SWIFT ON TOP, BUT HERE COMES COLE

Country Phenom Will Top Chart, as Keyshia Cole, Jamie Foxx, Fall Out Boy, Anthony Hamilton Debut

December 17, 2008

The final home stretch before Santa comes to town is in full swing.

Taylor Swift’s Big Machine album Fearless is proving to be the holidays’ big winner, on track to log another week at #1, with a total pegged at between 330-350k.

With MSNBC reporting that Wal-Mart is generating more sales this Q4 than Target, JC Penney and Sears combined, that could bode well for Swift’s continued success through the end of the year.

As for the last batch of major debuts of 2008, Geffen diva Keyshia Cole’s A Different Me looks to be the biggest, with a projected first-week total of 275-300k, good enough for a #2 bow.

J/RMG actor-turned-R&B crooner Jamie Foxx’s Intuition should have a high debut, possibly even #3, with estimates in the 210-230k range.

Island/IDJ emo-rockers Fall Out Boy’s delayed Folie a Deux is up next at 125-135k, with Amazon launching a $3.99 MP3 Deal of the Day yesterday and today that should boost sales figures.

Grammy-nominated LaFace/ZLG soul man Anthony Hamilton is looking at 120-130k for his new album, The Point of it All.

Atlantic rapper Plies, an alum of the Florida-based Slip N’ Slide label, is on target for 95-105k for his new album, DA REAList.

DGC/Interscope Oklahoma rockers All-American Rejects are trending at 60-65k for their apocalyptic-sounding third album, When the World Comes Down.

Interscope kid rapper Soulja BoyTell'Em returns with his sophomore album after a successful debut and is eyeing 30-35k in first-week sales.

The market was up 14% vs. last week, down 28% vs. same week last year and still down 14% year to date.

Hey, it could be worse. You could have invested your life savings with Bernard Madoff.

GREEN GOES OLE: Add Enrique Iglesias to Michael Green’s growing management company The Collective. The Latin superstar, along with his day-to-day manager Fernando Giaccardi, now joins a roster that handles such acts as Linkin Park, Staind, Avenged Sevenfold, All American Rejects, Plain White Ts and Hoobastank, along with managers Rob McDermott, Larry Jacobson, Chris Allen, Jordan Berliant and Jeff Varner. Green, who was a founding member of The Firm with partner Jeff Kwatinetz, also has an interest in the horror film site, www.Bloody-Disgusting.com. (12/17p)

MOTLEY’S CREW: Motley Fool turns its thumbs down on Warner Music Group stock, while offering a recomendation on Live Nation. The stock analyst claims WMG "came to market five years too late," with CD sales peaking in 2000, and predicts “we’re at least three years away from a turnaround…if Warner Music even makes it that far.” On the other hand, the Fool is bullish on Live Nation, claiming “the concert promoter turned heads when it snatched Madonna from Warner last year… Unlike the dinosaur labels that are slowly weaning their way out of media sales, Live Nation gets it [as] one of the few music companies that see the future.” For the full report, go here. (12/17p)

INDIE SMOKE: There's a six-way tie for Top Label on the Independent Chart, with Victory, Epitaph, ATO, Sub Pop, Thrive and Ultra all tied at four title apiece. In overall YTD marketshare, Epitaph is #1, followed by Victory, with Merge and Metal Blade tied for third. (12/17p)

SPEAKING POLL-ISH: By now you’ve probably noticed that both Rolling Stone and Spin have named TV on the Radio’s Dear Science (on Interscope in the States, with publishing through Chrysalis U.S.) as Album of the Year. The results of Rolling Stone’s readers’ poll have now been tallied, and the winner is The Killers’ Day and Night (Island/IDJ), while TVOTR is #6. In between are Coldplay’s Viva La Vida, Kings of Leon’s Only by the Night (RCA), MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular (Columbia) and Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy (Geffen). Overall, the respondents manifest excellent taste in their selections, which you can peruse here. (12/17a)

JOBS BAILS ON MACWORLD: Questions about the state of Steve Jobs’ health have ratcheted up once again after Apple on Tuesday said that January’s Macworld trade show will be its last, and that Jobs won't be giving the keynote address. For years, the Apple CEO has used the annual event in San Francisco to unveil major products, including the MacBook Air laptop early this year and the iPhone in 2007. Instead, the keynote at the show on Jan. 6 will be given by marketing chief Phillip Schiller. (12/17a)

HEY, STEVE, WHAT’S THE SKINNY? Apple didn't comment on whether the decision was related to Jobs's health, but Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told the Wall Street Journal he believes that it's part of the company’s strategy to broaden its leadership beyond its iconic leader. Said Munster, "One thing that is clear is that there's a shift in power going on at Apple.” But the move could also raise renewed issues about Apple's obligation to disclose what investors regard as material information. "It begs the question of whether they're being fully transparent to investors," said Bernstein and Co. analyst Toni Sacconaghi told the paper’s Yukari Iwatani Kane. According to an Apple spokesman, the company plans to focus on staging its own events from this point forward. (12/17a)

