Beyond believable funding

Today Vivendi announced that Lucian Grainge will now be taking the title of Chairman along with CEO of Universal Music Group, this comes ahead of the original timeline for assumption of the title, a result of Doug Morris exiting his contract early to head to Sony Music this summer. Grainge will report to Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy, and will also take a seat on the board of gaming company Activision Blizzard… Warner Music Group is reportedly narrowing the field of offers it has received, for both the entire company as well as just the publishing unit Warner/Chappell Music - conflicting rumors have  current WMG investors wanting to sell the entire lot, while most believe CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. is still eying EMI and has no intention of exiting the recorded music space…Elsewhere, Spotify revealed that its music service now boasts 1million paying customers, which represents roughly 15 percent of its overall active user base. A good sign for a U.S. launch soon?… File-sharing service LimeWire, which was recently shutdown by court order, has settled legal action brought by music publishers for an undisclosed sum. Action brought against the company by the record labels has yet to be resolved… And a News Corp-backed digital music start up called Beyond Oblivion made waves this week with a reported $77million in new funding. The company’s model has a twist in that it is a device-based cloud music service, which will pay content holders a royalty every time a song is played on a device, regardless of where the song originated.

Trying to Put its Own Squeeze on Labels

A couple of 2010’s most-followed music industry stories have headlines rolling out in the first week of the new year… Continuing with checkmarks in the positive column for EMI, is the announcement of a new 5-year deal with Pink Floyd, which also effectively ends the legal dispute between the band and label. Last year the band took action against its longtime label over the a-la-carte digital sale of their songs and online royalty payment calculations. While keeping the iconic group on the roster is another coup for new group chief Roger Faxon, and a reversal in the trend of big-name acts exiting their longtime relationships with EMI in recent years, the move can be seen as primarily an effort to retain as much value as possible in the event of a sale by debt-embroiled owner Terra Firma, which most still believe is likely… LimeWire has been busy dealing with the fallout of a recent final defeat in its lengthy legal battles, and yesterday The Hollywood Reporter legal blog posted details about the latest turn in the ongoing saga. Ahead of a final looming trial, which will determine the damages owed by the file-sharing site, lawyers for LimeWire are now attempting to force third-party licensees, so far only Amazon.com it seems, to turn over documents, including contracts, royalty payments and internal company communications relating to agreements with the labels. The judge in the case has already ordered record companies to turn over their information about royalty payments relating to alleged infringed upon works. This isn’t sufficient according to LimeWire’s attorneys. So far Amazon has not complied with the request, and it’s unclear if other licensees like Apple have also received similar requests. What is clear however, is that LimeWire is not going down quietly, and will do its best to shed light on licensing agreements heretofore kept in the dark.

Sights on EMI masters, not publishing

A curveball was thrown in the speculation surrounding the fate of EMI yesterday, with the revelation from BMG Rights Management CEO Hartwig Masuch in an interview with Music Week, that the JV is more interested in the company’s recorded music assets, than the publishing catalogue. Contrary to most thinking, that the KKR-backed venture was eyeing the publishing arm of EMI, Masuch explained, “Integrating EMI’s publishing would be tough, but if you look at the recorded side, it is a different story,” adding “it is no secret we are more interested in rights to masters than publishing.” If this is the case, it should make for a more intriguing bidding process for the legendary music company, and it also begs the question of who the top contenders for the publishing assets will be… Elsewhere, little known prepaid provider Cricket Wireless received headlines with the announcement of a new mobile music service called Muve, which will launch in January of next year. The details of the service are intriguing, though a gamechanger it likely is not, remember Nokia’s Comes with Music?… As LimeWire continues to shutter and shelve its various products and services, the company has found a new home for its little known freelance marketplace platform, LimeExchange.com…  And as MTV releases its Artists to Watch in 2011, some are predicting a return to rock in the new year for the channel; the list includes A Day to Remember, New Politics, Warpaint and The Vaccines.

Viacom dumps Rock Band & maker Harmonix

In a response to the surfacing of pirated LimeWire software online, LimeWire LLC has issued a cease-and-desist notice in an effort to stop the spread of the illegal software. The company was recently handed a permanent injunction, forcing the end of their distribution of the file-sharing software… Viacom has announced that they are selling Harmonix and have classified the Rock Band maker as a “discontinued operation” – the decision comes in response to falling sales for the once hugely popular game… After buying nearly 75% of the label in 2007, Warner Music Group has fully acquired Roadrunner Records. The label is expected to operate as an individual brand within the WMG stable… And Roger Faxon has issued a memo to EMI staff in response to the whirlwind of forecasting and speculation surrounding the label in the wake of the recent losing verdict for Terra Firma in their case against Citigroup. Billboard has the memo in full here…

