1. Business Matters: Streaming Drives 12% Revenue Gain in Sweden

    July 22, 2013 8:46 PM EDT Scandinavia continues to be the place where digital music's future is best taking shape.    IFPI Sweden released figures Sunday that show gains in streaming led to a 12% gain in recorded music revenues in the first half of the year. A wee ...

  2. Todd Glassman Replaces Jacqueline Saturn as Head of Epic Promotions (Source)

    July 22, 2013 6:03 PM EDT Todd Glassman has been named Epic Records' head of promotions replacing Jacqueline Saturn who is leaving the company, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.   Glassman formerly worked as SVP of promotions at Island Def Jam o ...

  3. Maroon 5 Ties Adult, Mainstream Top 40 Records

    July 22, 2013 1:56 PM EDT The group matches the mark for the most Adult Top 40 No. 1s and Mainstream Top 40 top 10s with 'Love Somebody,' while label Interscope equals a record of its own   Maroon 5 ties the record for the most No. 1s in the 17-year history of ...

  4. Priority Records Relaunches Through Capitol, Insurgency; Michael Cohen Named President (Exclusive)

    July 22, 2013 8:00 AM EDT Capitol Music Group and Insurgency Music have formed a joint venture to re-launch iconic imprint Priority Records. A pioneering independent force in rap music during its initial heyday whose roster included such West Coast hip-hop legends as ...

  5. Sara Bareilles Heading for No. 2 Debut on Billboard 200

    July 19, 2013 6:20 PM EDT Singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles is heading for No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart next week with her new album, "The Blessed Unrest." Industry sources say the set should sell around 65,000 copies by the end of the tracking week on Ju ...

  6. BMG Signs Backstreet Boys for Publishing, Recordings

    July 19, 2013 6:25 AM EDT The Backstreet Boys celebrate their 20th anniversary this year, and to mark the milestone, will release their eighth album, "In A World Like This," through BMG on July 30. The group was previously signed to Jive Records. The title trac ...

  7. Chart Moves: Florida Georgia Line's Slow Chart Climb, Alexis Spight Hits No. 1

    July 18, 2013 8:23 PM EDT This week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Jay Z jumped in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with "Magna Carta Holy Grail," selling 528,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It was the fourth No. 1 in a row that w ...

  8. Universal Music's $8.5 Billion Bid: A Market Leader's Premium

    July 18, 2013 8:12 PM EDT With news that Vivendi spurned an $8.5 billion bid from SoftBank made three months ago to buy the Universal Music Group breaking after the close of Euronext Paris' trading hours, it remains to be seen if that offer will spur Vivendi’s stoc ...

  9. Business Matters: Muve Music Has Nearly 1.7 Million Subscribers, But is Spotify Bigger?

    July 18, 2013 7:47 PM EDT The most widespread music subscription service in the United States is not actually the biggest subscription service.   Muve Music has "nearly 1.7 million subscribers," a company spokesperson tells Billboard. That most likely makes it ...

  10. SoftBank's $8.5 Billion Takeover Bid of Universal Music Group Rejected by Vivendi (Report)

    July 18, 2013 3:55 PM EDT An $8.5 billion takeover bid of Universal Music Group (UMG) by Japanese telecoms group SoftBank some three months ago was rejected by Vivendi, the French media and telecom conglomerate that owns UMG, according to sources. The story was first re ...

  11. Kobalt Label Services Appoints Bree Nevin as Creative Brand and Synchronization Manager

    July 18, 2013 2:06 PM EDT Bree Nevin has joined Kobalt Label Services as Creative Brand and Synchronization Manager in an effort to expand their synchronization services. Nevin will work under Michelle Stoddart, SVP of Synchronization and Digital Media, and help place mu ...

  12. Michael W. Smith, Christian Music Icon, Leaving Provident For Capitol Christian

    July 18, 2013 10:53 AM EDT For the first time in his 30-year career Christian music icon Michael W. Smith has signed with a new label, exiting Provident Music Group to ink a deal with Capitol Christian Music Group, formerly EMI Christian Music Group. “When you’ve been wit ...

  13. Jay-Z's 'Magna Carta' Heading for Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200

    July 17, 2013 7:30 PM EDT Next week, Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" should become the first rap album in nearly two years to spend two weeks at No. 1. While it's too early to tell just how much "Magna Carta" will sell in its second week, ...

