Bug Music, which today announced it has secured a $200 million credit facility led by JP Morgan, is reportedly in talks with Chrysalis Group. Said Bug Music CEO John Rudolph in the press release, "The significant upsizing of our credit facility will enable Bug Music to continue to have the financial resources to pursue acquisition opportunities and will enable us to continue to grow the company effectively."

As for acquisitions, The Times reported Bug has had talks with Chrysalis. The article singled out Primary Wave as a possible acquirer or merger partner for Chrysalis. EMI and Warner Music Group are not believed to be interested. Earlier this year, an offer by EMI was rejected for being too low. The poor credit market, which has since worsened, was blamed for the declined bid.

Posted by Glenn at 2:56 PM | Link
|Publishing|

• SpiralFrog, provider of free, ad-supported P2P, has inked a deal to offer EMI Music's recorded music. The company has deals in place with a number of music publishers and Universal Music Group on the recorded music side. With EMI and UMG in place, SpiralFrog has about half of the major label market share for recorded music. Chairman and founder Joe Mohen told the AP that SpiralFrog is about a year away from turning a profit. (AP)

• Sony BMG's International's president of continental Europe, Maarten Steinkamp, will step down. (Music Week)

• Live Nation is increasing its advertising spending (a precursor to selling its own concert tickets?) in the UK. The concert promoter is looking for an agency to handle £10 million of media planning and buying, a figure that is up from its current £4 million annual account. (Brand Republic)

• EMI Music Publishing has signed a worldwide deal with Ben Harper. (Press release)

• imeem is now inserting short audio advertisements between some songs. (Ad-Supported Music Central)

• New York record store Jammyland closed last weekend. (Crimes Against Music)

• Universal Music Group spent $180,000 on lobbying the federal government in Q1 2008. It spent $700,000 in all of 2007. Q1 money went for anti-piracy efforts as well as for appropriations relating to intellectual property theft enforcement, Internet and satellite radio issues and performance rights. (AP)

• A resolution that calls for the protection of terrestrial radio from royalties for the public performance of sound recordings has picked up the support of an eighth senator. The House version has the support of some 200 representatives. (Press release)

Posted by Glenn at 10:09 AM | Link
|EMI||Publishing|

HgCapital has announced that it has agreed to sell classical music publisher Boosey & Hawkes to Imagem Music for approximately £126 million. Boosey & Hawkes controls the rights to more than 116,000 works of music and choreography from many of the world’s most famous classical composers, including Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Benjamin Britten and Prokofieff.

Image Music was created by Dutch fund ABP, the world's third largest pension fund, and CP Masters BV upon their purchase of UMG's publishing assets. Those assets acquired, which include Zomba UK, Rondor UK, 19 Music and part of the BBC catalog, were sold by UMG in order to gain European Commission approval of its acquisition of BMG Music Publishing.

As the Times points out, the acquisition sets a reference price for the Chrysalis publishing assets that are up for sale. Boosey sold at 9.7 times net publisher's share. Applying that multiple to Chrysalis Music would value it at 172p per share. Chrysalis currently trades at 138p per share.

Posted by Glenn at 2:54 PM | Link
|Publishing|

• Enders Analysis values Chrysalis in the £145-160 million and says the company is hoping to fetch a bid up to £200 million. Sony/ATV, Warner Chappell and EMI Music Publishing are all reportedly interested in acquiring Chrysalis. (Enders Analysis)

• According to a couple of executives familiar with the talks, Yahoo is mulling over "offering unprotected MP3s either for sale or for free as part of an ad-supported service." Free, ad-supported MP3s? I don't get it either. Should be one (free) or the other (ad-supported), no? More info, please. (AP)

• Sony/ATV has signed Flo Rida to a worldwide co-publishing deal. (Billboard.biz)

• In the album's first week of release, Target sold 33,000 units of its exclusive John Legend live album. Not bad, but not exactly Eagles numbers. Legend has a higher sale price, though, and Target doesn't have Wal-Mart's reach. (Variety)

• Zazzle, which sells music-related merchandise, has acquired GoodStorm. Look for a push into social media and widgets. (Mashable)

• Surprise of the day: Country star Tim McGraw co-wrote, "Nine Lives," the first single from Def Leppard's upcoming album. (Music Row)

Posted by Glenn at 6:13 AM | Link
|Publishing|

• There are rumors that EMI has made an offer for Chrysalis, one of the few remaining independent music publishers in the UK. (BBC News)

• Reuters just reported that Warner Music Group has also bid on Chrysalis. (Reuters)

• FCC commissioner Michael Copps cautions against media companies being taken over by private equity groups and has urged the FCC to launch an investigation. His main complaint is the structure of these companies, which he argues may render the FCC unable to take action in the event something goes wrong. (Dow Jones)

• Alltell Wireless and mSpot have announced a new service called Music powered by Celltop, which allows users to access the DRM-free music collection on their PCs over the Alltell network. The service costs $3.99 per month of $9.99 for three months. (Press release)

• Spotted in a post about how MySpace is still killing Facebook in terms of traffic: "I spent some time on MySpace last night, exploring the profile pages of family and friends and was shocked to see that all the music players on the site are now sponsored by Zune. It was news to me but I'm told it's been that way for weeks. I haven't been able to find a single shred of coverage of that deal on any of the top tech blogs - but I would assume it's helping sell more Zunes than ever." I've looked at a dozen or so mainstream pop artists' MySpace pages and haven't seen anything sponsored by Zune. (ReadWriteWeb, via Techmeme)

• Physical music sales in France fell 17.1% in 2007. (Billboard.biz)

• An article about Indiedrive, an online music store that offers music only on 1GB USB flash drives. The flash drives, which cost on average $20 apiece, contain MP3 files, videos, pictures, artwork and anything else the artist wants to include. (Shakopee Valley News)

Posted by Glenn at 11:11 AM | Link
|EMI||Publishing||Warner Music Group|

• 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)

Posted by Glenn at 11:11 AM | Link
|Publishing|

• Radiohead is reportedly close to signing deals for the physical release of In Rainbows that will circumvent major labels. XL Recordings will handle the album outside of the U.S. while Side One, an offshoot of ATO Records and part of the Coran Capshaw empire (that also includes Red Light Management and Music Today), will have the album domestically. (New York Times)

• Music publisher Primary Wave has inked a deal with television production company Reveille to administer the latter's music publishing rights. (Billboard.biz)

• Word is the Danish branch of the IFPI has "seriously proposed" allowing peer-to-peer downloading in exchange for a small monthly fee charged to all ISP users. (O'Reilly Radar)

• At a Zune party at CMJ, a Microsoft representative hinted that an upcoming Zune feature -- to use its Wifi to allow other people to see what you've been listening to -- could be used to let people see what artists and celebrities are listening to on their Zunes. Not only that, but the representative said the ability to view celebrity song plays would require an invitation (e.g. fan club members or people who bought a special edition CD). First thought: the infamous Beyonce iTunes playlist and the predictable and often boring nature of celebrity playlists. Second thought: This creates a better network effect that does the Zune-to-Zune sharing that requires that two devices be within a short range of each other. Third thought: Lots of free Zunes will have to be given to musicians and celebrities. (Listening Post Blog)

• In this podcast at The Register, we're told the average price paid for Radiohead's In Rainbows is around $5.00, far lower than what people tell pollsters and less than what the band could have made from a major label. (Open Season, via The Open Road)

• Songkick, which launched recently, is a website that offers music fans a database of concerts (in the U.S. and U.K.) by tracking 14 ticketing websites such as Ticketmaster.com and StubHub. One feature lets users search blogs for artists in the Songkick database. (TechCrunch)

• The Canadian Music Creators Coalition, a collection of artists such as Sarah McLachlan and Broken Social Scene, is pushing for copyright reform without suing music downloaders and without using DRM. (The Set List)

Posted by Glenn at 9:19 AM | Link
|P2P||Publishing|

• As expected a week after Kanye West and 50 Cent both had big debuts, album sales dropped mightily last week. Sales were down 10% and were 14% lower than the same week last year. Reba McIntire's Reba Duets debuted at #1 with sales of 300,000. West's Graduation dropped 76%to #2 and 50 Cent's Curtis dropped 79% to #3, both huge second-week fades that take a lot of steam out of last week's giddiness. For the year, album sales are down 14%. Sales of digital tracks were unchanged and were 47% higher than the same week last year. For the year, digital track sales are up 46%. Soulja Boy Tell 'Em once again had the best-selling digital track with "Crank That (Soulja Boy)."

• Songwriter Diane Warren has moved the administration of her entire catalog to Sony/ATV from EMI Music Publishing for all territories except the U.S. and Canada. Warren is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has penned such hits as "How Can We Be Lovers" (recorded by Michael Bolton), "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" (made famous by Aerosmith) and "Who Will You Run To" (recorded by Heart). (Billboard.biz)

• I'd prefer to skip over the topic of yesterday's Congressional hearings on rap lyrics -- I honestly don't expect much to come out of this except politicians gaining a few new lines for stump speeches -- but since Jeff Leeds wrote about it I'll toss in a link to his article. Tipper Gore's PRMC hearings in the '80s generated a lot of attention but changed only how the product has marketed -- they gave birth to the explicit content warnings we now see on albums. The last thing I expect are self-sanctioning measures by labels or censorship on the part of the government, though I could imagine rappers changing their content due to market-based pressures. In pointing out the inspiration for rap lyrics, rapper David Banner had the best line of the day: "Hip-hop is sick because America is sick." (New York Times)

• Jack Sander, a senior adviser to Belo Corp and its former chairman, has been elected chairman of BMI's board of directors. (Radio Ink)

• Hypebot compiles reactions to yesterday's beta launch of the Amazon MP3 store. One question in the post asked if Amazon.com will grow the download market or just make it more fractured. Given the experience of the retailer, its sizable customer base, its innovations in pricing and merchandising and its DRM-free product offering, I believe Amazon.com will grow the market. Competition is good for consumers. Competition will get people to buy more -- not just at Amazon.com, but at iTunes and other download stores after they react to Amazon.com's entry. (Hypebot)

Posted by Glenn at 8:28 AM | Link
|Amazon||Publishing|

• Sony ATV Music Publishing has signed Jonathan Rotem, producer and co-writer of the Sean Kingston hit "Beautiful Girls" and Rihanna's "SOS." (Billboard.biz)

• Redeye Distribution inked deals with Daptone Records and the band Cake and its Upbeat Records imprint. (Billboard.biz)

• An interview with Rep. Howard Berman, chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property. He said there will soon be legislation regarding terrestrial radio's exemption from paying sound recording royalties. "Anybody who is transmitting radio digitally has to pay but over-the-air terrestrial is the one platform that is exempt. They have what I think of as an unfair competitive advantage. ... It is going to cost them a few cents on the dollar. There will be some rate determination. They are selling commercial advertising and are drawing customers and are economically exploiting for their programming the work of someone else. That is what compensation is for." (San Fernando Valley Business Journal)

