1. France Examines Even Tougher Anti-Piracy Laws

    February 28, 2013 2:41 PM EST PARIS: -- Already home to some of the strictest anti-piracy laws for users, France’s Internet Authority (HADOPI) has  issued a new report examining ways to curb usage of streaming and direct download sites. Looking to stop piracy at the source, th ...

  2. RZA On the Offensive Over Sampling Infringement Allegations

    February 28, 2013 2:32 PM EST RZA, the acclaimed Wu Tang Clan member, record producer and budding filmmaker, is attempting a new offensive tack against those who accuse him of sampling theft. This week, he filed a lawsuit against JVC Kenwood Holdings, a multinational company w ...

  3. Country Radio Seminar: Can Radio Capture Country Music's Unique, Emotional Connection with Listeners?

    February 28, 2013 1:41 PM EST Country music listeners connect deeply and emotionally with the songs they hear on country radio, but these listeners don’t always connect as deeply and emotionally with the radio stations that play them. This disconnect is one of the highlights o ...

  4. Baauer’s ‘Harlem Shake’: The Global Hit That Started With a One-Off Single Deal

    February 28, 2013 7:00 AM EST The Internet is full of free downloads, but most don’t end up topping the charts like Baauer’s “Harlem Shake.” The single was brought to market through a label as uncommon as the track’s quirky success story.   Jeffrees, a sub-label of Diplo’s Mad ...

  5. Business Matters: Reaction to Pandora's Mobile Listening Cap

    February 27, 2013 9:36 PM EST 1 0 21 0 Pandora made it through one listening cap and it is likely going to make it through its second one. Founder Tim Westergren, who happened to be in Washington, D.C., a day earlier speaking out against the royalty system that resulted the listening ...

  6. Can Radio Capture Country Music’s Emotional Connection with Listeners? Study at CRS Searches for Answers

    February 27, 2013 8:51 PM EST 1 1 20 0 Above: Edison Research' Larry Rosin and Prosperity Productions’ Lori Hamilton Country music listeners connect deeply and emotionally with the songs they hear on country radio. But these listeners don’t always connect as deeply and emotionall ...

  7. Bruno Mars Eyeing First No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart

    February 27, 2013 8:08 PM EST Bruno Mars could notch his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 next week, thanks to Amazon MP3. On Feb. 26, the digital retailer offered a bevy of albums for just $1.99, including Bruno Mars' latest, "Unorthodox Jukebox." Sources ...

  8. Exclusive: Taco Bell Teams With Passion Pit, Twitter For SXSW Showcase, 'Rockumentary'

    February 27, 2013 7:53 PM EST Taco Bell is teaming up with Twitter and filmmaker Sam Jones (Wilco’s “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”) for a first-of-its-kind “Rockumentary,” “Feed The Beat: SXSW 2013,” at South By Southwest on March 11. The project will feature performances b ...

  9. Sillerman, Adell Talk SFX-Beatport Deal: ‘A Great Starting Point for Everything We Do’

    February 27, 2013 5:20 PM EST The industry has been buzzing about it for months, but SFX Entertainment formally confirmed its acquisition of Denver-based Beatport last night for an undisclosed price that was reported by the New York Times and Billboard sources as $50 million. ...

  10. Pandora Implements Caps on Mobile Listening

    February 27, 2013 5:01 PM EST Pandora announced an initiative Wednesday to address rising content costs relating to its listeners' mobile use. The Internet radio company will cap mobile listening hours at 40 hours per month for U.S. users.   A blog post by Pandora founder ...

  11. Baauer's 'Harlem Shake' Tops Hot 100 For Second Week

    February 27, 2013 3:07 PM EST The viral sensation stays at the summit, fueled heavily by another week of stratospheric YouTube streaming totals. Plus, Lil Wayne reaches the top 10. Baauer leads the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with "Harlem Shake," the Brooklyn ...

  12. Radio Disney Announces Performers, Segmented Broadcast for Kids

    February 27, 2013 1:12 PM EST Disney has released details for the Radio Disney Music Awards, taking place April 27 in Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre. Performers will include headliner Selena Gomez, Bridgit Mendler, Cody Simpson, Austin Mahone and Coco Jones. "The Radio D ...

  13. Chart Alert: Mumford & Sons' 'Babel' No. 1 For Fifth Week On Billboard 200

    February 27, 2013 10:57 AM EST While there was a lot of excitement on last week's Billboard 200 thanks to the impact from the Grammy Awards, things get back to a (dreary) normal on this week's tally. Mumford & Sons' Babel remains at No. 1 for a fifth nonconse ...

