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Sony Pays $250M For Michael Jackson Recordings
2010/3/16

Nine months after his death, Sony is reportedly paying the the estate of Michael Jackson $250 million to release 10 recordings over the next seven years.

Included are two albums of unreleased songs, rights new new re-packages and the already released soundtrack for this is it. In addition to the large advance, the deal is said to include a particularly large royalty rate both domestically and worldwide and includes a full array of licencing opportunities designed to promote and monetize Jackson long past his death.

“We think that recordings will always be an important part of the estate,” John Branca, an entertainment lawyer who is one of the estate’s executors told the New York Times. “New generations of kids are discovering Michael. A lot of the people that went to see ‘This Is It’ were families,” he added. " ‘This Is It’ was one of the few films allowed into China. So we think there are growing and untapped markets for Michael’s music.”

Video: An Interview With VEVO's Rio Caraeff

The Music Void on MUZU

環球音樂進軍iPhone音樂遊戲
2010/3/16

在蘋果的App Store上出現了款新的名叫Six-String（六根弦兒？）的音樂遊戲。這通過撥和彈來類比吉他演奏，音樂曲目包括Bon Jovi,Tom Petty，Peter Frampton，以及去年MJ演唱會上出盡風頭的女吉他手Orianthi等。而且還有20多首歌曲可以應用內選擇購買。因為用了iPhone的社交遊戲平臺Plus+，所以Six-String還有一些線上社交功能。

eMusic加入著名獨立廠牌Sub Pop內容
2010/3/16
今天起eMusic開始提供著名獨立廠牌Sub Pop旗下內容的下載服務，這也是其在稍早前獲得部分華納唱片曲庫後的又一大動作。
Sub Pop旗下有眾多大牌藝人如：Nirvana, Mudhoney, Sebadoh, the Afghan Wigs,Shins, Fleet Foxes, Iron And Wine以及Wolf Parade等。


eMusic Adds Sub Pop
2010/3/16

In a move that should bring a smile to the faces of eMusic's indie loving subscribers, Sub Pop has added its catalog to the download site.

Yes, eMusic members can now download their full allotment of Nirvana, Mudhoney, Sebadoh, the Afghan Whigs, and newcomers like The Shins, Fleet Foxes, Iron & Wine and Wolf Parade. eMusic plans to curate the Sub Pop catalog in a variety of ways, including "Six Degrees” features that show how classic records like Nirvana's Bleach are related to other albums by peers and influences.

MORE: eMusic Owner Dimensional Buys Back The Orchard

From the press release:

"eMusic members have long been asking for artists on the Sub Pop label and we're very excited to announce this major addition to our catalog,” said Danny Stein, eMusic CEO and President. "As we continue to build the value of the eMusic club with new and old label partners, eMusic becomes an even more compelling destination for fans that want to expand their music collections. Combined with other new initiatives, we're looking forward to continued growth of the eMusic service in 2010.”

"We have long seen the value in working with eMusic and are thrilled to be able to take part in their service,” said Sub Pop owner and President Jonathan Poneman. "We look forward to finally getting down to business."

Rhapsody iPhone 應用程式添加離線收聽功能
2010/3/16
Rhapsody iPhone 應用自發佈以來就收到很多用戶的建議，希望可以在沒有無線網路或信號不好時同樣能在iPhone上收聽Rhapsody。現在Rhapsody的開發團隊已經開發出了支援這一功能的新版權iPhone 應用，將等待蘋果的審核通過。同時Rhapsody Android平臺的應用也將不日登陸Android Market。
考慮到現在無線網路的覆蓋程度，支援離線收聽的移動網路音樂服務或許還要維持很長一段時間，像Spotify就從一開始便支持播放清單離線收聽。

Rhapsody iPhone App To Add Offline Listening
2010/3/16

Android App Coming Soon

Rhapsody reports that since launching it's iPhone app, the top feature request has been the ability to listen to Rhapsody when that wireless signal is unavailable or spotty. Their development team is getting close to submitting an updated app to Apple for approval. A video demo was released on the service's Facebook page over the weekend.

A Rhapsody Android app will also leave private beta in the coming days and be available for download in the Android marketplace.