• The race for convergence has companies fighting for each other's market share. Consumers are left scratching their heads. Said one analyst, "I pity the poor consumer. From a consumer perspective, it's very confusing to figure out where to go." (Herald Tribune)

• Pictures (legit?) of the next generations of the Microsoft Zune, one being a flash drive version with 4 GB and 8 GB of memory, the other a standard-sized Zune with 80 GB of memory. The design has been updated a bit but looks roughly the same as the first generation. (Gizmodo)

• It's the end of the line for Sony Atrac format. Connect download store on its way out and the new video Walkmans that will not support the format. Atrac is a good case study on a proprietary format that started with good intentions -- it was developed for Sony's Minidisc -- but ultimately helped slow Sony's growth in digital music. (Digital Noise)

Posted by Glenn at 10:48 AM | Link
|Distribution||Publishing||Radio||Sony BMG||Zune|

• RealNetworks, MTV and Verizon are teaming up for a mobile music service called Rhapsody America. MTV's URGE music service will join with RealNetworks' Rhapsody subscription service to create a music service that can be accessed via PC, mobile phone or (compatible) portable media device. Verizon's V CAST will be the service's mobile platform. (Press release)

• Wal-Mart has announced the launch of $0.94 MP3 downloads and $9.22 MP3 album downloads. The catalogs of EMI and Universal Music Group are available in the MP3 format at 256 kbps. The original, 128 kbps WMA tracks will also be available. The first things I noticed at the music download page were links to $3.88 MP3 albums (which are all EP's and singles), $5.88 MP3 albums (catalog titles like Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet) and $7.88 MP3 albums (Norah Jones' Come Away With Me, for example). Unfortunately, Wal-Mart's updated digital store does not support Firefox. (Press release)

• Solange Knowles, sister of Beyonce, has signed a worldwide co-publishing deal with EMI Music Publishing. Knowles is currently promoting Baby Jamz, a hip hop-oriented toy line created by Planet Toys and Music World Entertainment, her father's company. (Press release)

• Another Madonna-to-LiveNation? article, but this one has some numbers and word of a rival. "One source estimated the value of the Live Nation offer to be $180 million, with the touring giant potentially licensing the recording rights for roughly $30 million. ... It is doubtful that WMG, the only label Madonna has ever been signed to, would give up the Material Girl without a fight. Sources say that the company has made a counter-offer to Madonna that also includes a touring component that could be helmed by rival promoter AEG Live." (Billboard.biz)

• Said the CFO of Emmis Comminications about satellite radio, "The people that utilize satellite radio often toggle between AM and FM and satellite radio, and it really hasn’t caused a measurable effect in our business yet. ... Satellite radio is a niche business focused on people willing to spend 13 dollars per month for the radio. Which for long-haul truckers or people who are advocates of a music format which may not reach a mass market – if you’re a passionate Blue Grass listener in New York City – it probably makes sense for you. But I think they’re still challenged. It’s a challenging business model to launch a billion-dollar asset in space and try to build up a mass-market audience quickly. And with 15 million subs it’s tough, which is why they’re trying to get the merger done. In large measure they’re trying to work with the government to solve a business model problem." (Radio Ink)

• Verve Music Group has named Mitchell Cohen as its VP of A&R. Cohen was previously SVP or A&R at Columbia Records. (Billboard.biz)

Posted by Glenn at 11:37 AM | Link
|Mobile Music||Publishing||Radio||RealNetworks||Rhapsody||URGE||Wal Mart|

• Related Companies will purchase the 11 North American Virgin Megastores from Virgin Entertainment Group. Not familiar with Related? The company develops, finances and owns real estate properties around the country. It developed the Time Warner Center in Manhattan as well as numerous residential properties in California, Florida and the Midwest. Related owns the Equinox chain of fitness clubs, is part of the investor group that took resort & hotel chain Kerzner International Limited private, and manages the high rise residential building at Astor Place in Manhattan. (Press release)

• Eighties pop band Dodo and the Dodos won its distribution rights case against Sony BMG in a Danish court. The ruling stops Sony BMG from selling the band's music downloads without the band's consent. The ruling's greater impact is yet to be determined. (The Copenhagen Post)

• The Russel Simmons-backed GlobalGrind, a hip hop-oriented start page, has received about $4 million in funding. (paidContent)

• News.com's article on artists' lawsuits against online music stores, such as the copyright infringement lawsuits filed by Eminem's publishing units. "Don't expect these lawsuits to go very far. To start, Apple is likely indemnified against such lawsuits, according to copyright attorney Jay Rosenthal. But Rosenthal speculates that the real target of the lawsuits isn't Apple or iTunes. What the musicians and writers really want is to challenge the claim by record labels that they have the right to negotiate Internet sales on their behalf." (News.com)

• Here's an article on the greening of the music industry. Much of it has come on the touring end. Said Neal Turley of Sustainable Waves, which builds eco-friendly concert equipment, "It's really amazing in the last three years where this has come. When we were trying to make this happen 10 years ago, it was a pretty tough sell. Five years ago, it was starting to turn the corner, and now it's just amazing." (McClatchy Newspapers)

• In Tony Sach's post about Matador Records' "Buy Now, Get Early" early bird offering, this line really stands out and explains why such a program can work for an indie and might fail for a major: "The New Pornographers' fan base is a lot smaller than, say, Rihanna's or Daughtry's, but it's also a lot deeper. New Pornos fans want those B-sides and other ephemera that the 'Buy Early Get Now' program is offering, and they're happy to pay to get them. Most major label acts, however, live and die by their latest single; their fan base is wide but shallow." (The Huffington Post)

• An analyst believes a judged block of the FTC's attempted block of a merger of Whole Foods and Wild Oats is a good sign for Sirius and XM and beyond. "While mergers are very fact-specific and the judge's opinion has not yet been made public, we suspect the Whole Foods decision will give XM-Sirius and Google-DoubleClick some new legal ammo to argue for defining their relevant markets broadly, which could reduce antitrust concerns about potential anti-competitive effects. At a minimum, it gives the reviewing agencies some food for thought." (Radio Ink)

• Dove Award-winning band Switchfoot has left Columbia Records and plans to put out future releases independently. (Breathcast)

Posted by Glenn at 9:23 AM | Link
|Brick-And-Mortor Retail||Legal||Publishing|

• Monterey Peninsula Artists and Little Big Man will be integrated into parent company Paradigm Talent Agency, and both names will be retired. The agents expect the change to give them more time to spend developing their artists and use the resources of the larger, combined agency. (Billboard.biz)

• Universal Music Group has purchased Sanctuary Music Group for £44.5 million ($90.7 million) As part of the deal, UMG will take on £59.8 million ($121.8 million) of Sanctuary's debt. The goal is to integrated Sanctuary's other services such as merchandise and artist management. (The Guardian)

• The New York Post reported that Universal Music Group is ready to sell BMG's European publishing assets. As part of a deal with anti-trust regulators, UMG will sell the European rights to Zomba U.S., Zomba U.K., Rondor U.K. and 19 Entertainment. (FMBQ)

• Napster has hired Christopher Allen to be its new Chief Operating Officer. He starts on Monday. Allen was previously Vice President, Product Strategy, Design, and Marketing for Blockbuster Online and replaces outgoing COO Laura Goldberg. (Press release)

• Satellite radio companies' biggest problem is attrition, says Bridge Ratings. "Because XM and Sirius calculate churn differently, official churn rates are difficult to nail down. However, our interviews with current and former satellite radio subscribers coupled with gross and net subscriber figures reveal attrition is growing placing extreme pressure on new subscriber acquisition strategies for both companies." (Radio Ink)

• The average computer has 880 MP3 files. (Digital Music News)

• Sort of a good point from a PC World columnist. On the Verizon deal for AC/DC's catalog: "That’s too bad for the industry. The latest report from UK-based Entertainment Media Research say here in the US music piracy is down. You can thank the ease, price, and flexibility of finding and buying music on iTunes part for that." One or two of these deals, though, does not do anything to hinder the availability and compatibility of digital music. To draw a parallel, exclusives at Best Buy and Circuit City have lead only to bickering between retailers. From what I can tell, consumers have accepted them. (PC World)

• Denton, TX, currently a hot spot for indie rock, has a new record label. Magilum Records aims to capture the ""bizarre folk scene in Denton" and "start a whole new subgenre (of folk)." (Star-Telegram)

• In-Stat analyst Mike Paxton predicts ditching DRM "will likely be viewed as a music-industry-only experiment, albeit one that will be closely monitored to see if a viable business model emerges." (Twice.com)

Posted by Glenn at 8:26 AM | Link
|Agencies||Napster||Publishing||Research|

• Album sales dropped 2% last week and were 9% lower than the same week last year. Year to date, album sales are down 14%. Sales of digital tracks rose 3% last year and were 52% higher than the same week last year. For the year, digital tracks are up 48%.

• Lenders could be jittery over Terra Firma's buyout of EMI. "It is understood that Citigroup, which is financing the acquisition of EMI by Guy Hands’s Terra Firma, has not given its approval to extend a key deadline for shareholders to vote on the deal." (Times Online)

• Joni Mitchell signed to Starbucks' Hear Music label, which will release her album Shine on September 25. I expect the media blitz surrounding her move to Hear Music will be beneficial to sales of the album, just as it was for Paul McCartney. The label's third of fourth gray-haired signing, though, should expect less attention. (Billboard.biz)

• I forgot to post this yesterday: The U.K. government does not want to extend copyright on sound recordings to 70 years from 50 years. The government followed the recommendation of Andrew Gowers given late last year. The BPI and other trade groups reacted by pledging to continue its campaign for the longer copyright. (Inquirer and Hollywood Reporter)

• XM president and CEO Hugh Panero will leave the company next month. COO Nate Davis will take over as interim CEO. In the event Sirius merges with XM, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin will take over the reins of the combined company. (Radio Ink)

• The lineup for the Vegoose music festival was announced yesterday. It's an odd mish-mash of old (Public Enemy, Cypress Hill) and new (Ghostland Observatory, Battles). Rage Against the Machine, Daft Punk, Queens of the Stone Age and Muse headline. (Pollstar)

• Universal Music Publishing Group has signed Ric Ocasek to an exclusive publishing administration deal. Under the deal, UMPG will have world-wide administration and sync rights to Ocasek's catalog of hits. (Press release)

• CinemaNow, an online distributor of online movies, signed licensing agreements with Sanctuary, EMI and Sony BMG to offer music videos and concert performances. CinemaNow and WatchMusicHere.com will offer more than 6,000 videos. Music video downloads will be priced at $1.99 and concerts and long-form videos will go for $9.95 to $14.95, or $2.99 to $3.99 for rental in the WMV format. (Press release)

• Lee Gomes has an article on the industry's drive to expand royalties for music. "Most lay people surveying this terrain quickly conclude that it would be more efficient to have everyone involved in music creation, be they record labels or songwriters, aligned on one side and negotiating together, with the same occurring across the table with music users, be they radio stations or Web broadcasters. But there is little chance of that happening. The legal, financial and institutional interests all diverge." (Wall Street Journal)

