Will EMI's move to reclaim digital licensing rights simplify the process?

"Earlier this month, EMI Music Publishing announced that it will take back digital licensing rights from ASCAP, the body that collects performance royalties for artists in North America."

For the full story, please see The Guardian.

Download Sales: Will Money Stay With Labels Or Go To Musicians?

"A recent move by the Supreme Court could mean millions of dollars in additional royalty payments for older musicians who signed contracts before the digital era."

For the full story, please see npr.org.

Behind the music: Why Eminem could spell major trouble for the major labels

The question of whether a digital download counts as a straight sale or a licence threatens to cost Universal Music millions

For the full story, please see The Guardian.

EMI Taken Over by Citigroup

"Citigroup Inc. has taken over debt-strapped EMI Group Ltd., closing a disastrous purchase of the music label by Guy Hands, founder of British private equity firm Terra Firma."

For the full story, please see Musical America.

iPod hits a sour note as apps take over

"The latest sales figures for the quarter to June showed 9m sold – the lowest quarterly number since 2006. In short, the iPod, launched in October 2001, looks to be in terminal decline. While Apple is unworried – sales of its iPhone and iPad are booming – the drooping figures for the digital music player market are a concern for another sector: the music companies."

For the full story, please see The Guardian.

Naxos founder Klaus Heymann on what lies ahead for classical recordings

"Gramophone met up with Klaus Heymann, founder of Naxos, to find out his views of the future of the classical recording business and the role Naxos will play in it."

For the full story, please see gramophone.

How the Internet Changed Music

"In 1998, Death Cab for Cutie was just another tenderhearted indie-rock band signed to a minor record label, playing empty clubs for $50 a night. But after two years of soul-crushing obscurity, something strange happened: people started going to the band's shows...Death Cab is just one of the Internet-and-music stories chronicled in Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot's book Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music. Kot talks to TIME about the demise of the music industry, whether illegal file-sharing is really that bad and why there may never be another band as big as the Beatles."

For the full story, please see Time.

Social Media Networks Are Music's Curse and Salvation

"In the golden age of the record album, friends would gather around the hi-fi system to share the latest music, most of them not paying a cent. Today, music fans do pretty much the same thing — online, in social networks."

For the full article, please see Wired.

Orchestras need to program a new business model

"Is this the end for American orchestras? Hardly.
But is it the beginning of the end for the American orchestra in the form we've come to accept? It's starting to look likely."

For the full article, please see the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Telarc International will cut 26 jobs and stop producing its own recordings

"Telarc International, the award-winning Beachwood recording company, will cut half its 52 employees and stop producing its own recordings, the outgoing president said Tuesday."

For the full article, please see Cleveland.com.

YouTube and Universal Music Are Said to Discuss Deal

"Google’s YouTube and the Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music label, are in advanced discussions over a licensing agreement that could lead to the creation of a premium site for music videos, according a person briefed on the talks."

For the full article, please see the New York Times.

At 70, a Legendary Jazz Label Asks, ‘Now What?’

"At a recent 70th-anniversary reception for Blue Note Records at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, the alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson played his trademark hit, “Alligator Boogaloo,” from 1967. Norah Jones, who made her multiplatinum debut in 2002, mingled at the bar. And presiding over the evening was Bruce Lundvall, who has run the label for the last 25 years."

For the full article, please see the New York Times.