  14. Business Matters: Less Piracy Through Better Products

    July 17, 2013 7:16 PM EDT Better products can help reduce digital piracy. That's one of the takeaways in the paper, " Adventures in the Netherlands ," released by Spotify on Wednesday.   A long-held belief has been that legal services need to be more conv ...

  15. Judy McGrath Recruits Former MTV Exec Nick Shore for New Sony Venture

    July 17, 2013 12:39 PM EDT Mere weeks after announcing her new venture, Judy McGrath has made her first big hire. The former MTV Networks CEO has tapped Nick Shore, her former senior vp strategic insights and research at MTV, as the chief creative strategist for her new ...

  16. Jay-Z Scores 13th No. 1 Album On Billboard 200; Ciara Bows At No. 2

    July 17, 2013 11:31 AM EDT Update: July 17, 1 PM PST, Nielsen SoundScan has updated its sales figures. The new numbers have been adjusted in the story below. As reported last night (July 16), Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail album bounds in at No. 1 on the Billboard 2 ...

  17. Jay-Z's 'Magna Carta' Sets Spotify Streaming Record -- Despite Samsung Giveaway, Topping Album Chart

    July 17, 2013 10:25 AM EDT Jay-Z's "Magna Carta...Holy Grail" set a record for most streaming activity on Spotify in the United States. The album's songs were streamed over 14 million times in the United States during its first week of release. It al ...

  18. Jay-Z's 'Magna Carta' Debuts at No. 1, Has Year's Second-Biggest Sales Week

    July 16, 2013 10:15 PM EDT Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" album storms in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 528,000 copies in its first week, according to preliminary data from Nielsen SoundScan. Update, July 17, 1PM PST: Nielsen SoundScan ha ...

  19. Cash Money’s Bryan 'Birdman' Williams, Ronald 'Slim' Williams Named BMI Icons

    July 16, 2013 5:48 PM EDT Cash Money co-CEOs Bryan “Birdman” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams will be the 2013 recipients of the BMI Icon Award. The presentation will take place during BMI’s annual R&B/Hip-Hop Awards (formerly known as the BMI Urban Awards) on Au ...

  20. Tomas Cookman on LAMC: ‘Years Ago Ricky Ricardo On Conga Drums Was Latin Music…’

    July 16, 2013 4:56 PM EDT Behind a black curtain in the corner of the second floor of the New Yorker Hotel is Tomas Cookman , a former punk rock musician and the founder of the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC). Here he was slowly tearing down his makeshift off ...

  21. Independent Study: Kitsuné Records

    July 16, 2013 12:19 PM EDT Label: Kitsuné Records Founded: 2002 Location: Paris Number of Employees: 10 exclusive to label, 70 total worldwide Biggest Seller: Two Door Cinema Club, Tourist History (178,000 copies U.S.) Next Release: Is Tropical, “Lover’s Cave” single, U ...

  22. Sub Pop Looks Back, Celebrates 25 Years with 40,000-Strong Silver Jubilee Celebration

    July 16, 2013 9:21 AM EDT Sub Pop Records, the label noted for signing such bands as Nirvana, Soundgarden, The Shins and The Postal Service, celebrated its 25th anniversary with a Silver Jubilee concert in Seattle's bohemian Georgetown neighborhood on July 13. To h ...

  23. Google, Microsoft, Yahoo Agree to White House Plan to Combat Advertising on Pirate Sites

    July 15, 2013 7:31 PM EDT An industry effort to stop advertisements from appearing on websites primarily devoted to piracy is winning applause from the White House, whose IP czar Victoria Espinel announced the news in a blog post on the White House website entitled " ...

  24. Universal Music Launches 'The Vinyl Project' for 'Crowd-Funded' Re-Presses

    July 15, 2013 4:53 PM EDT What's better than a sure thing? A guaranteed sure thing, obviously. Uvinyl , the London-based "home of Universal Music vinyl," recently launched a re-pressing initiative they call The Vinyl Project which aims to be exactly that ...

  25. Elton John Extends His Record For Most Adult Contemporary Hits

    July 15, 2013 2:14 PM EDT Elton John pads his mark for the most appearances in the 52-year history of Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, as "Home Again" soars in at No. 21. The song marks his 69th entry on the ranking.   The start of "Home" ma ...