PEACE, LOVE & UNDERSTANDING CONSUMERS: EMI.com, an experimental destination designed to deliver content, foster discovery, and tighten fan relationships, has launched in beta form, Digital Music News reports. The site features content from label acts both past and present, including track clips, videos, bios, discographies and images. Explained VP of Digital Special Projects Alex Haar: "EMI.com is designed to be a learning lab. It will help us gain even more knowledge about consumer preferences and choices… This is the beginning of a longer-term experiment. In the coming months, we will continue to add content and features to the site." DMN points out that EMI’s digital strategists face “an incredibly difficult challenge. After all, understanding fans is one thing; getting them to buy stuff is quite another.” (12/17a)

QUOTE OF THE DAY: During Neil Young’s show with his Electric Band at Madison Square Garden Monday, the Hall of Famer, who’s spent most of the last 40 years on Reprise, quipped, “We’re auditioning for our old record company. So when you hear those new songs, you make a lot of fuckin’ noise whether you like ’em or not, OK?” The line was noted by N.Y. Times critic Nate Chinen in his entertaining review, which was posted on the paper’s site this morning. Chinen explains that ol’ Neil was referring to, among others, the unreleased “Light a Candle” (“a hymn for the hopeful,” notes the reviewer), “Fuel Line” (“a paean to his electric-biodiesel car”) and “Hit the Road and Go to Town,” (“exactly what it sounds like”). Wilco (“which played a solid but unimaginative opening set”) preceded Young’s band on the MSG stage. (12/17a)

RUBIN SANDIWCHED: According to Fox’s Roger Friedman, Sony Music may have come up with a solution to the Rick Rubin situation. Friedman claims they will give the Grammy-nominated producer a side label deal and remove him from the main company, leaving Rob Stringer and Steve Barnett in charge. The scribe claims the label was none too happy about his productions for other labels, including Warner Bros.’ Metallica and UMG’s U2, whose Rubin-helmed tracks were reportedly rejected by the band. The speculation comes as Sony takes occupancy of the I.M. Pei-designed ex-CAA offices in Beverly Hills this week, a move Rubin himself engineered, even though he mostly works out of his home. (12/16p)

HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN: Former Pulitzer Prize-winning L.A. Times journalist Chuck Philips’ story about the Tupac Shakur murder earns website Regret the Error’s prize for Error of the Year. The story relied in large part on documents provided to the reporter by James Sabatino, an inmate. The article suggested that the shooting was perpetrated by associates of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was aware of the attack. Roughly a week after the story was published, The Smoking Gun found the story full of holes, reporting the “FBI documents” were forged. The accusations leveled in the story against Combs and his associates were false, not to mention defamatory. On March 27, the L.A. Times officially apologized, and on April 7, it issued a formal retraction. Philips later left the paper. (12/16p)

MAZEL TOV: Congrats to Evan Prager, who didn’t really do much, but oversee the birth of Liam Chord Prager, who arrived last Friday (12/12), weighing in at a healthy 8lbs 9oz. Mom, Dad and big brother Ethan are all doing great. (12/16p)

THE BOTTOM ONLINE: Google continued to lead as the most trafficked U.S. web property in November with 147 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! with nearly 144 million visitors and Microsoft with 123.5 million visitors. The holiday shopping season caused several retailers to gain in the ranking, including Amazon (up one spot to #8 with 63.5 million visitors), Wal-Mart (up seven spots to #15 with 47.4 million visitors) and Target Corporation (up six spots to #18 with more than 39 million visitors). (12/16p)

AC/DC VS. GNR: The Wall Street Journal examines the big-box battle between hard rockers AC/DC and Guns N' Roses and analyzes why the former's Wal-Mart exclusive has, so far, done much better than the latter's Best Buy deal here. (12/16p)

CUCCI IN PLAY: Highly respected music vet Nick Cucci has ankled his job at MTV Network’s VH1 Classic Records, where he was VP Music for Program Enterprises. Cucci formerly held posts at both Columbia and RCA. Now a free agent, he can be reached at 917-566-4435 or NickCucci@verizon.net. (12/16p)

WHO’S #2? Amazon MP3 is now neck-in-neck for #2 among all online retailers behind iTunes, with both eMusic and Rhapsody, according to Wall Street Journal analyst Gene Munster, no relation, as far as we know, to Herman. Still, eMusic has now sold 250 million downloads since 2003, according to figures shared last month, while Amazon’s marketshare is below 10%, compared to Apple’s 70%+, so it’s hard to tell if Munster’s claim is accurate. The industry has been desperate for awhile now to establish a competitor to Apple, which includes withholding DRM-free licensing from Jobs’ monolith. Rumors are now making the round that DRM-free discussions are ongoing with majors Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, while EMI is already allowing the site to sell unprotected MP3s of its catalog. (12/16a)