Posted by Glenn at 8:19 AM | Link
|EMI||Live Music||Publishing||Starbucks||Webcasting|

• Once again, private equity firm Terra Firm has extended the deadline for its EMI bid. EMI shareholders have until July 29 to accept Terra Firma's offer. Just over 26% of investors have accepted the bid so far. (BBC News)

• Chicago will host the next FCC ownership meeting. No date has been set. (Radio Ink)

• Clear Channel has reportedly dropped its licensing agreement that required independent musicians to waive on-demand streaming royalties in order to receive airtime. (The agreement called for standard royalty payments for terrestrial broadcast and the resulting online streaming.) Greater airplay for independent musicians was one of the stipulations in the company's anti-payola settlement with the FCC. Read more on the licensing agreement here, or listen to this segment on NPR. (Dallas Observer)

• HMV may buy some stores from bankrupt retailer Fopp. (Billboard.biz)

• President Bush spoke to the Nashville Chamber of Commerce yesterday. When a music executive in the crowd asked what he was going to do about global royalty issues, Bush responded, "Help," and asked the person to get in touch with his office since he is admittedly not well versed on the subject. (The Tennessean)

• Decca inked a deal with singer Shirley Bassey for a worldwide recording deal. (Billboard.biz)

• Universal Studio Group's Ron Meyer spends modestly. Island Def Jam's L.A. Reid does not. Guess who's better as keeping his job? (Big Red Horseshoe)

• Microsoft released its fiscal year earnings yesterday. The Zune is lumped into the Entertainment Devices Division with the Xbox, PC games and TV platform products. The division had revenue of $6.1 billion but had an operating loss of $1.06 billion. (Earnings release)

Posted by Glenn at 8:01 AM | Link
|Publishing|

• Only 3.6% of EMI investors accepted Terra Firma's $4.8 billion bid, which led Terra Firm to extend the offer to July 12. (Bloomberg)

• Overall sales were down 1% last week and were 8% below the same week last year. For the year album sales are down 15%. Sales of digital tracks were also down 1% last week, and were 40% ahead of the same week last year. Year to date, sales of digital tracks are up 49%.

• Clive's fears came true: Hannah Montana topped Kelly Clarkson last week. Montana debuted with 326,000 while Clarkson's My December debuted with 291,000.

• A Belgian court has ruled that Internet Service Providers must use the technical means available to stop illegal file-sharing on their networks. The IFPI is, of course, thrilled. (Press release)

• Sony BMG is trying to renegotiate the terms of its music publishing joint venture with Michael Jackson that will allow it to sign songwriters. The current terms of Sony/ATV does not allow Sony to sign competing songwriters. Talks are reportedly at an early stage. (Times Online)

• David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, has a deal for the British music industry: Stop with the misogyny, guns and materialism and he will support an extension of copyright to 70 years from 50 years. (Times Online)

• Edna Gundersen writes about Live Earth and "benefit fatigue" that could limit its effectiveness. My fear is that people move on," said Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich. The Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant worried about "the idea of rock stars lecturing people as if they know something the rest of us don't." (USA Today)

Posted by Glenn at 7:49 AM | Link
|EMI||P2P||Publishing||Sony BMG|

• Album sales were down 7% last week and were 5% lower than the same week last year. For the year, album sales are down 15%. That's a two-point improvement in just two months. Sales of digital tracks rose 2% for the week and were 44% higher than the same week last year. For the year, digital track sales are up 49%. Two months ago, digital tracks were up 52% for the year. Three months ago the number was 53%. One might find it odd that album sales are improving against last year's pace while digital track sales are worsening against last year's pace. I have two thoughts on that. First, it confirms the popular belief that last year's album release schedule was weak. Second, digital track sales' pace could be the result of slowing digital music player sales (see second-to-last news item below).

• Finally, somebody comes out and admits that the iPhone isn't going to impact the recorded music business (at least in the near term). AP's Alex Veiga is right when he wrote that sideloading still trumps the unfilled promise of ubiquitous, over-the-air download. That means the iPhone is a very expensive version of the iPod...which is already pretty ubiquitous. Forrester's Charles Golvin didn't have to go out on a limb when he said, "I imagine most of the people who'll buy the iPhone will be iPod users already." (AP)

• As part of Universal Music Publishing Group's acquisition of BMG Music Publishing, UMPG is combining its Nashville operations. Pat Higdon has been named EVP and GM of UMPG Nashville and will report to chairman and CEO David Renzer. (Nashville Business Journal)

• Vanessa Carlton has signed with Irv Gotti's The Inc. Her third album, already recorded, was produced by Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind) and includes songs co-penned by Linda Perry. (Billboard.com)

• The Format is giving away for free its "Dog Problems EP" at the band's website. The freebie lasts until July 16th and is happening because the band owns its own publishing and master recordings. "We'd be doomed if we sat around and waited for things like radio play to come around," said singer Nate Reuss. The EP was released through The Vanity Label. (The Format, via Out The Other)

• Here's the next RIAA heart attack: Is Google better than LimeWire for sharing music? One person things so, and has shown how using the search tag "index.of" will lead Google to reveal directories and not actual web pages (view YouTube video). Those directories shows files that people have stores on servers but have not linked to web pages. His website, JimmyR.com, has instructional videos and tips on how to get audio from YouTube videos, how to put a Google MP3 search on your website, and it has its own Google search that simplifies searching for MP3s, albums, torrents, PDFs and ringtones. (Slyck)

• Sanctuary's radio promotion department is closing. (Billboard.biz)

• I missed this on Friday: Digital music player sales are down 20% this year. Analysts are giving two key reasons for the drop: Music-enabled mobile phones and a penetration rate that is approaching saturation. (AP)

• Edison Research says the Internet is approaching television as the "most essential" medium. Among those surveyed, 36% voted for television and 33% voted for Internet. "In almost every category we surveyed, the Internet has doubled or tripled where in consumer's minds it bleeds into all facets of their lives." (Internet News)

Posted by Glenn at 7:09 AM | Link
|Apple||P2P||Publishing||Universal Music Group|

• Over 2,500 Sony BMG videos have been added to MobiTV's service. The first initiative between the two companies is a dedicated Avril Lavigne channel. (Press release)

• Cherry Lane Music Publishing has joined the class action lawsuit against YouTube that was brought by Football Assn. Premier League and Bourne Co. last month. (Billboard.biz)

• Hot Topic, which a few months ago talked about changes in its customers' musical preferences, is getting rid of its goth look. (CNNMoney.com , via Kings of A&R)

• Here's a podcast (download MP3 here, go to post to stream the file) of an interview with eMusic's David Pakman. Pakman talks about how he thinks the other majors will follows EMI's lead, and how EMI's prices are too high. He hints that eMusic will have portions of major label back catalogs in the future, but they "haven't announced anything." (Inside Digital Media)

Posted by Glenn at 8:20 AM | Link
|Brick-And-Mortor Retail||Mobile Music||Publishing||Sony BMG|

• Album sales were down 3% last week and were down 17% against the same week last year. For the year, album sales are down 17%. Digital tracks rose 1% last week and are up 50% against last year.

• Sony/ATV won an auction for the 125,000 song-deep Famous Music publishing catalog for about $370 million. (New York Post)

• iTunes' new unprotected, premium AAC files from EMI embeds the user's account information in the audio file. (Cue the privacy concerns and the debate about what constitutes DRM.) The Unofficial Apple Weblog offers instructions on how to see for yourself. (The Unofficial Apple Weblog)

• Premium music download retailer MusicGiants has partnered with GalleryPlayer to offer the latter's art, entertainment and sports photography to MusicGiants' home theater installations. Basically, the deal will offer MusicGiants customers more HD content through those high-end systems in which MusicGiants is integrated. Should make for a great audio-visual combination. (Press release)

• You may have seen the news about Microsoft's table-top surface device. This Popular Mechanics video shows how the table-top interface allows for wireless file exchanges between portable devices (cameras, music players, mobile phones, PDAs).

• The Toronto flagship store of Canadian music retail chain Sam the Record Man will close on June 30th. The store has been active at that site since 1961. (ChartAttack)

Posted by Glenn at 9:01 AM | Link
|Brick-And-Mortor Retail||Online Stores/Services||Publishing|

• Justin Timberlake and Interscope Records announced a joint venture record label called Tennman Records. The label will be distributed by Interscope Geffen A&M. Ken Komisar, SVP of A&D at Sony BMG, will serve as president. (All Hip Hop)

• CD Wow has been ordered to pay £41 million ($81 million) over three years to the U.K. recording industry for selling parallel imports from Asia. (Billboard.biz)

• Digital distributor IODA announced a partnership with IMagine that will allow the company access to China, Hong Kong and other markets in the region.

• A profile of ArkivMusic.com, which offers many out-of-print classical albums on CD. The company is not worried about piracy. "You can't buy 100 discs on somebody else's credit card and then get rid of them on the street. It's a profitable niche to be in. It's a highly attractive demographic." (Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Dave Navarro's Panic Channel will self-release its next album to break free of record company "slavery" and a "failing corporate industry that is on its last legs and gasping for air." That sound about right for a band that failed at mainstream success the first time around. (andPop)

• As majors sign fewer artists in Canada, indie distributors are stepping up with more labels and more releases. Examples are Koch Records and Labwork Music, a joint venture between Sonic Distribution and EMI Canada. Collectively, Canadian indies account for 19.1% of sales, above all majors expect Universal Music Group. (Reuters)

• Once renegade music tab site MXTabs.com has announced some licensing deals with BMG Music Publishing, Peermusic, Famous Music, and Bug Music. The licenses cover both guitar and drum tabs. (Press release , via Digital Music News)

• This is not related to music or media, but Andrew Martin's great article on Coca-Cola's struggle to change reminded me of the recorded music industry. Coke is like a CD. Non-carbonated drinks are like digital downloads. The latter could hardly make up for drops in the former, but investment in the latter is crucial for the future. (New York Times)

Posted by Glenn at 9:08 AM | Link
|Digital Distribution||Distribution||Indies||Publishing||Sony BMG|

• According to The Telegraph, two American hedge funds, Fortress and Cerberus, are planning to jointly bid on EMI at a price below the $4.1 million Warner Music Group bid earlier this year. They hope EMI will accept a sub-WMG bid because of the lower level of regulatory scrutiny they expect to come with their bids. The report says One Equity is still looking at EMI but will not join the bid with Fortress and Ceberus. Permira is unlikely to join in the bidding. (The Telegraph)

• Sony BMG, which recently rid itself of its BMG music publishing arm, plans to get back into the music publishing game. Said chief executive Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, "We will do everything to re-enter the market for music publishing. ... Our shareholders see that a music company that has a music publishing business is more attractive" And why not? The revenue is far more less volatile and risky than that in the recorded music world. (Financial Times)

• The price for a non-DRM track at the New Zealand iTunes store will carry a 39% premium. A DRM track costs NZ$1.79 and a non-DRM track will carry a NZ$2.49 price tag. The U.S. iTunes store will charge only a 30% premium for the non-DRM version. (PC World NZ)