  26. Downtown Records Announces New Sync Licensing Team, Hires Pearce, Chapman, Bradford (Exclusive)

    July 15, 2013 11:12 AM EDT Downtown Records has announced it is building out its synchronization team, hiring Jennifer Pearce, Céleigh Chapman and Tarik Bradford to lead its synch efforts. “We have always reached a wide audience through games, movies and TV, so we built ...

  27. Why Radiohead Producer Nigel Godrich Trashed Spotify's Business Model

    July 15, 2013 12:05 AM EDT In a series of Tweets on Sunday, famed producer Nigel Godrich ( @nigelgod ) called Spotify "bad for new music" and said three of his projects had been pulled from the ad-supported subscription service.  Godrich takes issue with the eco ...

  28. Atoms For Peace Pull Album From Spotify, Take To Twitter

    July 14, 2013 11:34 PM EDT If you want to listen to Atoms For Peace, you can’t anymore on Spotify. In a string of tweets today from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and producer Nigel Godrich, both members of the group Atoms For Peace, the two revealed that their album AMOK ...

  29. Rubén Blades Eyeing Label Deal With Nacional Records

    July 13, 2013 6:16 PM EDT Rubén Blades, the venerable salsa singer/songwriter/actor, is eyeing the Los Angeles-based Nacional Records as a possible home for his new music, according to a source familiar with the ongoing conversations.   Blades, who spoke this week at Lat ...

  30. Backbeat: Carla Morrison at the Latin Alternative Music Conference - 'It's Not Always About the Song...'

    July 13, 2013 9:44 AM EDT Carla Morrison (white shirt, couch right) hangs out backstage at SOB's in New York with her team and band including Gil Gastelum (manager/Cosmica founder), Daniel Cerrillo, Alejandro, Jimenez, Esteban Vazquez and Alejandra Morrison-Hogan (M ...

  31. AT&T Buys Leap Wireless, Owner of Muve Music, For $1.19 Billion

    July 12, 2013 7:47 PM EDT AT&T just got itself into the music subscription business. The company announced Friday it has purchased Leap Wireless, owner of Cricket Wireless, for $1.19 billion in cash. Including debt, the deal is worth about $4 billion.   Leap Wirele ...

  32. Ciara Aiming for No. 2 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart Next Week

    July 12, 2013 7:31 PM EDT After Ciara's last album missed the top 40 on the Billboard 200 chart, the R&B/pop singer is making a comeback with her new self-titled set. Industry sources forecast that her new album (released on July 9) should debut at No. 2 on nex ...

  33. Biz Stock Ticks: This Week's Entertainment Indices

    July 12, 2013 6:30 PM EDT In today’s . Biz Stock Ticks , a look at publicly traded entertainment stock prices over the last week by Apple, Best Buy, Facebook, Google, Live Nation, Pandora, Sony, Sirius, TransWorld and Sony over the last week. Below each 5-day stock graph ...

  34. Exclusive: Salaam Remi Launches Louder Than Life Imprint Through Sony

    July 12, 2013 1:15 PM EDT Producer/songwriter Salaam Remi has established his own label imprint group, Louder Than Life, with Sony Music, Billboard has learned exclusively. It’s the latest move by a high-profile producer/songwriter to help drive major-label A&R strat ...

  35. Lady Gaga's 'ARTPOP' Album, App to Arrive In November

    July 12, 2013 10:20 AM EDT Lady Gaga’s new album “ARTPOP” will arrive this November and will be accompanied with an app, the pop superstar has announced. Gaga’s third album will drop on Nov. 11 alongside an app she describes in a wordy statement as “a musicial and visual ...

  36. Chart Moves: Adele's '21' Nears Longevity Record, BET Awards Push 82% Sales Gain for Charlie Wilson

    July 12, 2013 9:00 AM EDT This week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, a rap album crowned the list for the third time in as many weeks. J. Cole's "Born Sinner" jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 in its third week, selling 58,000 copies, according to Nielsen Sound ...

  37. Amazon Battles European Tax Levy on Blank CDs

    July 12, 2013 5:09 AM EDT Once upon a time, about 10 years ago, it was commonplace to put movies, music and other content on blank CDs and DVDs. This also was a moment when the entertainment universe was familiarizing itself with the disruption of file-trading, and one ...

