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The Darkness confirmed its status as Britain's new favorite rock band at the Brit Awards last night at London's Earls Court, taking three major trophies. The band--which led the nominations [...]

The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) has launched CIS Net, a database of musical works that will interconnect its 209 member societies. During Midem yesterday in [...]

Digital music will claim 33% of the global music market by 2008, analysts said Saturday at MidemNet in Cannes. During a presentation called 'Get out of the Plastic Business,' Josh [...]

Echoing much of the stock market in 2003, publicly traded companies with ties to music showed signs of life among investors over the last year. Many music-related media, retail and [...]

Legal action against European consumers who exchange music over P2P networks is inevitable, the IFPI has warned. In a newsletter published yesterday, IFPI chairman/CEO Jay Berman hints that the group [...]

Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s $2.6 billion deal to acquire Warner Music Group's recorded music operation and Warner/ Chappell publishing business from Time Warner, announced yesterday, will lead to the creation of [...]

George Michael has signed a new worldwide recording deal with the U.K. arm of Sony Music, the company he left in the '90s after a drawn-out court battle. A Sony [...]

U.K.-based mobile music-recognition service Shazam has named Chee Wong to the new post of COO. Wong, former director of product development and information technology at broadband firm NTL, reports to [...]

Nelson Mandela is spearheading an ambitious artist-driven international initiative to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS in Africa. The former South African president was joined by a host of industry [...]

The U.K. singles chart is poised for a massive overhaul following the adoption of a new set of guidelines by the Official U.K. Charts Co. (OCC). The OCC's Chart Supervisory [...]

Shares in EMI Group fell more than 4% yesterday after the company confirmed that it has begun talks on a merger with Warner Music Group. In a brief statement issued [...]

BMG Music Publishing U.K. managing director Paul Curran has been promoted to group MD. He continues to oversee BMG's music publishing in the U.K. and Ireland, and assumes responsibility for [...]

U.K. entertainment company Rank Group has forged a £34.1 million ($56.2 million) deal to buy Disctronics, one of the largest independent CD and DVD replicators in Europe. Rank says Disctronics [...]

Gerd Leonhard, who founded San Francisco-based portal LicenseMusic.com, has launched an online marketing firm, the Digital Marketing Organization (DMO). The Basel, Switzerland-based business aims to work with companies in the [...]

U.K.-based Shazam Entertainment has signed a partnership that will bring its mobile music-recognition service to China for the first time. Shazam has agreed to exclusively license its flagship service to [...]

Paris-based Musiwave, a provider of wireless music to European telecoms companies, has struck separate license agreements with Sony Music Europe and three leading independent labels. Sanctuary Records U.K., Hamburg's Edel [...]

A new for-pay digital music service being distributed through the Grokster peer-to-peer network in the U.S. is running afoul of the recording industry by selling unlimited access to major-label music [...]

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) reports that the value of U.K. music shipments in the first three months of 2003 slumped 13.2% from the same period last year to £216 [...]

The U.K's Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) is introducing a licensing plan for DVD-Video music products, but the proposed royalty system is facing criticism from labels body the British Phonographic Industry [...]

EMI Music Publishing has bought a further 30% stake in the Jobete song catalog from its founder Berry Gordy for $109.3 million. EMI now holds 80% equity in the catalog, [...]

EMI Group's battered and bruised stock continues to descend, dropping below £1 per share late last week for the first time in its history. At the close of trading on [...]

Ministry of Sound (MoS) founder James Palumbo is stepping away from his day-to-day duties as CEO of the financially troubled U.K-based dance music brand. Creative and marketing director Mark Rodol, [...]

The U.K.'s Glastonbury Festival will go ahead this year, after organizers managed to sway the support of local councilors during a seven-hour meeting that concluded in the early hours yesterday [...]

The U.K. record industry took a financial hit in 2002, with the value of shipments dropping 3.7% from 2001 to £1.186 billion ($1.93 billion), bringing to an end the territory's [...]

Two international retail chains are pulling out of major European markets. Tower Records has agreed to assign the leases to its last two stores in the U.K to Virgin Retail [...]

