddy. He's broken three new artists this year so it's over our expectation, but still under what we know he can do." (Reuters)

• Legendary music critic Robert Christgau was among eight Village Voice employees fired yesterday. Gakwer's post has an email from Christgau to friends. (Gawker)

• The Global Media and Entertainment Summit will be held on December 9th and 10th in New York City. (GlobalEntertainmentNetwork.com)

Posted by Glenn at 9:58 AM | Link
|A&R||Firings||Legal||Publishing||Warner Music Group|

• Rapper Fat Joe has signed a deal with Virgin Records, a label that has not had the greatest success with urban music over the years. (Billboard.com)

• Today it was announced that John Breeder, President and Chief Operating Officer of Handleman Company, resigned his position effective immediately. The company line: "It became clear in the past several days that John believed that continuing to meet his obligations as President would conflict with his own personal interests," and the company "reluctantly concluded that an immediate separation was the only prudent course to serve the interests of Handleman's customers, employees and shareholders." (Press Release)

• National Public Radio plans an early 2007 launch of NPR Music Online, a download site that will offer music and video from programming that spans 35 years. (MarketWatch)

• The Country Music Association announced the the newest inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame: Harold Bradley, Sonny James and George Strait. The formal induction will take place during the November 8th CMA Awards. (Press Release)

• MiG, one of the three finalists on the "Rockstar: INXS" reality series, has signed a deal with Universal Music Classics. His album, due out in January, will be released on Decca and will have at least a few covers ("A Kiss From A Rose," "Life on Mars," "Wrapped Around Your Finger," "Wake Me Up When September Ends"). No joke. (People.com)

Posted by Glenn at 11:14 AM | Link
|A&R||Digital Daily|

More details on Spiral Frog's file restrictions and up-front payments in a transcript of a KCRW broadcast by industry consultant Celia Hirschman. She adds a dose of disgust to the additonal details. (Bold is mine.)

"Have the major labels finally caved to the notion that illegal downloading cannot be stopped? Is this the beginning of the end of the record business as we know it?

Not at all. Rather, this is classic Record Business. Read the fine print of the Spira lFrog deal, and the hairs on the back of your neck will stand up. First of all, when consumers download the track, they'll be subjected to a 90 second audio advertisement embedded at the beginning of each track. That's 90 seconds of advertising for every song downloaded. And the downloads will only be available to the listener for six months, where upon the song will be erased from their libraries like a Mission Impossible espionage tape."

In addition, Hirschman said the majors each negotiated with Spiral Frog to get a $2 m