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| TAYLOR SWIFT’S ‘RED’ TO SELL 1 MILLION IN FIRST WEEK: Taylor Swift is poised to become the first female artist in the Nielsen SoundScan era (1991 to present) to have two albums sell more than a million units in a single week. According to industry sources, The album’s first-day sales passed 500,000, including a record first-day sum at Target, which has exclusive rights to a deluxe version and sold more than 160,000. Billboard.biz |
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| WHY TAYLOR SWIFT’S ‘RED’ IS ABSENT FROM SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES: Taylor Swift’s new album “Red” — which is projected to sell a million copies in its first week on sale — is conspicuously absent from Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio, Mog and Xbox Music this week. Here’s a look at some reasons why, including Big Machine chief Scott Borchetta’s take on subscription services. Billboard.biz |
TAYLOR SWIFT, NICKI MINAJ TO PERFORM AT AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS: Organizers announced today that Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj and Linkin Park will perform at the 40th annual AMA’s on Nov. 18. All are also up for awards. Minaj is the night’s leading nominee, along with Rihanna, with four bids each. Swift is nominated for favorite female country artist and Linkin Park is in the running for alternative artist.
Associated Press
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IS TAYLOR SWIFT’S ‘RED’ ITUNES EXCLUSIVE A PLAY TO PREVENT DEEP DISCOUNTING? In a possible attempt to ensure that Google Play and Amazon don’t use Taylor Swift’s just-released Red album as a loss leader priced below $3.49 ( Billboard’s pricing threshold) Big Machine Records has not serviced the album to those stores, a source confirmed to Billboard.biz. The move both helps insure that the album’s sales total will register on the Billboard 200 and helps keep heavy discounts from cannibalizing sales from merchants selling the album at higher prices.
Billboard.biz
MEL KARMAZIN TO STEP DOWN FROM SIRIUSXM: SiriusXM Radio announced that Mel Karmazin told its board of directors that he will be leaving the company on February 1, 2013. He will also leave the company’s board on that date. Karmazin’s departure had been rumored for some months as Liberty Media, which owns 49.5% of SiriusXM, is expected to take control of the satellite radio company.
Billboard.biz
BMG DENIES THAT KKR PLANS TO EXIT IF EMI BID FAILS: BMG Rights Management GmbH, responding to reports yesterday, denied that co-owner KKR & Co. (KKR) will leave the music venture if a bid for some assets of EMI Group’s music business fails. “There are no immediate plans for a KKR exit from BMG and nor is there any link between a KKR exit and the outcome of any EMI-related process,” Ryan O’Keeffe, an external spokesman for BMG, said in an e-mailed statement .
Bloomberg
APPLE’S IPAD MINI TAKES ON NEXUS, KINDLE: Apple finally took the wraps off of its iPad mini tablet Tuesday, a pint-sized version of the iPad that’s already sold 200 million units since it launched in April 2010. The device, which sports a 7.9-inch diagonal display, compared to the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen, is aimed directly at Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Google’s Nexus tablet. However, the conference made no mention of the company’s rumored Internet radio service or iTunes update. The new device’s $329 prices tag was criticized by many as the tech company’s stock dropped 3.3 percent.
Billboard.biz
FACEBOOK CATCHES UP TO MOBILE IN 3Q RESULTS: As part of its Tuesday’s third-quarter results, Facebook disclosed that 14 percent of its ad revenue came from mobile advertising. It started showing ads to users who access Facebook from their phones and tablet computers about six months ago. The quarterly financial report – Facebook’s second as a public company – sent its stock up $2.53, or 13 percent, to $22.03 in after-hours trading.
Associated Press
STEVE PAUL, OWNER OF SCENE CLUB AND BLUE SKY RECORDS, DEAD AT 71: Steve Paul, known for the 1960s hotspot Scene Club as well as Blue Sky Records, died Sunday in New York at 71. Over six years, the scene club attracted luminaries from the era ranging from the Warhol set to Jimi Hendrix and the Doors, from Richard Pryor to Liza Minelli. During the 1970s, Paul’s Blue Sky label was home to Johnny Winter, Rick Derringer and others.
NY Times
LIVE NATION MAY END 10-YEAR LINK WITH HYDE PARK: Live Nation has filed a letter of complaint to the royal parks, raising “serious concerns” about the tender and bid process for the new four-year contract up to 2017. Live Nation has organized events in Hyde Park for more than a decade, including the annual Wireless Festival and the Hard Rock Calling event. It said it is “focusing on alternative venues” while it awaits a decision. At a Hyde Park concert in July Bruce Springsteen and Sir Paul McCartney’s microphones were switched off during a duet reportedly to comply with licensing.
BBC
BLINK-182 END INTERSCOPE DEAL, NEW MUSIC ON THE WAY: Blink-182 have split with their label Interscope Records and are currently in the process of writing new music to release next year. The band broke the news earlier Tuesday, with guitarist and vocalist Tom Delonge writing on Twitter “@tomdelonge Freedom!! Blink as of today, is now an independent Artist!!!!!”
Music Week
