Music Industry News

Wells Fargo Exec Used Malibu Colony Home Lost by Madoff-Duped Couple

Source: Michael Ricci
September 10, 2009

A top bank executive was seen spending weekends and hosting parties in the $12-million beach house. The bank says it will 'conduct a thorough investigation of the allegations' by neighbors.

The Malibu Colony home formerly owned by Lawrence and Linda Elins is a sleekly modern, 3,800-square-foot, two-story structure built in the early 1990s by clothing designer Nancy Heller. Its huge glass windows look out on a patio, deck and the Pacific. The home's value was recorded at $12 million when ...

Continue Reading...

Blue Music Group Introduces Instant Net-CDs

Source: Michael Ricci
September 9, 2009

Blue Music Group is the first record label to introduce Instant Net-CDs on its website. In addition to offering common mpeg layer 3 ("mp3") and advanced audio codec ("aac") media, the entire Blue Music Group catalog is now available in a full quality CD format, including printable artwork, lyrics and inserts. “This is a major step for music sales to become entirely postal-free. Neither the sound quality nor the liner notes are an issue anymore," says Mika Pohjola, the artistic ...

Continue Reading...

Photographer Annie Leibovitz's Lifework is on the Line

Source: Michael Ricci
September 7, 2009

As the famed celebrity photographer faces the loss of her photos, observers see a portrait of unfocused finances.

Annie Leibovitz could lose her 200-acre Astor Barns country estate up the Hudson River from New York City and her town house in New York. Leibovitz had two goals for a proposed series of her famous celebrity photographs, enlarged to 5 feet tall, at a price of $25,000 each. For starters, “She said she would like to make more money," recalled Fifth ...

Continue Reading...

Album Sales Continue Downward Spiral

Source: HypeBot
September 5, 2009

Billboard shares an analysis of the latest bad news on the music sales front. The highlights (low points?) include:

Album sales were down 18.1% compared to last year, 31% compared to '07

The July 5 week period 6/28 - 8/1 was down 10.3% compared to the same period in '08 and 22.8% vs. '07. Michael Jackson provided a sales bump that began with his death on June 25th.

Year to date album sales are down 14.5% vs. '08 and ...

Continue Reading...

Hot Property: Bing Crosby's Old Stomping Grounds for Sale in Toluca Lake

Source: Michael Ricci
September 5, 2009

A Toluca Lake home referred to as the Bing Crosby Estate is listed at $10 million.

The singer and actor lived on the property from 1936 until early January 1943, when the 20-room house was gutted in a Christmas tree fire, according to news reports from the L.A. Times archives. The damage to the structure and its contents was estimated at $200,000, and the familys cocker spaniel, a complete collection of Crosbys recordings, his golf trophies and his pipe collection ...

Continue Reading...

You Bet! California Lottery and Warner Bros. Records Make Music Together

Source: Just Roots PR
September 4, 2009

Warner Bros. Records and the California Lottery announced a unique partnership that will be music to players’ ears. On September 1, 2009, Warner Bros Records Scratchers will hit stores. The first-ever music promotion offers players the opportunity to win the usual instant cash prizes, but also includes unique second-chance prizes, such as music downloads and concert tickets.

“We are excited to partner with Warner Bros. Records to bring a one-of-a-kind game to our players by combining the fun of winning ...

Continue Reading...

British Music Label Abandoning CDs to Release Songs as Open Format Music Playapps

Source: Just Roots PR
September 3, 2009

British music label, Re-Interpreted Performance Records, foreseeing the eventual demise of plastic disc media, CDs and DVDs, has partnered with PlayApp to release all their upcoming artists’ records as downloadable, multimedia, open format playapps.

As the music industry lost billions of dollars and music fans have turned away from CDs to easy-to-use and portable songs in the MP3 file format, PlayApp, a Dallas, Texas-based business has released a new multimedia, open format that is even easier to use, and collectible, ...

Continue Reading...

Future of Music Coalition Announces Additional Speakers for Policy Summit 2009

Source: Just Roots PR
September 3, 2009

Top names in music, law, technology and policy will gather in Washington, DC from October 4-6, 2009 for the eighth Future of Music Policy Summit, which provides an unprecedented forum for artists, advocates, policymakers, attorneys, entrepreneurs and industry leaders to discuss the crucial issues facing the music community.

Future of Music Policy Summit 2009

Widely praised by advocates and industry alike, FMC’s Policy Summits have gained a reputation as “a kind of Geneva where all sides in any number of ...

Continue Reading...