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|