  14. Ross on Radio: It’s the Beginning Of ‘Nash’-ional Radio, And The Industry Feels Fine?

    February 27, 2013 10:52 AM EST 1 3 12 0 For nearly two decades, the prospect of nationally programmed radio has been one of the most charged issues in our business. And yet, it has arrived in many ways during the last year -- to little controversy. In the late ’90s and early ’00s, Clea ...

  15. ASCAP President Paul Williams, Songwriters Josh Kear, Dan Wilson Make Royalty Case to Congress

    February 27, 2013 10:35 AM EST Above, L-R: Songwriter Josh Kear, co-chair of the Congressional Songwriters Caucus Rep. Martha Blackburn, songwriter Dan Wilson and ASCAP president Paul Williams Yesterday, at the Rayburn House Office Building on Washington D.C.'s Independenc ...

  16. SFX Buys Beatport

    February 26, 2013 9:55 PM EST 1 0 41 0 SFX Entertainment continues its buying spree in the EDM world with the purchase of music-download site Beatport, a source confirmed to Billboard.biz today. The deal was for slightly more than $50 million, the source said, although SFX chief Rober ...

  17. Business Matters: Inside the IFPI's Digital Music Report 2013

    February 26, 2013 8:41 PM EST 6 7 30 0 The 2013 edition of the IFPI's annual Digital Music Report has 31 pages of informative reading. Two things came to mind when reading it. I wondered how much digital revenue is coming from big, developed markets and I wondered how much revenu ...

  18. Francis Keeling, Universal Music’s Global Head of Digital Business: Google Streaming Service ‘Is the Biggest Funnel We Can Have’

    February 26, 2013 3:53 PM EST 1 12 31 0 Google’s entrance into the music streaming market would provide the music industry with “arguably the biggest funnel we can have” with regards to turning music consumers onto legal licensed services, says Francis Keeling, Universal Music’s globa ...

  19. Kobalt Music Group's Label Services Division Announces Two New Senior-Level Hires

    February 26, 2013 11:56 AM EST Kobalt Music Group's Label Services division, a full-service alternative to labels for rights-retaining artists, has announced the appointment of two senior-level executives, it was announced today. Karen Lieberman has transitioned from her f ...

  20. IFPI Digital Music Report 2013: Global Recorded Music Revenues Climb for First Time Since 1999

    February 26, 2013 8:52 AM EST It’s been a long time coming, but the global recorded music industry is finally “well on the road to recovery,” declared Frances Moore, chief executive, IFPI, at the London launch of IFPI’s annual Digital Music Report. Business Matters: Inside the ...

  21. How Four-Person INDmusic is Monetizing the 'Harlem Shake' Meme for Mad Decent

    February 26, 2013 7:15 AM EST 9 125 73 0 It's Saturday, Feb. 16, and Brandon Martinez has just seen as many total views during the last nine days for his YouTube-based network INDmusic as he has in the company's 18-month existence. That's all courtesy of Baauer's & ...

  22. Oscars: Adele, Shirley Bassey, Streisand Set for Big Sales Gains

    February 25, 2013 5:00 PM EST Music from Adele, Dame Shirley Bassey, Jennifer Hudson and more are all due to see huge sales increases on this week's Billboard charts thanks to last night's Academy Awards (Feb. 24). Sources suggest "Skyfall," which won Adele ...

  23. Kevin Arnold Named Co-Chair of digitalmusic.org

    February 25, 2013 4:21 PM EST Kevin Arnold, currently Sony Music Ent. EVP and senior advisor to the Global Digital Business Group, will serve as co-chair with Christina Calio of Microsoft of digitalmusic.org, according to a release by the National Association of Recording Merc ...

  24. Warner Latin and Telemundo Launch Joint Venture

    February 25, 2013 10:29 AM EST 1 1 66 0 Above: Gabriel Coronel, the first artist signed under Warner Latina and Telemundo's new venture   Register today for the Billboard Latin Music Conference & Awards Presented by State Farm April 23-25 in Miami, use Promo Code BIZ13 for a d ...

  25. Guest Post: Music Owns Me, by Emily White

    February 25, 2013 7:00 AM EST 16 468 119 0 Last June, I wrote an essay for NPR's All Songs Considered Blog called “I Never Owned Any Music To Begin With.” In it, I explained that although I am an active music fan, I don’t feel a sense of ownership of recorded music, partially bec ...