Gets a Relaunch

Yesterday LimeWire software was dealt a blow in the form of a permanent injunction from a U.S. District Judge issued to parent company Lime Group, essentially killing the software that once was found on 1/3 of all PCs.  Reports of a new legal digital music service began when the initial injunction was handed down against the company in May, though it appears licensing talks with major labels have broken down. The company still insists that they hope to launch the new service before the end of the year… Meanwhile, TechCrunch published a piece yesterday claiming that Apple has been in sporadic discussions with Spotify about acquisition, though it’s very early in the process, and no price has been offered. The claims are being questioned by many, believing that a deal of that kind for Apple would not make sense, if for no other reason than the presumed high price alone. However in the same post, it was revealed that Google had offered $1 billion for the service last year around the same time that the company acquired Lala…  The new redesigned MySpace was launched in beta last night, and the new focus of the beleaguered social network will apparently be on entertainment content. Recognizing that they’ve been passed by in the social networking arena by Facebook, they no longer aim to compete, and are now looking to become the web’s biggest hub for music, movies and games – seeing MTV now as a more apt comparison. The backend of the site has also gotten a major overhaul, something that has been much needed since its acquisition by News Corp back in 2005…

MySpace Co-Prez Jason Hirschhorn (L) leaves; Mike Jones (R) Remains

With an announcement out of London this morning, Roger Faxon is in as the new group chief executive for EMI, moving from his previous position as chairman and chief executive of EMI Music Publishing. Recently appointed non-executive chairman of the group’s recorded music division, Charles Allen, will now become an advisor to EMI and Terra Firma… MySpace co-president Jason Hirschhorn is out as shared head of the troubled social network, leaving Mike Jones to remove the “co” from his title… News yesterday revealed that veteran A&R executive Mark Williams is in as the new Sr. VP of A&R at Columbia Records. William’s most recently worked on M.I.A.’s new album for Interscope Records… Limewire is in for more trouble as members of the National Music Publisher’s Association including EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group and Warner/Chappell filed a copyright complaint in federal court against the file-sharing service this week… And free concerts are out in NYC, as the city cracks down after the recent Drake concert fiasco…

MTV looks for Twitter Jockey

Chatter is starting about a possible Google Music Store launch as early as this fall – if true could Apple be far behind… MTV has launched a campaign to find its own official Twitter Jockey… Reports have surfaced that AOL had sold its music service Bebo, though the media giant was quick to deny any sale… Limewire has a new legal music service in the works, but many wonder if the bridges are already burned… And OK GO has just released a new music video complete with a Facebook fan-contest…

Apple Takes Top Tech Spot

Never far away from headlines, it’s being reported that Apple is now the world’s most valuable tech company. Valuations from Wall Street on Wednesday showed that the company has surpassed Microsoft and is only second to Exxon Mobil in America… Then there’s that pesky DOJ investigation into Apple’s possible anticompetitive practices, with particular focus on the recent allegations that the company pressured record labels to not participate in Amazon’s MP3 Daily Deal promotion, threatening loss of iTunes visibility for artists who did… The recent federal court ruling against file-sharing service Limewire has led the company down a well-trodden path, with plans to “legitimize” the music service, executives explain they are now seeking licenses from all the major record labels… New MySpace co-presidents faced a number of tough questions at TechCrunch Disrupt regarding huge drops in site traffic and the $10-million-a-month losses for MySpace Music… At the same conference Lady Gaga’s manager Troy Carter and Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun discussed how the web is impacting the music industry and the importance of managing an artist’s online identity… Elsewhere, ‘psycho-acoustic simulation’ music service BlueBeat, who made headlines trying to sell digital Beatles songs last year, is back with a streaming iPhone app. More unlicensed music? Yup… And what exactly is a Shaved Bieber?

Court Rules Against Limewire in Copyright Infringement Case

A big week for Terra Firma boss Guy Hands, as numerous reports revealed that the firm was able to raise the needed 105 million pounds to keep control of EMI. The new injection of funds will keep the music company under the control of the investment firm for another year… A federal court ruled against file-sharing service Limewire in a copyright infringement case; its founder Mark Gorton may be held personally liable as well… Elsewhere, the latest Pirate Bay bidder has tapped TAG Strategic’s Ted Cohen to help facilitate the deal… Universal Music Group dropped it’s lawsuit against Project Playlist (now Playlist.com)… American Idol creator Simon Fuller announced he has been responsible for 160 million downloads via iTunes… And the Apple rumor mill is churning with speculation that a streaming music service will be announced at the Worldwide Developers conference on June 7th…