1. EMI, Yahoo! Strike Video Content Deal

    December 11, 2006 12:00 AM EST EMI Music has inked a pan-European video agreement allowing consumers to watch its promos on Yahoo! Music. As a result of the deal, announced today (Dec. 11), Yahoo! Music will enable European computer users free access to videos from EMI Music ar ...

  2. Brazin Data Returns To Aus Charts

    December 11, 2006 12:00 AM EST After a five-month absence, Sydney-based retailer Brazin Ltd has resumed contributing its sales data to the weekly Motorola Australian Recording Industry Assn. (ARIA) charts, it was revealed today (Dec. 11). Sources tell Billboard.biz that the cou ...

  3. McGee Supports Gowers Review In Blog

    December 08, 2006 12:00 AM EST Alan McGee, CEO of U.K. independent label Poptones and Creation Management, has become the first high profile executive to break ranks with the music industry and come out in favour of the Gowers Review on intellectual property. The review created ...

  4. EMI Group Acquisition Still In Question

    December 08, 2006 12:00 AM EST EMI Group plc has declined to comment on speculation that it is close to a deal to be acquired by a private-equity group. A Dec. 8 report on The Wall Street Journal Online claims that Permira Advisers, the European private-equity company, is the b ...

  5. Big Day Out, eBay In Aussie Legal Stoush

    December 07, 2006 12:00 AM EST Australian music festival Big Day Out and online auction house eBay are heading for the Federal Court in Sydney on Dec. 23. eBay is taking legal action against BDO over its new anti-scalping ticket policy, in which it now states tickets sold-on &q ...

  6. European Hotels Told To Check In On Royalties

    December 07, 2006 12:00 AM EST European hotels must pay royalties for the music and television programs they offer in their rooms, according to a ruling Thursday (Dec. 7) by the European Union's Court of Justice. The Luxembourg-based court -- the highest in the EU -- uphel ...

  7. Live Nation, Gaiety Made To Wait On Academy Decision

    December 07, 2006 12:00 AM EST A proposed buyout of U.K. venue operator Academy Music Holding could bring about a hike in venue rental costs and reduce competition in London, the government's anti-trust body has reported. The Competition Commission explained its views Tues ...

  8. Wippit Unlocks BBC Audiobooks Vault

    December 07, 2006 12:00 AM EST British digital music service Wippit has struck a licensing deal which will allow its customers to download TV and radio files from the BBC Audiobooks library. BBC Audiobooks is part of the Audio and Music business of BBC Worldwide, the commercial ...

  9. iTunes Launches In New Zealand

    December 06, 2006 12:00 AM EST Apple Computer today (Dec. 6) launched iTunes Music Store in New Zealand. The new service becomes the 22nd iTunes Music Store in the world, and arrives as the tenth legitimate download site in New Zealand. Single tracks cost NZ$1.79 (US$1.21) each ...

  10. WMI Appoints Saunter WMI CFO

    December 06, 2006 12:00 AM EST Mike Saunter has been named chief financial officer at Warner Music International, with immediate effect. Saunter replaces outgoing WMI CFO Jos de Raaij, who will exit the music major at the end of the year. Reporting to Gero Caccia, vice chairman ...

  11. Germany's GEMA To Launch Political Office

    December 05, 2006 12:00 AM EST Maren Ruhfus will take the helm of the newly-created political information offices for German collection society GEMA, with effect from Feb. 1, 2007. Since 1998, Ruhfus has served as chief of the Berlin office of the German Boersenverein, the asso ...

  12. Asian Music Expert Moviebox Teams With MCPS

    December 05, 2006 12:00 AM EST Birmingham, U.K.-based Moviebox, one of the world's leading Asian music publishing companies, has joined British composer/publisher collecting agency MCPS-PRS Alliance as a direct member for the world. "A substantial and successful Asian ...

  13. China Preps For 3G

    December 05, 2006 12:00 AM EST Chinese mobile-phone users could soon be downloading videos and full-length songs on their handsets thanks to high-speed third generation (3G) telecom technology, according to a report in China's state media. Wang Xudong, China's ministe ...

  14. YouTube Taken To Task In Japan

    December 05, 2006 12:00 AM EST Japanese rights holders are demanding that YouTube take steps to prevent their copyrighted content from being uploaded to the popular video-sharing Web site without their permission. In a letter sent to YouTube on Dec. 4 and released on Dec. 5, a ...