• The New York Post has a decent article on how labels are looking to ad-supported business models. Nothing new there, but at least some execs went on the record with their thoughts. (New York Post)

• Warner Music Group has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Destiny's Child member LeToya that covers her 2006 self-titled album and future compositions. (Press release)

• Vickie Winans' Destiny Joy Records has signed a distribution deal with Central South Distribution. (BreatheCast)

Posted by Glenn at 9:16 AM | Link
|DRM||EMI||Publishing||Sony BMG||iTunes|

• In an interview with Billboard, Paul McCartney said the deal to put the Beatles' catalog online is "virtually settled." The teaser article has no other details. The full interview will be in the May 19th issue of Billboard. (Billboard.com)

• Dimensional Associates, the private equity fund that owns eMusic and The Orchard, sold its music publishing division. (Billboard.biz)

• Talent search promotions are a dime a dozen these days. Here's another: Capitol Nashville is teaming up with Yahoo!'s Bix for an online audio and video karaoke contest called "The Road To Nashville." (AngryCountry.com)

• Silent Majority Group has joined Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group. SMG was founded by Creed manager Jeff Hanson (Press release)

• The Knitting Factory announced digital initiatives for its two venues. Knitting Factory Digital Services will provide to labels the ability to record live audio and video and distribute the content through content partners such as Rhapsody, AOL Music, Revver and Last.fm. (Press release)

• A very good article on the music retail scene in Columbia, South Carolina. The five ways stores are staying relevant: Used CDs, vinyl, catalog, accessories and customer service. (Free Times)

Posted by Glenn at 10:09 AM | Link
|Brick-And-Mortor Retail||Digital Distribution||Marketing||Publishing|

• The Financial Times reported that Universal Music's acquisition of BMG's music publishing division will be approved the the European Commission in the coming days. (Variety)

• Trisha Yearwood has signed with indie Big Machine Records. The country singer was with MCA Nashville for 16 years. (Billboard.biz)

• Disney has launched a music and video download site called Disney Mix Central. Files are protected Windows Media and meant to go with the Disney Mix Stick MP3 player and the Disney Mix Max video/MP3 player. (Billboard.biz)

• Snocap launched Live @ Snocap, a private concert series recorded at the company's San Francisco office. (Press release)

Posted by Glenn at 3:42 PM | Link
|Indies||Publishing||Snocap|

• Insiders say Wal-Mart will lower the square feet designated for CDs and replace them with iPod accessories. (Kings of A&R, via Idolator)

• Warner Music Group has settled its years-old claim against Bertelsmann over the latter company's relationship with Napster. The WMG press release is mum on an amount, but an 8-K filed with the SEC says WMG will receive $110 million from Bertlesmann, who admits no liability in the settlement. (Press release)

• Another day, another Amazon.com rumor: Insiders say Amazon.com's digital download store will be integrated into existing the Amazon.com storefront. "It’s going to look just like Amazon does today," said one source. (Digital Music News)

• Gracenote has launched its online lyrics service. Yahoo Music, through a revenue-sharing agreement with Gracenote, will offer the lyrics of hundreds of thousands of songs. More sites will soon offer lyrics through Gracenote as well. (Reuters)

• Indie911, an online social network with music overtones, has partnered with APM Music, a joint venture between EMI Music Publishing and BMG Music Publishing. Indie911 will provide indie and unsigned content to television, film and video game companies. (Billboard.biz)

• An analyst put iTunes' operating profit at as much as 15%. Because Apple has undertaken measures to minimize credit card transaction fees -- something many people mistakenly think eats up all iTunes profit -- each song clears ten cents. (AppleInsider)

• Check out ASCAP's blog for its "I Create Music" ASCAPExpo that ran April 19th to 21st. (EXPO's Vox)

Posted by Glenn at 11:31 AM | Link
|Brick-And-Mortor Retail||Publishing||Sony BMG||Warner Music Group||iTunes|

• EMI issued a trading update this morning ahead of its announcement of earnings for its fiscal year ended March 31st. Revenue is expected to decline 15% year over year. Digital revenue is expected to increase 59% and will account for 10% of total revenue. Music sales (at constant currency) are in line with guidance, its publishing division has improved operating margin and earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization is expected to be £174 million. Two bullet points stand out. One says EMI is considering the securitization of its publishing assets. The other said the company is suspending dividend payments until its restructuring program has concluded. (Press release)

• Some analyst say a possibly deal with Warner Music Group would be complicated if EMI issues securities backed by its publishing assets. (Reuters)

• Yesterday the RIAA revealed sales figures for 2005 (total revenue down 6.2%, CD sales down 13%) and tried to put a positive spin on the situation. "Today's music marketplace has challenges, but it also offers reason for hope and optimism," said Mitch Bainwol in a statement. "The appetite for music is as strong as ever." (Washington Post)

• EMI's first quarter UK market share pulled even with that of Sony BMG at 16.1%. Universal Music Group was the top dog with 32.8% and Warner Music Group was fourth (of the four majors) with 9.4%. (The Scotsman)

• Warner Bros signed underground legend Murs, the Living Legends member whose previous albums have come out on Def Jux and Record Collector. (SOHH)

• Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin and NAB Radio Board Vice Chairman Russ Withers spoke about a XM/Sirius merger before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation. Karmazin talked about "more choice at lower prices" and Withers warned of the dangers of a monopoly. (Radio Ink)

Posted by Glenn at 10:41 AM | Link
|EMI||Publishing||Satellite Radio||Sirius||XM|

Today Bloomberg reported that Universal Music Group is "close to winning" the approval of the European Union in its purchase of BMG Music Publishing. The EU's decision will be made in the next few weeks.

In addition to all the usual cost-savings and synergistic talk that goes along with this kind of acquisition, I imagine much of this news' impact is on the signal it sends to acquisition-minded Warner Music Group, which has been lovesick over EMI for some time.

Posted by Glenn at 4:45 PM | Link
|Publishing||Sony BMG||Universal Music Group|

• A panel of judges rejected webcasters' requests to reconsider a ruling that increased the royalties they must pay to labels and artists. The one victory for webcasters was the decision to allow royalties to continue to be based on average listener hours. (Billboard.biz)

• Google CEO Eric Schmidt says YouTube is close to incorporating a filtering system, called Claim Your Content. (paidContent)

• Texas officials are planning a $1.5 billion development for the film, TV and music industry in Austin. The first stage of the Villa Muse development will be several sound stages. Negotiations are underway for a 70,000-capacity amphitheater. (AP)

• Sony/ATV acquired the publishing catalog of Leiber and Stoller, which includes such songs as "Jailhouse Rock," "Hound Dog," "On Broadway" and "Yakety Yak." (Billboard.biz)

• Starbucks is teaming up with Razor & Tie to release a a two-CD compilation of performances from the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival. The release will be available at U.S. and Canada Starbucks and will have a normal, wider distribution. (antiMusic)

• NY Times on shopping via text messaging. I think that would be a great way to buy all sorts of music. A band could put a text code on stage (or around the venue) during its performance. Concertgoers' credit cards would be billed and they'd save their pocket money for the bar. (NY Times, via Julie Ask)

Posted by Glenn at 8:45 AM | Link
|Live Music||Publishing||Webcasting|

• The Australian Recording Industry Association announced strong results for 2006. CD shipments increased 7.9%, though the value of the shipments dropped about 5%. Digital album sales increased 250%; digital now account for 5.5% of music industry sales (up from 1.5% in 2005). Australian repertoire accounted for a greater percentage of the singles and album chart. (Press release)

• Music retailer Trans World chose PassAlong Networks to power its f.y.e. online download service. PassAlong's StoreBlocks services engine will offer customers enhanced search, customer-build music showcases, an incentive program and legal music sharing through IM and email. (Press release)

• Trans World updated its fourth quarter results. Net income was up slightly due to a revision of an extraordinary gain related to the acquisition of Musicland. Also mentioned: Trans World is in the process of re-branding the majority of its stores (Coconuts, Wherehouse, et al) to f.y.e. (Press release)

• Primary Wave purchased a portion of Julian Lennon's interest in the Beatles songs co-written by his father, John Lennon. The deal covers such songs as "Help," "All You Need Is Love," "Hey Jude" and "Come Together." (Billboard.biz)

Posted by Glenn at 12:38 PM | Link
|Brick-And-Mortor Retail||Publishing|

• Universal Music Group promoted Larry Kenswil to the new position of EVP of business strategy. I don't know the guy, but I heard him speak at the Music 2.0 conference earlier this year. He came across as pragmatic and open-minded...good qualities for a strategist. (Billboard.biz)

• Babyface signed an exclusive worldwide deal with Universal Music Publishing Group. Sony/ATV will retain his back catalog. (Press release)

• Music entrepreneur and boy band magnate, Lou Perlman, is MIA and at the center of possibly Florida's biggest fraud case. The USA Today has a good recap of the whole thing. (USA Today)

• Jeff Jones is in and Neil Aspinall is out at the Beatles' Apple Corps Ltd. (Press release)

• Jody Rosen on how Akon became a star. In essence it's a good argument, but way overboard: "Between Akon and rapper Mims, the other breakout star of 2007, there's reason to suspect that we have arrived at a historical tipping point—the moment when the cell phone replaces the record as the central icon of popular music culture." That or the main driver of star talent over the last few years, "American Idol." No contest I say. (Slate)

Posted by Glenn at 9:57 AM | Link
|Publishing||Universal Music Group|

• An Enders Analysis report claims the recorded music market "could" stabilize by 2009. Lower CD sales are one reason why music publisher revenue is expected to have a cumulative annual growth rate of only 2.2% through 2012. (Enders Analysis)

• To celebrate his 80th birthday, EMI is offering 11 currently unavailable Rostropovich albums -- two of which have never been issued on CD -- at iTunes. (Playbill)

• The RIAA on its legal battle against P2P company Limewire: "They respond. We respond. They respond, etc. Then discovery. These things take a long time." (Digital Music News)

• The FCC approved Citadel's acquisition of 24 ABC radio stations. Commissioner Copps said the transaction is "narrowly" in the public interest. (Radio Ink)

• Jupiter analyst David Card on album sales: "The industry has to spread artist development risk more efficiently. That means that radio probably does have to pay, or share revenues. And artists have to get paid at the back end, not in advance. It's not just the labels who'll die if this continues." He's right, but as is always the case in a convoluted industry, it's easier said than done. (David Card's Jupiter Blog)

Posted by Glenn at 4:29 PM | Link
|Digital Distribution||Digital Music||EMI||Legal||P2P||Publishing|

• Starbucks and Concord Music Group have formed a new record label, Hear Music, that will release titles for both internal and external distribution. Seems like odd timing given that company founder Howard Schultz has been worried about the chain's brand recently. (Billboard.biz)

• EMI has dismissed claims by UK download site Wippit that the Beatles catalog will soon be available online. (Irish Examiner)