華納唱片擬聯合私募股權公司競購百代
2010/3/15
據英國《星期日泰晤士報》報導，過去數周中，美國私募股權公司KKR正在與華納唱片展開商談，以探討共同收購百代(EMI)唱片公司的可能性。

《星期日泰晤士報》沒有透露上述消息的具體來源，僅表示如果KKR和華納唱片共同收購百代，將各自收購百代的部分資產。此前百代因財務問題而陷入了市場困境。《星期日泰晤士報》還表示，百代很有可能於今年夏季對外出售資產。

報導稱，華納唱片迫切希望收購百代的音樂製作部門，並借此獲得百代旗下的眾多簽約藝人。而KKR則願意收購百代的音樂發行部門。該部門負責百代旗下大量歌曲的版權管理。

《星期日泰晤士報》還表示，目前尚未有任何外部公司就收購事宜同百代正式接觸。業界人士稱，百代近期內需制定出業務復興計畫，否則將無法擺脫被他人收購的命運。

Warner Music Group & KKR Preparing EMI Bid
2010/3/15


Amid The Turmoil, EMI Launches A New Label
2010/3/16
EMI may be just days away from defaulting on its loan obligations to CitiGroup, but that didn't stop the music group from launching a new record label yesterday. Building on its success in the country genre (Capital Nashville was named label of the year at the recent Country Radio Seminar and 2009’s #1
country imprint by Billboard), EMI Records Nashville will debut as a sister label with its own staffing.



The first artist on the new imprint is singer/songwriter Troy Olsen, whose debut album is slated for release
later this year. Olsen has penned hits for Tim McGraw and
Blake Shelton. Angela Lange, most recently at
Capitol Records Nashville as Southeast promo chief, is
joining as VP of Promotion, and the rest of the EMI Records Nashville team will announced shortly.

ScatterTunes V-Album Takes On Apple's iTunes LP
2010/3/11

Can the album format be saved? Does adding bonus content encourage fans to open their wallets? ITunes LP hoped so, but so far few have embraced the format. Entering the fray is ScatterTunes with a bonus product package called the V-album.

The format requires download proprietary player software, but then a $9.99 purchase of Jimi Hendix Valley Of The Neptunes comes complete with high quality mp3's lyrics, a 24 page booklet, 4 videos and a photo gallery. Here's an overview:

OK Go Exits EMI To Re-Release Album D.I.Y.
2010/3/10

After a public dust up with EMI over the label's refusal to allow viral embedding of their recent video, OK Go has exited EMI and will re-release their latest album "Of The Color of Blue Sky" on their own newly formed label Paracadute Recordings.

The usual polite reciprocal statements followed: “We’d like to thank the people at EMI Music who have worked so hard on our behalf,” said the band’s Damian Kulash. “We’ve really enjoyed our relationship with OK Go. They’ve always pushed creative boundaries and have broken new ground, particularly with their videos. We wish them the greatest success for the future," replied EMI

CEO Leoni-Sceti Out At EMI
2010/3/10

(UPDATED)

Elio Leoni-Sceti, EMI Music’s Chief Executive will
be leaving the company on March 31st. Leoni-Sceti came to the company with background in consumer retail and another non-music executive Charles Allen will now be taking the helm at EMI as Executive Chairman. Allen has been non-executive Chairman of EMI Music since January 2009, chairing its Board.

The shift in leadership comes at a difficult time for EMI. The first rulings in a case against investor CitiGroup should be forthcoming. EMI must also make a payment to Citi of $160 million by March 31st on its $4.5 billion loan as well as pass a solvency test.

Leoni-Sceti has only been with EMI for less than two years, but the company is trying to paint the best picture possible of his departure. In a statement the label group lauds Leoni-Sceti for having "successfully led EMI Music through the first phase of its operational turnaround ...EMI Music has become a stronger and growing company, with a talented senior team, significant creative success and a more rigorous approach to marketing and operations. This has resulted in increased sales, improved market share and industry-leading EBITDA margins."

Background On Charles Allen:

Aged 53, he
was Executive Chairman of Granada plc from 2001-2004 and then Chief
Executive of ITV plc from 2004 to 2007, having led the business through the merger of Granada and Carlton
Communications plc. He is currently a non-executive director on a
number of boards and an adviser to Goldman Sachs.

From the press release:

Charles Allen said: “Elio has done a great job. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with him; he is a very talented executive and we all wish him well in the future. Our goals for EMI Music remain the same. I will support and guide the group’s strong team, keep EMI’s focus on creativity and superb A&R, and deliver a digital platform. This is a great business – our task is to ensure it has a great future.”

March Could Be A Make Or Break Month For EMI
2010/3/9

A U.S. judge has promised to rule by the end of March on whether or not to grant a request by Citigroup to move a lawsuit by Terra Firma to London. The investment firm headed by Guy Hands claims that Citi helped unfairly inflated the price paid to acquire EMI.

"I think the parties deserve to have a quick resolution, but on the other hand this is not an obvious slam dunk decision," U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff reports Reuters. "I guarantee a decision by the end of this month and the full opinion at a later point."

EMI must also make a $160 million payment to Citigroup on its $4.5 billion loan by March 31st as well as pass a solvency test. EMI executives are said to be frantically working on a reorganization plan to pass the test and attract an influx of much needed new cash. If the music group falls short, Citigorup could take control of the struggling company.