BMG has revamped its organizational structure in an effort the German major says will focus its efforts on 'creating global music superstars.' The restructuring triggers a shuffling of senior personnel. [...]

RIAA chairman/CEO Hilary Rosen said in her keynote address Saturday at MidemNet that she's proud to be known as 'the most hated woman in music.' She was referring to a [...]

One week after the completion of Bertelsmann's acquisition of Zomba, BMG chairman/CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz and COO Michael Smellie held meetings in New York and London with Zomba management and staff. [...]

EMI Group confirmed this morning the completion of its break from retailer HMV Group, while simultaneously revealing a financial recovery for the six months to Sept. 30. EMI is divesting [...]

The U.K music industry staged a welcome recovery in the third quarter, with the value of music shipments reaching £240.14 million ($379.3 million), a 3.5% increase compared to the same [...]

The Hoyts multiplex in Sydney's Moore Park will host a special screening May 10 of Universal artist Andre Rieu's blockbuster 'Live in Australia' DVD. The concert film will be shown [...]

Geoff Travis and Martin Mills are two of a kind. For more than 30 years, the veteran U.K. executives have blazed their own trails to the top of the independent [...]

Brussels-based independent music group PIAS is acquiring a 50% stake in U.K. mobile music marketing/distribution agency Indie Mobile for an undisclosed sum that PIAS says calls a 'significant investment.' PIAS [...]

When Charles Caldas pulled Merlin out of his hat at this year's MIDEM trade fair, the message that accompanied it was magic to the ears of the independent music community. [...]

British trade body AIM will offer independent labels the chance to 'date' international counterparts at this year's London Calling trade fair at the Earls Court exhibition center (June 28-29). The [...]

European MySpace executives have presented an innovative film project that will encourage creative input from its millions of users. One million pounds ($1.97 million) has been set aside to fund [...]

LONDON -- Britain's musicians have a new route to China. After establishing a presence in Beijing last year, the Assn. of Independent Music has helped open up new channels for [...]

The British Assn. of Independent Music is closely involved in the launch of Independent Music, a 24-page publication devoted to the indie music community. The stand-alone magazine will be delivered [...]

LONDON -- Fledgling British independents have yet another ally to help them compete with the bigger players. Leading independent firm Vital Distribution and its parent Play It Again Sam have [...]

Clear Channel Entertainment (CCE) has confirmed that Swedish band the Hives will perform on the first day of its second annual Download Festival, set for June 5-6 at England's Donington [...]

Massive Attack front man and founding member Robert Del Naja (aka 3-D) has inked an exclusive worldwide publishing deal with BMG Music Publishing for his future works. Universal Music Publishing [...]

UBS yesterday upgraded its rating on EMI Group. The investment bank bumped its EMI price target to 347p from 261p. Stock in the major, which has rallied in recent weeks, [...]

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has reached an out-of-court agreement with online CD retailer Playcom, its second such settlement in as many months. The BPI initiated legal proceedings against Play.com [...]

Les Gray, lead singer of '70s British hit-makers Mud, died Saturday in Portugal of a heart attack. Gray, 57, had suffered from throat cancer. Mud, a rock-influenced pop act, was [...]

U.K. retailer WH Smith confirmed yesterday that it will stop selling singles. A WH Smith spokesperson says the decision, which followed a companywide review of entertainment products, is 'a result [...]

U.K.-based mobile music-recognition firm Shazam Entertainment has forged a partnership to promote artists on dance label Ministry of Sound (MoS). Rising act Deepest Blue will be the first featured in [...]

London-based attorney David Glick has exited as senior partner at entertainment law firm Mishcon de Reya to set up a 'one-stop' advisory service for the entertainment, media, sports and fashion [...]

Musiwave, which provides wireless music to European telecommunications companies, has opened a subsidiary in Hong Kong. The move, according to Paris-based Musiwave, is an integral part of a worldwide expansion [...]

Andrew Yeates is exiting as director general of the British Phonographic Industry. He has held the role since July 2000. It is unclear who will take over Yeates' duties; sources [...]

Telecommunications giant Cable & Wireless is poised to roll out a European music download platform through a partnership with German digital service provider 24/7 Music.Shop. The parties unveiled the agreement [...]