• British retailer HMV issued a profit warning. The company plans to close unprofitable stores and refurbish others. Also in the mix is a social networking site, to be tied to its own website, for music and film fans. (BBC News)

• Sub Pop Records has founded a new label, Hardly Art. (Pitchfork)

• Warner Music Group looks to be hesitant to up its offer of 260p per share for EMI, an offer that is "subject to numerous assumptions and conditions." EMI doesn't want to give access to its books without a commitment of a higher offer. (Times Online)

• Primary Wave's first big Nirvana licensing deal after purchasing 50% of the catalog for $50 million? Inclusion on the Major League Baseball 2K7 video game for the track "Breed." (New York Post)

• Old news, but I'll mention it: Universal Music Group settled its lawsuit with online video site Bolt.com for a "multimillion payment for damages for past infringement." (Press release)

Posted by Glenn at 9:17 AM | Link
|Brick-And-Mortor Retail||EMI||Indies||Publishing||Starbucks|

• XM narrowed its loss to $260 million on revenues of $257 million. Subscribers increased 29% for the year to 7.6 million. (Forbes.com)

• Guitar Center reported a fourth quarter net loss of $40 million (which included special items) on sales of $628.5 million. Sales were up 11.7% year over year. (Press release)

• Ministry of Sound has accused indie label trade associations Impala and AIM of "a complete departure from the stated constitutional aims of both companies." (Billboard.biz)

• Coming to a Jetta commercial near you... Universal Music Publishing Group inked a worldwide arrangement to administer Joy Division's catalog. The company says it will "aggressively promote" the post-punk band's song for sync licensing in film, television and advertising. (Billboard.biz)

• Kalefa Sanneh discovers that "rappers are learning to consider Koch a second home, or even a first one." This line ties in perfect with my posts about rap's continued sales decline: "As record sales keep sliding, the rise of Koch coincides with the lowering of rappers’ expectations." Good article. (New York Times)

• Watch out, Warner, Universal Music Group is stepping up the eco-pressure. The company is a sponsor of a Honda Formula One car that replaced its corporate logos with a picture of the earth. (Stuff.nz)

Posted by Glenn at 1:51 PM | Link
|Earnings Releases||Indies||Publishing||XM|

• As reported recently by the New York Post, Jermaine Dupri will be named president of Island Urban later today. (Billboard.biz)

• Even more changes at EMI. Chris Ancliff has been upped to General Counsel. He replaced Charles Ashcroft, who leaves for health reasons. (Variety)

• Helio announces a mobile download store, and all four majors are on board. Over-the-air downloads go for $1.99. Tracks downloaded to PC cost half that. (InformationWeek)

• Viacom is considering selling its music publishing division, Famous Music, the home of Eminem and Shakira. (Reuters)

• Warner Music Group and Last.fm, the music-centered social networking site, announced a partnership that will offer WMG's catalog over multiple services, one of which will be a premium, subscription-based interactive radio. Currently, Last.fm streams songs on a non-interactive basis. (Press release)

• Reggae label VP Records signed a digital and mobile distribution deal with Universal Music Group that excludes North America, Japan and the Caribbean. (Tropicalfete)

• British music retailer Music Zone has sold 67 of its 100 stores to competitor Fopp. (Scotsman)

Posted by Glenn at 7:12 AM | Link
|EMI||Publishing||Universal Music Group||Warner Music Group|

• Record exec and producer Rick Rubin is in talks to become co-chairman of Columbia Records. His label American has three years left on its deal with Warner Music Group. (Variety.com)

• Patents filed by Apple appear to be an attempt to strengthen its FairPlay DRM and the iPod and iPhone ecoystems. (ITNews)

• Billboard.biz talks to Roger Faxon and Clark Miller of EMI Music Publishing. "The reality of the online world is that it has no borders, and, therefore, the license needs to recognize the expanse of the use territorially." (Billboard.biz)

• VH1 gets into the user-generated content business with its recently launched Talentload.tv. (paidContent)

• Yesterday CBS Radio's WARW-FM/Washington switched to 94.7 The Globe, adding alternative hits to its classic rock format and adding a pro-environment message. (Radio Ink)

• Music promoter Billy Kelly, who was behind Glasgow's Big Big World and Big Big Country, died at the age of 58. (The Herald)

Posted by Glenn at 7:45 AM | Link
|Apple||DRM||EMI||Publishing||Sony BMG|

• Target to partner with upstart label 180 Music to release exclusive, adult-centric CDs with a $9.99 price tag. (Reuters)

• Primary Wave Music Publishing is expected to announce the acquisition of a "significant interest" in the catalog of Hall & Oates. (New York Post)

• KCRW to release "Sounds Electic: The Covers Project" exclusively in select Starbucks locations. (Billboard.com)

• Capitol Music Group promotes Lee Trink to president and Jeff Kempler to COO. (FMBQ)

• Live Nation concocts MySpace of concert websites. (Digital Music News)

• Bill Gates talks about micropayments; speculation that the Zune Marketplace, which uses Microsoft Points for purchases, will be part of a grander scheme to make another bid at online payments. (The Globe and Mail)

Posted by Glenn at 9:49 AM | Link
|Brick-And-Mortor Retail||EMI||Publishing||Zune|

• Bertlesmann confirmed the sale of its BMG Music Publishing to Universal Music Group. The deal must be approved by European Union anti-trust regulators. From where I sit, the two parties seem confident regulators will approve the deal. (Read article at Hollywood Reporter)

• The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ruled to leave radio station's quota for Canadian content at 35%. Associations representing producers, composers and publishers were seeking a new quota of up to 55%. The CRTC also passed on imposing an incentive-based strategy to promote Canadian music. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• Sony BMG's Zomba Records signed 19-year-old Carli Marino, a singer from New Jersey who won Gospel Dream on the Gospel Music Channel. (Read article at NorthJersey.com)

• Paul Resnikoff follows up on reaction to Forrester's iTunes analysis. The lesson of it all: If you want to comment on iTunes' sales, Soundscan data trumps credit card receipts and music sales' seasonality cannot be ignored. (Read post at Digital Music News)

• The long, long, long awaited Guns N' Roses album, Chinese Democracy, is tentatively set for a March 2007 release according to a post by Axl Rose at the official GNR website. He also had some comments about his former manager Merck Mercuriadis. Sounds like the most recent delay comes for poor planning at the very least. (Read article at Billboard.com)

Posted by Glenn at 7:25 AM | Link
|Digital Music||Publishing||Radio||Sony BMG||iTunes|

• Impala, the Independent Music Comapnies Assocation, released a statement on the European Union investigation into Universal Music Group's purchase of BMG Publishing. "Our only request is for a level playing field and market access -- exactly what competition rules are intended to guarantee. In other words, give European music space on the market, let the consumer decide and give European citizens a Europe to be proud of." (Read press release)

• Universal South has hired Fletcher Foster to be its SVP and GM. Foster, previously the marketing chief of Captol Nashville, will start early next month. (Read article at The Tennessean)

• Performing rights organization BMI and Spiral Frog, an ad-supported P2P network, have completed a licensing agreement. Spiral Frog is set to debut in early 2007. It requires users to watch advertisements in return for free -- though rights-protected -- music files. Former BMI president and CEO Frances W. Preston is on Spiral Frog's board of directors, as is Jason Berman, former president of the RIAA and chairman of the IFPI. (Read press release)

• Jason Mraz, who is signed to Atlantic Records, has released a digital-only release through digital distributor Musicane. Selections For Friends, to be priced at $12.95, is a 13-track collection of live recordings. Consumers can purchase the album directly from www.jasonmraz.com. (Via Digital Music News. A week-old press release is here.)

• Artists manager Peter Jenner told The Register CD prices would increase as a result of a blanket license that enables legal file-sharing. The physical market, he figures, will dry up and prices will rise accordingly. I think that's an accurate assessment, though Jenner must know there are powerful retail forces that will fight higher wholesale prices. Prices won't jump wildly, though. Labels are still bullish on the CD format and will stay behind it. The Register sees the CD's longevity; audio quality is one reason for its resilience. (Read article at The Register)

Posted by Glenn at 7:45 AM | Link
|Digital Distribution||P2P||Publishing||Universal Music Group|

• Short of any reaction to the following news, this could be the last Tower Records bankruptcy post: A judge approved bonuses for two top Tower Records executives, CFO Rebecca L. Roedel and corporate secretary Nicolas Thakar, who remain at the company. The amounts of the bonuses were not disclosed. The AP reports bankruptcy records show Roedel collected almost $426,000 in the 12 months prior to Tower's filing for bankruptcy. (Read AP article)

• Garage rock evangelist Little Steve has strated his own record label. Wicked Cool Records has a direct-to-retail sales strategy (the Forbes.com article mentions a deal with Best Buy and six initial releases to the chain) and a "unique" 50/50 profit-sharing arrangement with its artists. The label's first release will be Davie Allen's Fuzz For The Holidays on December 14th. (Read article at Forbes.com)

• Beyonce has joined a select group of female artists. In 2006, she became the only the second woman to replace herself at #1 as a songwriter (first "Grillz," then "Check On It"). She is tied with Diane Warren for third on the list of female songwriters with #1 hits ("Irreplaceable" is her ninth). There is one title that Beyonce has all to herself: At 13 letters, "Irreplaceable" is the #1 song with the longest, one-word title. (Read article at BIllboard's Chart Beat Chat)

• The Sacramento Bee has a fantastic three-day series titled "To Live and Rap in South Sac." Articles, photoessays and podcasts document South Sacramento's rap scene and some of its biggest artists (Brotha Lynch Hung, Zigg Zagg, BeGee, Young Meek, Pain, First Degree the M.E. and Big No Love).

Posted by Glenn at 3:33 PM | Link
|EMI||EMI WMG Merger Talk||Publishing|

• Hits reports that EMI executives are "being summoned back to London and staffers being told to cut back dramatically on expenditures of all kinds." As goes the ol' rule of thumb, when you're told to ration paper clips, something is afoot. In addition, whatever is going on has caused talks with Jermaine Dupri to come to a halt. (Read article at Hits)

• Yesterday PassAlong Networks announced the beta of freedomMP3, a technology that "establishes rules-based systems to allow consumers to conveniently transfer the music to any of their other PCs and play the songs on portable digital music players, including iPods and MP3-enabled cell phones." freedomMP3 works on PCs running Windows 2000 or higher. (Read press release)

• The awaited Andrew Gowers review on U.K. copyright terms was unveiled yesterday. His recommendation, which was leaked last week, is that "the European Commission does not change the status quo and retains the 50 year term of copyright protection for sound recordings and related performers' rights." (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• Gracenote has hit for the cycle -- deals with the five major publishers and some major indies -- by inking deals with Warner/Chappel and EMI. The deals add the lyrics of those companies to the Gracenote Lyric catalog. It expects to have the first publicly-available lyric service in early 2007. Online music stores, mobiles providers, search engines and consumer electronics manufacturers will have legal access to the catalog of lyrics. (Read press release)

• Qtrax nears and Brilliant hires another exec, Rick Riccobono as Executive Vice President Digital Rights Management. (Read press release)

• Virgin Records puts on a concert for tweeners at Whyville.com. (Read article at Clickz.com)

• A profile of record label Stones Throw, home to Peanut Butter Wolf, Madlib, Aloe Blacc and many others. (Read article at LA Weekly)

Posted by Glenn at 8:38 AM | Link
|Digital Music||EMI||Indies||Publishing|

• The 2007 Sony Radio Awards have for the first time the Internet Programme Award, which covers streamed, postcast and download programs.