  26. Facebook: Friend or Foe to Music Marketers?

    February 25, 2013 6:55 AM EST Some people haven’t forgiven Facebook for the changes it made last year to its news feed algorithm, alterations that ratcheted down the audience reach for some posts written on behalf of brand. “You can spend a lot of time building up these audien ...

  27. Oscars 2013 Music Review: Ceremony, Seth MacFarlane Off Key and Out of Tune

    February 25, 2013 1:07 AM EST "Here's to the losers," Oscars Seth MacFarlane sang in a closing number with singer/actress Kristin Chenoweth, an ode to nominees going home empty-handed after the three-and-a-half Academy Awards ceremony concluded on Sunday evening ...

  28. Adele, Paul Epworth and Mychael Danna Win Big in Oscar Music Categories

    February 25, 2013 12:14 AM EST Three first-timers won Oscars in the two music categories, Adele and Paul Epworth for best original song, and Mychael Danna for original score. Adele's song was the title track to the James Bond film "Skyfall"; Danna scored "Li ...

  29. Google In Talks For Music Streaming Service

    February 23, 2013 5:16 AM EST 7 9 52 0 Google is in the process of negotiating licensing fees for a music streaming service akin to Spotify, Mog, Deezer and others, according to several published reports and first reported by the Financial Times.   The news comes as Google is in the p ...

  30. Mumford & Sons' 'Babel' Set for Fifth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200

    February 22, 2013 8:37 PM EST After this week's Grammy Awards-charged Billboard 200 albums chart, where many albums saw large gains in the wake of the show, next week's list will be very sleepy. Next week's likely No. 1 album, Mumford & Sons' Grammy-win ...

  31. The Satellite Question: Why SiriusXM Should Pay Higher Performance Royalties to Artists

    February 22, 2013 3:06 PM EST On Feb. 14, the Copyright Royalty Board issued a “final determination” setting SiriusXM’s statutory sound recording performance royalty rate for 2013 at 9% of “gross revenue.” This rate is too low by several percentage points, depriving artists an ...

  32. Madonna, Bruce Springsteen Lead Billboard's 2013 Top 40 Money Makers

    February 22, 2013 12:26 PM EST It may be a digital age, but live is still the big cash driver for the top 40 earners on our annual list The U.S. music business offers a matrix of trends to satisfy chart watchers and number crunchers. New CD sales continue to fall. Digital music ...

  33. Listen: Clive Davis' 'Soundtrack of My Life' Spotify Playlist

    February 22, 2013 12:00 PM EST Clive Davis has a few stories to share with you -- quite a few, actually. The legendary executive and producer, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and five-time Grammy winner, created the playlist below to be a sonic journey through his long ca ...

  34. Justin Timberlake Hits Top 10 on Social 50 Chart for First Time

    February 21, 2013 8:57 PM EST This week's Social 50 chart brings a new entrant into the top 10, as Justin Timberlake climbs 18-9 off the success of his "Suit & Tie" video that bowed on Feb. 14. The two-year old Social 50 chart ranks the most popular artists ...

  35. Business Matters: Spotify Seeks Help Tweaking Its Business Model

    February 21, 2013 7:25 PM EST Spotify will ask record labels for help in turning a profit. And the labels just might grant it.   Major label sources have confirmed to Billboard the points in a recent report at the Verge : Spotify will seek lower licensing rates and an extensio ...

  36. Jennifer Hudson, Kristin Chenoweth Added to Music Mix at Oscars

    February 21, 2013 1:01 PM EST Oscar host Seth MacFarlane and Kristin Chenoweth will perform a special closing number, and past winners Jennifer Hudson, Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones will join an all-star tribute to recent movie musicals at this Sunday's Academy A ...

  37. Exclusive: Tumblr Gets Into Music Discovery

    February 21, 2013 12:26 PM EST 28 57 250 0 Blogging site Tumblr is getting into music discovery. At the core of the blogging company's strategy will be a select group of editors that share music, video and pictures with the site's 95 million users.   "This is our destina ...

  38. The Man Behind Beck’s 360-Degree ‘Sound and Vision’

    February 21, 2013 11:11 AM EST Do you like neat things that are from the future? Stop whatever else you’re doing and check out the immersive music collaboration between Beck and director Chris Milk . The flat version of this went viral earlier this month, but this version, rele ...

