Morning Fix: Billboard Women In Music Honorees; HMV Sells Mama Group; Zep Honored by Obama; iTunes Coming to Russia?
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BILLBOARD ANNOUNCES 2012 WOMEN IN MUSIC HONOREES: Billboard announced its Women in Music honorees, which recognizes achievement, talent and inspiration within the ranks of female executives in the music business. Topped by Atlantic Records’ Judy Greenwald (for the third consecutive year), Sony/ATV’s Jody Gerson, and Live Nation’s Kathy Willard, our online edition includes write-ups on each of the 41 honorees, photos, mentors and much more. Also, check out our Women In Music hub with highlights from our Women in Music event and editorial package. |
OLLY MURS TOPS UK ALBUM AND SINGLES CHART: Olly Murs, the British hitmaker and former UK “X Factor” contestant, not only secured a second week atop the British singles chart yesterday with “Troublemaker” featuring Flo Rida, but entered the album chart at No. 1 with his third set, “Right Place Right Time.” The Official Charts Company confirmed that opening sales of just under 127,000 made it the fastest-selling male solo album of the year to date. |
METALLICA TAKE OWNERSHIP OF MASTERS, LAUNCH BLACKENED RECORDINGS: Metallica announced in a statement they have taken ownership of all their master recordings, including all music and long-form videos, and have launched their own label, Blackened Recordings. The band thanked its longtime label, the Warner Music Group, “for 28 years of a fantastic relationship.” |
ROD STEWART, LADY ANTEBELLUM, BLAKE SHELTON HOLIDAY SETS PRIMED BILLBOARD 200 Top 10: Christmas album sales grow larger in the weeks following Thanksgiving and Rod Stewart’s “Merry Christmas, Baby” should be no exception. It’s also not the only holiday set aiming for a top 10 rank next week. Lady Antebellum’s “On This Winter’s Night” could return to the Billboard 200 top 10 next week. Also potentially on tap for a top 10 return is Blake Shelton’s “Cheers, It’s Christmas.” |
LED ZEPPELIN, BUDDY GUY HONORED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA AT WHITE HOUSE: Legendary British hard rock band Led Zeppelin and seminal bluesman Buddy Guy were honored by President Barack Obama Sunday at the White House as part of this year’s Kennedy Center Honors. This year’s other recipients included talk show host David Letterman, Actor Dustin Hoffman and ballerina Natalia Makarova. |
SHAZAM PREDICTS 2013 CHART-TOPPERS: London-based Shazam, whose name-that-tune app is used by more than 250 million users to tag half-a-million songs each day, on Friday came out with its third annual predictions for next year’s chart toppers. Included on the list were French Montana, Bei Maejor, Haim and AlunaGeorge, click below for more. |
HMV SELLS MAMA GROUP FOR NET CASH CONSIDERATION OF $11.7 MILLION:HMV Group has confirmed the sale of MAMA Group Limited, which is avenue and artist management company, and its subsidiaries – plus its separately held interest in 50% of Mean Fiddler Group Limited – to Juno Newco Ltd. The buyer is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Development Capital Limited. The net cash consideration for the sale of MAMA is ￡7.3m ($11.7 mil.) of which ￡3.5m will be deferred for 12 months. The proceeds of the sale will be used to reduce HMV’s debt.
Music Week
FCC APPROVES COMMUNITY RADIO EXPANSION: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to approve rules that will allow the unprecedented expansion of true local radio across the country. Beginning October 2013, community groups will be able to apply for licenses to operate Low Power FM radio stations, bringing local voices to the airwaves in towns and cities across America. FCC commissioners approved the rules in a unanimous, bipartisan vote. Their actions today represent a significant step towards achieving greater diversity on the public airwaves, and more opportunities for local musicians.
Future of Music Coalition
ITUNES EVENT TAKING PLACE IN MOSCOW ON DEC 4: IS RUSSIA FINALLY GETTING APPLE’S MUSIC SERVICE?: Apple appears to be approaching a launch date for iTunes in Russia – and it could come as soon as tomorrow. A tipster has forwarded us an email, in Russian, inviting a small group of people to an iTunes event in Moscow on the evening of Dec. 4. The email does not give much away, simply noting that team iTunes will be holding a musical evening, and that it’s a small, invitation-only affair, at one of the city’s swanky shopping centers, GUM, located on Moscow’s Red Square.
TechCrunch
MICHAEL JACKSON COSTUMES SOLD AT AUCTION; LADY GAGA BUYS 55 ITEMS:Costumes worn by Michael Jackson brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars at an auction, and Lady Gaga was among the collectors. Gaga tweeted Sunday that she bought 55 pieces in the sale, which was administered by Julien’s Auctions, and said she plans to keep the items “archived and expertly cared for in the spirit and love of Michael Jackson, his bravery and fans worldwide.”
AP
DAS RACIST BREAK-UP: On Saturday night in Munich, Das Racist were scheduled to perform at the On3 Festival. However, according to the festival’s website, Heems (aka Himanshu Suri) did a solo show, where he said, “You guys wanna know the secret? Alright, so I’m going to do some Das Racist songs, but Das Racist is breaking up and we’re not a band anymore.” Kool A.D. later tweeted: “for the record i quit das racist 2 months ago and was asked by our manager not to announce it yet. apparently @himanshu wanted to do it tho.” Heems replied, “hah dag, my bad dont even remember saying that shit.” Reps for the band offered no comment.
Pitchfork
Headline of the Day: Pete Doherty: ‘Being Fucked Up All The Time is Not That Exciting’
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