• The division between music publishers and major record companies and an argument for publishers to take a percentage of sales revenue versus a fixed royalty. All's fine and dandy if consumers buy more music. Is the elasticity of demand such that lower prices won't make things worse? UMG lowered wholesales prices and didn't see a huge jump in demand. Maybe the lower prices weren't communicated effectively, and certainly some retailers didn't play along, but the first grand experiment in lower prices was not a success. It's easy to think P2P is an indication that lower prices are a cure, but I'd bet demand would drop mightily if songs cost as little as a dime apiece. At the same time, storage space is increasing astronomically and there's money to be made. Variable pricing could be the best way to fill hard drives. Segregate the market and reward bargain hunters. (Read at LA Times' Bit Player, via paidContent)

• I finally got a Zune loaner to check out. Here's something I just learned: Even though Zune will not play PlaysForSure files, Windows Media Player 11 will play Zune files. Anyway, first impressions are mostly positive. Installation was easy. Uploading is simple. Navigation is no problem. The Zune Marketplace is organized like a warehouse with few signs. Download speed seems slow. The customization is nice...my background image is a section of Rembrandt's famous painting The Night Watch.

Posted by Glenn at 2:25 PM | Link
|Publishing|

• Warner/Chappell Music announced a sub-publishing deal with Disney Music Publishing. That puts the rights to over 10,000 Disney songs in the hands of Warner Music Group's publishing arm. (Read press release)

• UBC Media will launch a new service in the UK starting in May that will allow radio listeners to instantly download a playing song to a mobile phone or digital radio, as well as to their computer. Six radio groups and three major label groups -- WMG, Universal Music Group and EMI -- are on board; Virgin Mobile will be the first phone company to offer the service. UBC's chief executive calls it "radio's killer application," but there's a problem with the method of payment. Consumers will have to use a pre-paid account to buy the songs. Nothing says impulse purchase less than a pre-paid account. (Read article at The Scotsman)

• Fortune writer Devin Leonard asks, Can Web 2.0 can make music stars and rescue record labels? OK, who really thinks Second Life is a good place to market music? I'm skeptical. Selling music to virtual reality addicts who may or may not be avid music consumers strikes me as a potential waste of money. They're not the type of consumers who break a band, so if labels do go with Second Life it should be for established names. Anyway, the press labels will get from such different marketing strategies could be more productive than the actual marketing -- but that press will dry up eventually. Will Second Life break a band? Probably not. Will Second Life assist in breaking a band? Probably...but just assist. As with bands that supposedly rose to prominance through blogs, there's more going on than meets the media eye. (Read article at CNN Money)

• Speaking of breaking a band, here's another article on OK Go and YouTube. This one gets it right: "I don't think this works without all the TV appearances and endless touring these guys have done," said Capitol Records' Ted Mico. "It doesn't work in its own hermetically sealed box." (Read article at USA Today)

• Warner Music Group dropped to 25.80, is trading at a three and a half week low and has dropped below its 50-day moving average. On the positive side, WMG was trading at 17.80 a year ago. Encouraging results and EMI-related speculation pushed it higher, now some of that merger optimism is being squeezed out. WMG reports earnings this Friday. (Read article at Trading Markets, view at Google Finance)

• Country music makes its comeback in Los Angeles. (Read article at Los Angeles Times)

Posted by Glenn at 9:01 AM | Link
|Mobile Music||Publishing||Radio||Web 2.0|

• Vivendi received approval to acquire BMG Music Publishing from Bertelsmann. The combine music publishing company is bigger than current leader EMI Music Publishing. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• IRIS Distribution and Sonific created a partnership that will add tens of thousands of master recordings to Sonific's catalog of songs available for use with Sonific's SongSpots widget. SongSpot can be placed on a blog or website and will stream music from Sonific's catalog. (Read press release)

• Research and Markets has released the second volume to its "Ringtones: Past, Present and Future" report. Among the reports conclusions: labels are in "an explosive growth phase," "the outlook for pure-play mobile content aggregators is bleak" and covertones, or ringtones comprised of cover versions of popular songs, "are here to stay as a viable component of the market." (Read press release)

• Apple scored a deal with six airlines to place iPod docks in passenger seats. One key component: Each seat must have its own video display, which rules out most of the planes I encounter. Expect to see the new system used mid-2007 by Air France, Delta, Continental, Emirates, KLM and United. (Read post at Digital Music News)

• The FCC announced a public hearing on media ownership that will be held in Nashville on December 11th. (Read article at Radio Ink, download PDF of press release)

Posted by Glenn at 12:14 PM | Link
|Apple||Digital Distribution||Publishing||Radio||Ringtones||Universal Music Group|

• EMI is expected to report a 55% drop in pretax profit for the first half of the year. News like is sure to fuel to the chatter about an eventual merger between EMI and Warner Music Group. (Read Dow Jones article)

• The deal-making continues: EMI Music Publishing has inked a deal with the (editor's opinion: utterly unwatchable) Current TV network that will put its music in approximately one-third of its programming. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• Joel Klaimon was named new Senior Vice President of Promotion/Artist Development at Universal Republic. (Read article at Hits)

• Sean Ryan, former chief executive of Listen.com, laments the "label tax" imposed by Universal Music Group on sales of Zune hardware. The technologist's favorite term, "slippery slope," makes an apperance. For a change, its use actually has merit. He wrote, "I think we're running out of high margin drivers for anyone but the labels, who continue to drive alternative revenue sources." Yes. As soon as the drivers realized they are the drivers, the negotiations changed. (Read op-ed at Forbes.com)

• Prince has opened a nightclub called 321 at the Rio hotel-casino in Las Vegas and is currently doing two shows a week. (Read New York Times article)

Posted by Glenn at 9:18 AM | Link
|EMI||Publishing||Universal Music Group|

• Sony BMG got some press for using Second Life to promote its acts. Now EMI is getting into the game. Its Innocent label will use Habbo Hotel, a cartoonish social networking site, to promote boy band 365. They're certainly leaving no stone unturned. (Read article at NMA)

• Apparently there's some chatter than Microsoft is considering a purchase of EMI, though one analyst calls such a deal "odd and unlikely." Agreed. (Read article at newrating.com)

• Neil Gillis, formerly of Concord Music Group, has been named President/COO of Dimensional Music Publishing. (Read post at Hits Rumor Mill)

• Bloomberg has hopped on the indie label bandwagon...although their market share doesn't show a huge gain in strength. "The independents have come from almost obscurity to having an immense effect on the music landscape," said a fund manager. He was referring to how Impala may have sank the Sony BMG merger. Have indies come from "almost obscurity"? I recall the same thing being said when Epitaph broke The Offspring and Rancid in the mid-'90s. Bottom line: More than market share, their strength has come from better organization toward common goals. (Read article at Bloomberg)

• Digital Music Group increased its loss in the third quarter of 2006. On revenues of $1.2 million, the company lost $848,000. (Read press release)

• Sony will launch a Connect download store in Canada next week. That's the last you'll hear of Sony Connect for quite some time. (Read article at Canada.com)

• VNU will restructure the company into "market-focused" groups. Among the company's music-related publications are Billboard and Radio & Records, which will fall under the "music" umbrella along with Bookseller, Kirkus Reviews and The Book Standard. (Read article at Foliomag, via paidContent)

Posted by Glenn at 7:55 AM | Link
|Publishing||Sony BMG|

• 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|

Last night the Associated Press reported the music publishing industry has reached an anti-piracy settlement with P2P company Kazaa. The settlement, for a "substantial sum," arose from a class action lawsuit filed by the National Music Publishers' Association. Today's NY Times reported the amount of the settlement was $10 million.

The NMPA released a press release on Monday (missed that one).

The Register: "This brings to an end the music publishers' class suit against Kazaa. And it leaves Kazaa free to resume its latest incarnation as yet another lossmaking legit music service."

Posted by Glenn at 4:17 PM | Link
|P2P||Publishing|

• The Department of Justice cleared the Live Nation acquisition of House of Blues. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• Martin Bandier, who just retired from EMI Music Publishing, is reportedly in talks with Warner Music Group to assume a similar position. The Times threw out a scenario in which Bandier would benefit from an EMI/Warner Music Group merger: "He may hope to position himself to lead a buyout of the Warner/Chappell publishing arm should it be offloaded in a merger with EMI." (Read article at The Times Online)

• EMI Classics signed British soprano Kate Royal and Swedish soprano Nina Stemme. (Read article at Playbill)

• The Rolling Stones have changed more concert dates due to Mick Jagger's throat problems. Three West Coast dates were delayed, and Hawaii's date was cancelled altogether. (Read post at Pollstar)

• Digital Music Group has added seven more labels to its catalog. Music For Little People, DM Records and The Cryptic Corporation signed long-term deals. Four labels signed short-term deals: ProgRock Records, Takeover Records, DRT Entertainment and FILMguerrero. (Read press release)

• Apple's next iPod Shuffle will be available this Friday. The device will have a 1 GB capacity and a $79 retail price. (Read post at Engadget)

• Japanese music download service Orion is ditching PC downloads for the greener pastures of mobile downloads. A spokesman put the company's ills on the iPod. "If iPod users could download music from our site, we may have waited to see if the tide turns from mobile phones to online downloads." Chalk up another vote for interoperability. (Read article at Reuters, via paidContent.org)

• An interview with Scott Cohen, founder and vice-president of digital distributor The Orchard. "Full track downloads will be massive as consumers discover MP3 capability in their mobile phones. This is the natural way that music will go. We just aren't there yet. Sure, there's money to be made today. But it's not the explosive opportunity today that many want to make it to appear." (Read article at eMarketer)

• Digital Music Group has added seven more labels to its catalog. Music For Little People, DM Records and The Cryptic Corporation signed long-term deals. Four labels signed short-term deals: ProgRock Records, Takeover Records, DRT Entertainment and FILMguerrero. (Read press release)

Posted by Glenn at 7:16 AM | Link
|Publishing||Touring|

• Universal Music Group took the lead in cutting CD wholesale prices, and it's doing the same (in Europe) with digital albums. Catalog titles, though, not new releases. The initial group will consist of 1,500 titles by such artists as Bob Marley, R.E.M. and Stevie Wonder. Prices are dropping to £6.99 from £9.99. Some UMG catalog titles are already sub-$9.99 at U.S. iTunes, though they are not part of an organized program as in this case. (Read article at Reuters)