  39. Billboard, Nielsen Add YouTube Video Streaming To Its Platforms; Data Enhances Hot 100, Other Charts

    February 20, 2013 7:15 PM EST 4 49 59 0 Billboard and Nielsen announced this week the addition of U.S. YouTube video streaming data to its platforms, which includes an update to the methodology for the Billboard Hot 100, the preeminent singles chart. The YouTube streaming data is now ...

  40. Baauer's 'Harlem Shake' Debuts Atop Revamped Hot 100

    February 20, 2013 7:15 PM EST 54 94 0 The Billboard Hot 100 undergoes a major shakeup this week, as YouTube streaming data joins the chart's methodology. Fittingly, "Harlem Shake," the viral smash from Brooklyn producer Baauer, roars onto the ranking at No. 1.   As an ...

  41. Brit Awards 2013: Emeli Sande, Mumford & Sons, Adele Win Big

    February 20, 2013 7:13 PM EST 8 0 Female artists dominated the 2013 Brit Awards with Emeli Sandé and Adele taking home two of the biggest prizes. Sandé won best British female and the highly coveted British album title for her 2012 debut "Our Version of Events," while Ad ...

  42. Business Matters: Pandora Shares Down 6% - Is There Weakness in Mobile Advertising Market?

    February 20, 2013 5:51 PM EST 1 0 19 0 Pandora shares were down 5.9% to $12.12 Wednesday after Millennial Media reported disappointing earnings and lowered its first-quarter guidance. Millennial Media is a mobile advertising firm that helps developers monetize their mobile application ...

  43. Business Matters: 'Rock Band' Downloads to End in April

    February 19, 2013 9:10 PM EST 20 0 Video game developer Harmonix has announced that it will stop releasing track downloads for the game "Rock Band" in the first week of April. The company has released more than 4,000 songs over 275 consecutive weeks -- in five years -- a ...

  44. Taylor Swift, Fun. Aiming For Top 10 Return on Next Week’s Billboard 200 Chart

    February 15, 2013 9:56 PM EST 2 6 19 0 In the wake of the Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, few major artists opted to release new albums this past week. So on next week's Billboard 200 chart, expect to see a lot of familiar faces at the top of the list -- with many sporting big sales in ...

  45. Google Drops Off Annenberg Labs' Monthly List of Top Pirate Sites

    February 15, 2013 8:09 PM EST 1 10 17 0 The second in a series of monthly reports on top advertising networks that support illegal download sites was missing a notable name: Google. Whether or not this drop-off means anything has yet to be seen.   The tech giant’s advertising network ...

  46. Analysis: BMG Poised to Become a Top Indie Catalog Following Sanctuary Acquisition

    February 15, 2013 7:54 PM EST 3 9 13 0 Once completed, the pending acquisition of the Sanctuary Records catalog will catapult BMG Rights Management into one of the industry's top independent catalog labels. Universal Sells Sanctuary Label to BMG The Sanctuary catalog has about 17 ...

  47. Bubbling Under: Milo Greene Looks To The Future With '1957'

    February 15, 2013 1:56 PM EST 1 2 19 0 Each Friday, Billboard presents "Bubbling Under," a weekly look at new and noteworthy acts making their way toward Billboard chart success. Up this week: Milo Greene, Davina Leone, Jenny Simmons and DJ Chino.     Milo Greene Los Angeles ...

  48. Vevo Looks To Raise Capital as It Continues Talks With Google

    February 14, 2013 10:27 PM EST 5 5 35 0 Vevo, the largest destination for official music videos online, is about to hit the road in search of equity financing in order to fund its international expansion plans, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans. Vevo, which is curr ...

  49. Chart Moves: Soundtracks Sales Sizzle Thanks to 'Pitch Perfect,' ‘Les Miserables’

    February 14, 2013 9:10 PM EST 205 22 0 Josh Groban crowned the Billboard 200 this week with "All That Echoes," his third No. 1 album . The pop singer sold 145,000 copies of the set in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Elsewhere in the top 10: Tim McGraw arriv ...

  50. Universal Music Publishing Inks Deals with Fullscreen, Maker Studios

    February 14, 2013 7:45 PM EST 57 344 166 0 Universal Music Publishing Group, looking to cash in at a higher level on the YouTube money train, has struck licensing deals with Fullscreen and Maker Studios -- two companies that together account for more than 4 billion video views a month ...

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