  38. Depeche Mode Tops Hot Tours Chart With $60.8 Million Gross

    July 11, 2013 9:05 PM EDT Depeche Mode leads this week's list of Hot Tours with more than $60.8 million in ticket sales from the Delta Machine Tour that supports its most recent album of the same name, which was released in March.  The Depeche tour kicked off in ear ...

  39. Rap's History-Making Week on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart

    July 11, 2013 5:37 PM EDT For the first time in the Billboard 200 chart's history, rap albums hold down the top three spots in three successive weeks. J. Cole's Born Sinner is No. 1 this week, followed by Wale's The Gifted and Kanye West's Yeezus at ...

  40. How Anna Kendrick's Soundtrack Sleeper 'Cups' Got to the Top of the Charts

    July 11, 2013 3:21 PM EDT As reported yesterday, Anna Kendrick reaches the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 at last with "Cups (Pitch Perfect's When I'm Gone)," which rises 13-10 in its 28th week on the chart.   Since it's been almost a year since ...

  41. Third Man Records Production Head Says Limited Edition Vinyl For Jay-Z's 'Magna Carta' Is His Year's 'Good Idea'

    July 11, 2013 3:09 PM EDT With the pre-release of Jay Z’s Samsung-promoted twelfth studio album Magna Carta: Holy Grail on July  4 (and subsequent standard format release July 9), HOVA is being hailed by some as a pioneer for new platforms of distribution. Dubbing his ca ...

  42. Pharrell Williams' Résumé: The History of a Hardworking N.E.R.D.

    July 11, 2013 2:49 PM EDT It's incredible to think that Pharrell Williams, the artist and entrepreneur who recently turned 40, was once fired from three different McDonald's in Virginia Beach. It all in began in 1992. That year, Pharrell helped Teddy Riley writ ...

  43. Jim Foglesong In Memoriam: Nashville Pays Tribute To Legendary Music Exec, Country Music Hall of Famer

    July 10, 2013 6:35 PM EDT For all his successes in the music industry, veteran record executive Jim Foglesong is being remembered most by industry peers and artists this week for his warmth, his leadership, his professional ethics and his gentlemanly approach to a some ...

  44. Billboard Launches The Billboard Shop

    July 10, 2013 3:19 PM EDT Billboard today announced the launch of the Billboard Shop ( http://shop.billboard.com/ ), an online retail space offering a wide variety of Billboard products. Among the Billboard Shop's offerings are: A one-click way to purchase current ...

  45. Jay-Z's 'Magna Carta' Album Sales Forecast Grows to 450-500,000

    July 10, 2013 1:59 PM EDT The debut week sales forecast for Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" has grown. After its first day at retail on July 9, industry sources now suggest the album could sell between 450,000 to 500,000 copies by the end of the trackin ...

  46. Evan Peters Named Virgin Records Director of A&R

    July 10, 2013 11:09 AM EDT Evan Peters has been appointed as the Director of A&R for Virgin Records, according to an announcement made today by Ron Fair, the company's chief creative officer and EVP. “I told Evan to take the ball and run with it," Fair said ...

  47. SoundExchange Paid Out Record $149 Million in Q2

    July 10, 2013 10:17 AM EDT Signaling the strength of Internet and satellite radio, SoundExchange paid out a record $149 million to record labels and artists in the second quarter of 2013, 55% increase over the same period in 2012.   SoundExchange is the non-profit organi ...

  48. Warner Music's Len Blavatnik, Will Smith Invest in The Fancy

    July 09, 2013 8:30 PM EDT Warner Music Group owner Len Blavatnik and Will Smith are among wealthy investors in online shopping site, The Fancy. Smith, American Express and the Ukrainian-born Blavatnik, who owns Warner Music and film company Icon UK among other media and ...

  49. Mark Knopfler Signs Worldwide Deal with Universal Music

    July 09, 2013 12:24 PM EDT Universal Music Group announced a worldwide deal with singer/songwriter Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame. Knopfler, who was previously signed to Warner Brother Records for 35 years, will release his forthcoming album, "Privateering," ...

  50. Death Grips Signs With Capitol Subsidiary, Launching Imprint Following Nasty Split With Epic

    July 09, 2013 3:00 AM EDT After a very public break up with Epic Records last year, it seemed unlikely Death Grips would return to a major label. But sure enough, as it announced today, the Sacramento hardcore punk-rap outfit has teamed up with Capitol Music Group and it ...

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