  15. Musicrypt Teams With Adstream

    December 04, 2006 12:00 AM EST Canadian digital media distributor Musicrypt Inc. has announced the signing of an agreement with London-based Adstream Ltd. Adstream will provide its marketing team and customer base to market and support DMDS, initially to the music industry in t ...

  16. Muse To Rock New Wembley Stadium

    December 04, 2006 12:00 AM EST Muse is the first band to announce a gig at London's new Wembley Stadium since last year's aborted attempt to re-open the iconic venue led to shows by Bon Jovi, the Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams and Take That being re-located. The gig, ...

  17. Brand To Host Brit Awards 2007

    December 04, 2006 12:00 AM EST Eccentric British comedian and presenter Russell Brand will host the 2007 Brit Awards, which will take place on Feb. 14 at London's Earl's Court arena. Thirteen trophies will be handed out on the night, including the outstanding contribu ...

  18. EMI Pacts For Video-On-Demand

    December 04, 2006 12:00 AM EST EMI Music U.K. has forged a video-on-demand content agreement covering BT Vision, the next-generation TV service of telecoms giant BT which went live today (Dec. 4). Through the pact, EMI will make available all music promos from its catalog, incl ...

  19. APRA Awards Moving To Melbourne

    December 04, 2006 12:00 AM EST The Australasian Performing Right Assn. (APRA) awards will move from Sydney to the south-eastern city of Melbourne next year, to mark its 25th year. Sally Howland, Sydney-based director of member services tells Billboard.biz, "Melbourne is su ...

  20. Ninja Tune Leaps Into Second Life

    December 01, 2006 12:00 AM EST In a groundbreaking move, independent U.K. label Ninja Tune is to launch a music video channel in the Second Life virtual realm. Supported by U.K. digital music research firm Music Ally, the new Ninja TV station will feature several hours of full- ...

  21. EMI To Revive Zonophone

    December 01, 2006 12:00 AM EST EMI Records is to re-launch the Zonophone label in 2007 with the release of cult, hard-to-find, or unreleased material from the major's catalog. According to a statement, the imprint -- which dates back to a business launched by Frank Seaman ...

  22. EC Pres Barroso To Launch European Culture Project

    December 01, 2006 12:00 AM EST European Commission president José Manuel Barroso will launch a Europe-wide consultation on the role of culture in society Monday (Dec. 4) at a Brussels conference gathering artists and policy-makers. Barroso will invite Europe's "cultur ...

  23. EMI Links Up With Flytxt

    December 01, 2006 12:00 AM EST EMI Music U.K. has contracted Flytxt to supply its mobile marketing technology to drive mobile campaigns across EMI's labels. The London-based mobile direct marketing firm's "Neon" platform will be at the core of EMI's new ...

  24. Italian Concert Revenue Dips

    December 01, 2006 12:00 AM EST The amount of money spent by Italians on concerts fell by 12.6% in the first six months of 2006 with respect to the same period in 2005, according to figures released by collecting society SIAE. A total of €75 million ($99 million) was spent on co ...

  25. V Festival Heads Down Under

    November 30, 2006 12:00 AM EST Sir Richard Branson's V Festival arrives in Australia early 2007 -- six months after it launched in the United States and Canada. The Australian version is a 50:50 partnership between the U.K.-based Virgin Group and Melbourne-based promoter M ...

  26. Beatles Find 'Love' At Euro Chart Peak

    November 30, 2006 12:00 AM EST The Beatles return to the European Top 100 Albums summit as "Love" (Apple/Parlophone) makes a bestselling start in France and a total of nine other top five starts around the region. It's No. 2 in Germany; No. 3 in the United Kingdo ...

  27. Sony BMG, Pandora Strike U.K. License

    November 29, 2006 12:00 AM EST Sony BMG Music Entertainment U.K. & Ireland has licensed its works to Pandora Media ahead of the U.K. launch of the California-based company's free Internet radio service, due to go live in spring 2007. The music major said today (Nov. 29 ...

  28. Hilltop Hoods Win At Inaugural AIR Awards

    November 29, 2006 12:00 AM EST Hip hop trio Hilltop Hoods won two awards at the inaugural Australian Independent Record Labels Assn. chart awards, held Wednesday (Nov. 29) at the Blacket Hotel in Sydney. The South Australia act took out independent artist of the year while its ...