• EMI Music Publishing is really getting into joint ventures. (See link yesterday about joint ventures on Broadway musicals.) Billboard reported EMI Group has offered a joint venture to Marty Bandier, who resigned as chairman of EMI Music Publishing yesterday. "Bandier said he would have an equity stake, according to the source. The venture would be under the EMI Group umbrella, but separate from EMI Music Publishing." If a joint venture beats a licensing fee, it can certainly beat a salary. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• Found in an article about record label Thrill Jockey and its almost reluctant forays into digital music: Thrill Jockey is about to launch a new download store that will also host tracks by Rune Grammofon, Touch, Smalltown Supersound, Mosz, and Morr Music. The site will sell albums only, for $10 each. Read the article for a look at the other side of the industry, those labels that would prefer to stick to physical product but are being forced into digital sales. (Note: A late-night blogging session produced a fantastic typo. The original post referenced Touch & Go. The article is about Thrill Jockey. Thanks for reader Sam for pointing out the error.) (Read article at Chicago Reader)

• They may not have a ton of street cred, but the big portals can sure help make a career. Yahoo! Music will produce a music program that will be sponsored by Nissan. The show, titled "Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music," will be broadcast on both the Internet and a high definition TV channel to be named later. Christina Aguilera and Incubus will be the first guests. (Read bits and pieces of an article at press release)

• Sonific announced a widget for Typepad that will allow users to post free music players on their blogs. Sonific pulls from a catalog of over independent 50,000 songs. Unlike Snocap's Linx widget, which can be placed on blogs and MySpace pages, the Sonific widget does not allow for purchases. (Read press release)

• MySpace has licensed technology from Gracenote to block unauthorized uploads of copyrighted music. Wrote Louis Hau at Forbes.com: "Perhaps the most curious aspect of the MySpace-Gracenote pact is that it took so long for the News Corp. unit to put a serious filtering system in place. ... Frustration over MySpace's failure to implement a satisfactory filtering system prompted Universal Music Chairman Doug Morris to lash out at the site during an investor conference in September." (Read article at Forbes.com or press release)

• Not mentioned yesterday: Garth Brooks' five-CD, Wal-Mart exclusive CD set is out this week. Given that fact, the retail giant certainly had good timing when it declared Brooks has sold 20 million CDs in the first year of his exclusive arrangement with Wal-Mart. Oh please, Wal-Mart, become a Soundscan reporter. (Read post at Hits Rumor Mill)

Posted by Glenn at 8:26 AM | Link
|EMI||Indies||MySpace||Online Stores/Services||Publishing||Universal Music Group||Wal Mart|

Forbes writer Louis Hau has a good article on Primary Wave and its careful exploitation (not used cynically) of Nirvana's publishing catalog. Much of the information has been seen in previous articles. There are, though, some good bits. Primary Wave is working with the television "CSI: Miami" and is "considering other licensing pacts leading up to" the 20th anniversary re-release of Bleach.

The "CSI: Miami" writers crafted an episode around a Nirvana song. (No plot details were given other than it involves "evil military recruiters.") The episode will feature four Nirvana songs, including "Come As You Are." "CSI: Miami" has exclusive rights to Nirvana songs until the episode airs.

Said Primary Wave chief executive Lawrence Mestel, "We're looking at things that relate to cutting-edge technologies, products that are green and eco-friendly, products that Kurt would have liked to have his music represented by."

The last time Primary Wave was mentioned here was just last month. Coolfer had a post about a USA Today article that looked at how low barriers to entry and high cash-flow margins make publishing an attractive arena for smaller companies.

More Primary Wave reading: "Courtney Sells Nirvana Rights Share" at RollingStone.com

Posted by Glenn at 10:05 AM | Link
|Publishing|

The Associated Press reported this afternoon that Universal Music Group has reached a deal to acquire BMG Music Publishing for $2.05 billion.

Posted by Glenn at 4:37 PM | Link
|Publishing||Universal Music Group|

• According to the NY Times, the final three bidders for BMG Music Publishing are Warner Music Group, Viacom and Univesal Music Group. The bids are said to be in the $1.8 billion oto $2.1 billion range. Sony Music and EMI (teamed with a private equity firm) did not submit bids. (NY Times)

• It's really obvious but it merits an article: Television exposure sells music. There you have it. "American Idol" can really move the units. (Billboard. Also, see Coolfer's post from January about the impact TV and big screen have on Amazon.com's top sellers list.)

• BMI, in conjunction with Volunteer Music for the Arts, presents The Legal Series every Wednesday in September in New York City. The free events, to be held from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Pianos, will offer "a behind the scenes look at the legal side of music" by some of New York's leading music attorneys. (Press Release)

• Denver retailer Twist & Shout will close two of its locations and move everything into a new location in "the new cultural retail complex at the former Lowenstein Theatre." (Denver Post)

Posted by Glenn at 8:16 AM | Link
|Brick-And-Mortor Retail||Legal||Publishing||Television|

The Financial Times reports today there are four finalists left in the bidding for BMG Music Publishing.

"The bidders include two music companies, Universal Music and Warner Music Group. The other contenders to make offers by the Thursday deadline were Viacom, which has partnered with Apollo, the private equity firm, and Charles Koppelman, an entertainment entrepreneur who has teamed with GTCR, the Chicago buyout firm. It was not clear on Friday whether EMI, which is the world's largest music publisher, had gone ahead with a bid."

Because the Sony BMG merger was annulled is getting another look by European Union regulators, some felt the major music groups would not be a leading contender for BMG Music Publishing. It is uncertain whether or not Universal Music or Warner Music Group would face considerable regulatory scrutiny in the event they are the winning bidder...though probably few thought Sony BMG would find itself in this situation.

Posted by Glenn at 8:28 PM | Link
|Publishing|

• 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|

BMI's latest earnings announcement has what recorded music can't attain: Growth. The company experienced healthy growth in revenue in fiscal year 2005-2006, an increase to $779 million from $676 million. Revenues from cable, satellite, the Internet and other digital media grew by $24 million and now account for 17% of the company's revenues. New media revenues rose 35% to over $16 million from $11.4 million. While the dollar value of the increase is substantial, the percentage of the increase shows a slowing in new media revenue growth. New media revenues were up 114% in fiscal year 2004-2005 and were up 70% in 2003-2004.

Posted by Glenn at 12:10 PM | Link
|Publishing|

• Bertelsmann is worried about regulatory scrutiny over the impending sale of its music publishing division. This could put major music groups at a disadvantage and favor private equity groups. (Financial Times)

• The Who's deal with Universal Republic and the street date of the band's album, Endless Wire, were officially announced...though I'm sure you already noticed the album listed on Coolfer's master list of upcoming albums, right? The band's -- duo's -- new album will be out October 31st. (Billboard.biz)

• The RIAA quickly dropped a case in Oklahoma in which the defendent called the group's tactics "extortion." (Recording Industry vs The People)

• See the tech community fall in love with Nettwerk's Terry McBride. (Wired)

Posted by Glenn at 11:36 AM | Link
|Legal||Publishing|

The NY Times' Bob Tedeschi has a very interesting article today on a small legal battle that has been going on without all the attention other lawsuits have received. Publishers, he writes about in "Now the Music Industry Wants Guitarists to Stop Sharing," "have used the threat of copyright lawsuits to shut down guitar tablature sites." (Tablature is guitar notation format that allows people to read music, so to speak, without reading music.)

One one side there's music publishers like Sony/ATV and EMI Music Publishing who are forcing sites to shut down because they are offering guitar tablature without paying royalties. On the other side are sites like Olga and Guitar Tab Universe that see their sites as forums for discussion amongst guitar players.

How will this play out? The experts are weighing in.

"Jonathan Zittrain, the professor of Internet governance and regulation at Oxford University, said 'it isn’t at all clear' that the publishers’ claim would succeed because no court doctrine has been written on guitar tablature.

Mr. Zittrain said the tablature sites could well have a free speech defense. But because the Supreme Court, in a 2003 case involving the extension of copyright terms, declined to determine when overenforcement or interpretation of copyright might raise a free speech problem, the success of that argument was questionable. 'It’s possible, though, that this is one reason why guitar tabs generated by people would be found to fit fair use,' Mr. Zittrain said, “or would be found not to be a derivative work to begin with.'"

Posted by Glenn at 11:45 AM | Link
|Publishing|

• New West Records has signed legendary singer-songerwriter Steve Earle. Expect an album in early 2007. Earle's most recent studio albums were released by Artemis and E-Squared. New West released his 2004 album Live From Austin, TX. (JamBase)

• The era of perestroika is back: Warner Music International will license songs from its catalog to Russian mobile carrier VimpelCom Group. It's said to be a first between a capitalist pig major label and a mobile carrier from the evil empire. (AP)

• The Microsoft Zune will be available this fall at $299 and in three colors. Yes on Wi-Fi, but it will have to be connected to a PC to actually purchase music. Interesting: It will compete with Microsoft's own PlaysForSure licenses, which it will support. (Twice, via paidContent)

• EMI Music Publishing named Robert Flax to be its worldwide vice chairman. If that sounds like a made-up title it's because it's a new position. (Billboard.biz)

• An interview with Jim Kelly of mail order/online retailer Parasol. (Digital Audio Insider)

• For some, the long tail model is a work in progress: Digital Music Group had losses of $589,000 on revenues of $840,000 in the second quarter. The company had, on average, 69,700 tracks available for sale. (Sacramento Business Journal)

Posted by Glenn at 9:02 AM | Link
|Digital Distribution||EMI||Publishing||Warner Music Group||Zune|

By now you've probably read about Chicago-based Katherine Schell, the songwriter who auctioned the rights to her song "The Gravity Situation" on eBay. Turns out the auction was won by Ron Steele, the founder of Chicago-based commercial producer I Dig Music (the folks behind ads for Hummer, Michelob Ultra and Butterfinger.

Schell is signed to Recessive Gene Records, an indie label based in Chicago.

Novel idea. What Coolfer found fascinating about this whole thing is that the label went through the trouble and expense of putting on the case a publicist from Chicago-based Walker Sands Communications. (Recessive Gene is listed on Walker Sand's client page.)

So the songwriter and the label are in the same city as the auction-winning commercial producer? Could be just a coincidence. But an eBay auction that grossed $660 merits a publicity campaign? This is obviously not so much a DIY way of doing business as an attention grab, and is starting to look like a case of astroturfing, or creating buzz based on the appearance of buzz. Just today Hypebot has a post on a campagin against the practice of astroturfing.