  29. Sanctuary Puts Rough Trade On The Block

    November 28, 2006 12:00 AM EST Sanctuary currently owns a 49% stake in Geoff Travis' Rough Trade, which is the label home to the Strokes, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, Sufjan Stevens and Arcade Fire, among others. Stock in Sanctuary Group sank 30% to 63.4p after the ailing ...

  30. EU Extend Rules On Download VAT

    November 28, 2006 12:00 AM EST The European Union finance ministers today (Nov. 28) extended rules for charging value-added-tax on digital downloads until the end of 2008. The rules require sellers to collect the tax on goods delivered via the Internet to individual consumers. ...

  31. WMI Presses Button On Video Content Unit

    November 28, 2006 12:00 AM EST Major buys video production specialist Right Co. Warner Music International is ramping up its activities in the video content field through the acquisition of the Rights Company, a U.K.-based specialist DVD and digital production business. The dea ...

  32. RIAJ Reports Q3 Download Gains

    November 28, 2006 12:00 AM EST PC, mobile delivery soars in July-Sept quarter. PC-based music downloads in Japan increased by 144% in volume terms to 5.7 million units in the July-September quarter compared to the third quarter of 2005, according to data released Nov. 28 by lab ...

  33. "Australian Idol" Final Pulls 2.2m Viewers

    November 28, 2006 12:00 AM EST The grand final of the fourth series of "Australian Idol" on Sunday night (Nov. 26) drew 2.2 million viewers, according to official figures released today (Nov. 28). The program gave free-to-air Ten Network a 32.4% share of viewers for t ...

  34. EMI Confirms Approach

    November 28, 2006 12:00 AM EST EMI Group plc is the target of a takeover. The British music major confirmed in a statement to the London Stock Exchange today (Nov. 28) that it has "received a preliminary approach for the company which may or may not lead to an offer being ...

  35. Progress In PPL, PAMRA, AURA Merger

    November 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST Harris joins as performer affairs directors. The proposed merger of Britain's three collecting societies representing performers has moved a stage closer to completion. The formal contractual documentation to form a single entity between Phon ...

  36. HMV Japan Ramps Up Mobile Web Site

    November 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST New service goes live Nov. 23. HMV Japan on Nov. 21 unveiled a major upgrade of its mobile Web site that it says is aimed at taking full advantage of broadband-capable handsets. The site will be upgraded from its current text-based format to one i ...

  37. MTV Launches In Pakistan

    November 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST New 24-channel goes live via license deal. MTV Network International today (Nov. 21) pressed the button on a new 24-hour channel serving the Pakistan market, through a license agreement with local broadcast partner Indus Media Group. MTV Pakistan ...

  38. EMI, SMG Strike Digital Content Deal For China

    November 20, 2006 12:00 AM EST Agreement covers int'l local EMI repertoire. EMI Music South East Asia has signed a "strategic content partnership" with Shanghai Media Group (SMG) to distribute its content via digital platforms in China. The deal, which takes effe ...

  39. Harris To Head EMI U.K. Biz Development

    November 20, 2006 12:00 AM EST Exec reports to Crosswaite. Giles Harris has been named head of business development at EMI Music U.K., with immediate effect. He transfers from his current post as head of business affairs, Capitol & catalog marketing and Positiva. Harris joi ...

  40. Avex Sets Up In China

    November 20, 2006 12:00 AM EST Beijing office launches Nov. 18. Tokyo-based independent label Avex has become the first Japanese record company to set up a subsidiary in mainland China. Beijing-based Avex China was formally established Nov. 16 and began operations on Nov. 18, a ...

  41. U.K.'s MCS Goes East

    November 17, 2006 12:00 AM EST Hong Kong JV launches Monday. A British music publisher has set up shop in Hong Kong to capitalize on what it sees as Asia's improving environment for copyright recognition, Billboard.biz has learned. London-based Music Copyright Solutions (M ...

  42. Michael Jackson's Partial Comeback Is No thriller

    November 16, 2006 12:00 AM EST Jackson gaffes at World Music Awards. Reclusive pop superstar Michael Jackson made a musical comeback of sorts at the World Music Awards 2006 on Wednesday (Nov. 15), singing just the chorus line of charity single "We Are The World" befor ...

Pages