Posted by Glenn at 1:18 PM | Link
|Publishing|

• Dying, but still a good investment: Deluxe Global Media Services Blackburn Ltd, which just invested $6 million in a CD maker, has been taken over by Atlanta-based Glenayre Technologies, Inc. Deluxe is the largest CD replicator in the UK. Its clients include Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. (Lancashire Telegraph)

• Statistics on Canadian performance arts groups: pre-tax income has almost doubled in three years, revenue was up 4.2% over last year, and grants from the government and private sector dropped a point from three years ago. (Playbill)

• Universal Music Mobile selected Targetize to provide search and discovery solutions for its AnySong service in the Netherlands. AnySong provides mobile subscribers access to over 250,000 songs, clips and ringtones. It will also have content from Sony BMG and Warner Music Group. (Press Release)

• Digital distributor The Orchard has reached one million licensed tracks its catalog. The one that put them over the mark? Barenaked Ladies' "Sound of Your Voice." (Yahoo! Finance)

• Universal Music Publishing Group signed composer Carol Bayer Sager to an exclusive, worldwide administration agreement. Bayer wrote the lyrics for such hits as "That's What Friends Are For" (which she co-wrote with then-husband Burt Bacherach), "Don't Cry Out Loud" and "They Prayer." (Jazz News)

• The FCC will finalized, by the end of this year, a three-year old study on localism and public hearings on how to help the commission further deregulate the broadcast industry. (Billboard Radio Monitor)

Posted by Glenn at 11:23 AM | Link
|Digital Distribution||Publishing||Radio||The CD|

• After attacking the Sony BMG merger, indie coalition Impala turns its sights on Bertelsmann's planned sale of its BMG Music Publishing. A trade sale of any major publisher to another would strengthen existing collective dominance in publishing and the functioning of the collective societies, online licensing and synchronisation markets," it protests. (Reuters)

• Universal Music Group's bid for BMG Music Publishing: reportedly close to $2 billion. (Reuters)

• Collector's Choice will release a second series of 15 "Elektra Rarities" CDs on August 29th. (Press Release)

• Tower Records named Joe D'Amico its new CEO. (Billboard.biz)

• EMI and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts are teaming up in an attempt to acquire BMG Music Publishing. EMI is said to provide the management and KKR will provide most of the capital. (The Times Online)

• Think people are tired of DRM? Sony BMG's sale of a Jessica Simpson single in the MP3 format is a popular news item. It's all over the place. Even the USA Today picked up the story, noting the company behind the rootkit mess just put out its first DRM-free digital single. That -- and not mullets and mustaches -- is ironic. (USA Today)

• A profile on Cleveland record store Music Saves. (The Plain Dealer)

Posted by Glenn at 11:51 AM | Link
|Brick-And-Mortor Retail||EMI||Publishing||Sony BMG|

• Ted Cohen, who left EMI in last month, has joined the board of directors at LyricFind, a company that offers legal online song lyrics to digital music services. (Press Release)

• Equity Music Group, the label co-founded by country star Clint Black, has signed a two-year extension with Navarre. Other than Black, the roster includes Little Big Town (whose last album went gold for the label), Carolina Rain, Mark Wills and Laura Bryna. (Yahoo! Finance)

• The Arbirtron ratings are in, and the top radio station in New York City is adult contemporary Lite FM (WLTW), followed by SBS Latin WSKQ and top 40 WHTZ. (Billboard Radio Monitor)

• VerveLife, a firm that creates digital promotions for brands, has formed a partnership with IODA that will allow VerveLife to use IODA's catalog for its digital campaigns. The two companies are currently working on download music programs for Nestle, Purina nd Powerbar. (eMediaWire)

• "American Idol" finalist Kellie Pickler has signed a record deal with Sony BMG country label BNA and Simon Fuller's 19 Recordings. (AP)

• The next album by cult favorite Sparklehorse will be released by Astralwerks on September 26th. Danger Mouse, Tom Waits, Stephen Drodz and Christian Fennesz make appearances.

Posted by Glenn at 11:21 AM | Link
|Indies||Publishing||Radio|

• Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous" tops the singles chart for the third consecutive week. Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" rose one place to #2. (Billboard.com)

• Gracenote has obtained licenses to distribute song lyrics and is working with its clients to offers the lyrics in digital media like iTunes and Yahoo. Gracenote does not expect there to be a significant cost to consumers. (Reuters)

• A Merril-Lynch analyst has lowered her estimate for CBS Corp, pointing to "another relatively difficult quarter for CBS, due largely to continued weakness at the Radio division." (Billboard Radio Monitor)

• USA Network picked up "Nashville Star," a country version of "American Idol," for a fifth season. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Posted by Glenn at 11:58 AM | Link
|Publishing||Radio|

• Clive Davis signed fourth-place "American Idol" finisher Chris Doughtry. His album, which is in the writing process ("with A-list collaborators") is due out before the end of the year. (CourtTV.com)

• Rapper Nas has signed with Creative Artists Agency. (Billboard.biz)

• Endemol, the Dutch television production company behind hits like "Big Brother" and "Fear Factor," has signed a deal with BMG Music Publishing to represent the music catalog of its programs. (Reuters)

• Universal Music Publishing has signed Dashboard Confessional frontman Chris Carrabba to an exclusive, worldwide co-publishing deal. The band's latest album, Dusk and Summer, debuted at #2 on the album chart. (Top40-Charts.com)

• Engadget posted a picture of Microsoft's heavily rumored answer to the iPod, code name Project Argo. Gizmodo says the final name of the product will be Zune. Digital Music News reports that some music execs who have seen it aren't all that impressed.

• An EMI spokesperson on Adam Klein: "Adam has done a great job in helping shape the global digital strategy. But given the development of the digital music market, EMI has adjusted its internal structure and approach both centrally and at a national and regional level." (The Telegraph)

• The Telegraph calculates offer prices of 370 pence per share for EMI and $33.50 per share for Warner Music Group. (The Telegraph)

Posted by Glenn at 10:25 AM | Link
|EMI||Portable Music Players||Publishing||Sony BMG|

• Another innovative business deal: The Grateful Dead has signed a licensing agreement with Rhino Entertainment, part of Warner Music Group, that will handle just about everything but the band's music publishing. In recent years the difficulty of handling the many tasks become too much for the band, said Bob Weir. "The Grateful Dead of yore was built around being a touring band, and when we stopped touring, the structure wasn't there." (New York Times)

• Bidding for BMG Music Publishing starts today. Among the familiar faces expected to take part are EMI, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group, as well as a gaggle of private equity firms. (This Is Money)

• Bertelsmann plans on cutting down the list of bidders this week to five from 15. EMI is said to be in talks with a private equity firm to collectively purchase the music publishing company. (Financtial Times)

• Warner/Chappell Music Publishing has extended its publishing agreement with super producer Timbaland. The deal includes his catalog of almost 400 copyrights. Timbaland's long list of hits extends to recent chart-topper Loose by Nelly Furtado, for which the producer co-wrote nine of the 12 songs. His next project is Justin Timberlake's next album. (Press release)

• On Friday, a judge ordered a bankruptcy trustee takeover of Death Row Records, saying it looks as if "there is no one at the helm." (AP)

Posted by Glenn at 12:23 PM | Link
|Publishing||Warner Music Group|

• Live Nation, which owns, operates and/or has booking rights to 153 venues (Google FInance link), will buy House of Blues for $350 million before the end of 2006. House of Blues is a privately-owned company that owns, operates of exclusively books venues in 19 venues across the country. (AP)

• Bertelsmann completed the purchase of its 25.1% stake previously owned by Groupe Bruxelles Lambert. The company will pay for the acquisition in part by the pending sale of BMG Music Publishing. (Billboard.biz)

• A profile of Milwaukee's new Bulleseye Records, which will focus on used CDs and vinyl. Bullseye is owned by Luke Lavin, who closed down his Farewell Records in March. (OnMilwaukee.com)

• Free download site Epitonic is back with new downloads and a new design. (Via Tuning Fork)

Posted by Glenn at 12:06 PM | Link
|Live Music||Publishing||Sony BMG|

• You may have read about the EFF's opposition to SIRA (Section 115 Reform Act). Here's a different view. Read this post by music attorney Chris Castle at Kings of A&R that explains the parts of the bill that are likely to remain while the bill is being negotiated. Highly recommended. (Kings of A&R)

• Sleater-Kinney is on "indefinite hiatus," which as all you who are familiar with the Stephen Malkmus Rules of Disengagement Lexicon means the band is pretty much gone. (The Portland Mercury, via Stereogum)

• Through Hits Rumor Mill Coolfer found a video of a performance by The Panic Channel, a new band featuring former Jane's Addiction members Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins that is signed to Capitol Records. Two reasons not to pay attention: there's Flash and registration is required. Thanks for ignoring the blogosphere, Rehearsals.com. Maybe you'll learn someday. (Hits Rumor Mill)

Posted by Glenn at 7:30 PM | Link
|Legal||Publishing|

• EMI is setting up "commercial relationships" with YouTube and other video sites that will help police the sites for infringing content. (News.com)

• Virgin Records has an exclusive deal with USA Networks to provide music across the network's marketing platforms. So we'll hear a lot of Red Jump Suit Apparatus during the U.S. Open? (Hollywood Reporter)

• Rapper Chamillionaire has signed a deal with Universal Music Publishing Group. His song "Ridin'" is current #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (All Hip Hop)

• Hits is pushing Virgin's Corrine Baily Rae, a chart-topper from England who is setting up very nicely here in the States. Coolfer saw her debut U.S. show and thought her label should skip the urban market, but it turns out BET, Vibe and Essence are on board. (I stand corrected. Maybe urban consumers will get into a Brit after all.) Visibility will be high from promotions at AOL, Yahoo!, MSN, Starbucks and iTunes. (Hits)

• The New Music Tipsheet has been redesigned. Check the "blog buzz" section that captures the feeds of numerous music blogs. (New Music Tipsheet)

Posted by Glenn at 8:59 AM | Link
|EMI||Publishing||YouTube|

David Mays and Raymond "Benzino" Scott, the men formerly behind hip hop magazine The Source, are working on a new project, reports All Hip Hop. The title is Hip Hop Weekly, and it's a tabloid-style magazine. All Hip Hop has a picture of a cover. No word yet on distribution or an arrival date.

Mays and Benzino were ousted by The Source's board of directors after defaulting on an $18 million loan.

Additional reading: Wikipedia entry on The Source

Posted by Glenn at 12:34 PM | Link
|Publishing|

• Latin label Urban Box Office plans to record a Spanish-language version of the U.S. national anthem to show support of migrants while Congress ponders immigration reform. Artists to appear on the track will be, among others, Ivy Queen, Gloria Trevi and Tito El Bambino. (Chicago Sun-Times)

• The NY Times calls music publishing "music's hottest star." (NY Times)

• Universal Music Group's Larry Kenswil, President of Universal's eLabs unit, credits the growth in gift cards for the growth in digital downloads. "t's still a very small percentage of people that are downloading digital music, but gift cards are helping to introduce digital to those people who haven't previously downloaded music." (Marketwatch)

• Congress is preparing to change to Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- and expand it, not scale it back. (News.com)

• Last week it was an article on collaborations between rock/pop and country stars. This week it's an article about "troubling couplings" such as The Ordinary Boys and Lady Sovererign. "It's the opportunistic couplings, where one party is clearly hoping that a bit of cool will rub off, that are both funny and sad." (The Guardian)

Posted by Glenn at 8:56 AM | Link
|Digital Music||Publishing|