DID YOU SAY CHARM SCHOOL? Sharon Osbourne, host of the MTV reality show Rock of Love: Charm School, allegedly attacked a contestant, scratching her and pulling her hair out. Megan Hauserman told police Osbourne “lost it” on Saturday’s reunion show when she told her she was only famous for managing husband Ozzy, "a brain-dead rock star." Megan went to the hospital Sunday afternoon and filed a report with the LAPD on Sunday night. "We know a battery incident is alleged to have occurred on a taping of a reality show Sharon Osbourne hosts," said police spokesman Ben Llewellyn. The LAPD said Sharon is a suspect in a minor battery. No charges have been filed. Meanwhile, Ozzy is still trying to explain what happened, but nobody can understand what he’s talking about. (12/16a)

LENO ON HOWARD: Jay Leno talked to the N.Y. Times today about his move to 10 p.m. on NBC, and admitted he was not ready to step away from television. “I’m old enough to realize there’s only so many years left. I kind of watched Howard Stern. On radio, Howard to me was a populist. The truck driver, the average guy would listen in the café, the truck, the old car that’s 50 years old and still has an AM radio. Then he went to Sirius and obviously it was a lot of money. But I don’t hear him quoted anymore. People don’t say: ‘Hey, did you hear what Howard said today?’ And I’m sure he’s still doing what he always does. But to me that seemed a mistake.” No word yet on whether Stern alum Stuttering John will be bringing his coffee mug along for what will be called The Jay Leno Show, but you can be sure Howard will be following that story. (12/16a)

GO WEST: Although reportedly suffering from the flu, Kanye West gave it his all on this past weekend’s Saturday Night Live, performing both “Love Lockdown” and a medley of “Heartless” and “Pinocchio Story” before a giant blue screen on the show’s year-end finale. While he had to supplement the high notes on “Lockdown" because of being under the weather, ‘Ye was otherwise in top form, even if the sound mix, typical for SNL, left something to be desired. Then, to top it off, he flew cross-country to make a surprise appearance at KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas last night. Check Daily Motion here to see his SNL performance for yourself. (12/15p)

BRITNEY LIGHTS THE FUSE: Video music channel Fuse fans chose Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” as the best music video of 2008 on The Top 40 of 2008: The Good, The Bad & The Britney, hosted by Katy Perry, where she went head-to-head with 32 artists in a tournament-style voting bracket. Over five weeks, more than 14 million votes were cast for the prize. Spears beat out Paramore’s “That’s What You Get” in the final round. Other videos in the final eight included Linkin Park’s “Given Up,” Chris Brown’s “With You,” M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” Secondhand Serenade’s “Fall for You,” Disturbed’s “Inside the Fire” and Slipknot’s “Psychosocial.” (12/15p)

GAGE ENGAGED: Kevin Gage has been named SVP Strategic Planning and Digital Development for ASCAP by CEO John LoFrumento, to whom he’ll report. Gage will direct the org’s overall digital strategy and reinforce efforts to establish fair compensation for the digital use of members’ copyrighted music. Gage boasts over 16 years of senior strategic and digital media experience with Warner Music Group, Warner Bros. Studios and NBC Universal. Most recently at NBC Universal, he directed global new media distribution strategy. Earlier in his career, Gage worked in Hollywood developing advanced computer video platforms. He has 1,876,465 Facebook friends. (12/15p)

HALLELUJAH C’MON GET HAPPY: Alexandra Burke, the latest British X Factor winner, the Simon Cowell show that produced Leona Lewis, has the fastest-selling single of all-time in Europe with her version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” by way of Jeff Buckley. The release has sold 105k units and downloads since being released yesterday. It’s almost enough to cheer up the usually dour Cohen. (12/15p)

FOLLOWING THE FIRM: Michael Papale, formerly of The Firm, is now a much-sought-after free agent, and is currently talking to a number of suitors. Where will he land? We'll find out more in 2009. (12/15p)

EMI DONGS DINGMAN: Eric Dingman has been named President of EMI Classics, reporting to President of Catalog Ernesto Schmitt. The exec, who will take up this global role in January, comes from WPP, an international marketing and advertising group, where he worked at the consumer insight and research group Kantar. He has held a number of senior brand marketing and business development roles at companies like Labatt Breweries, working with their sponsorship of the Toronto Film Festival, and Vice Chair for the Fashion Design Council of Canada. Part of his new job will include styling Guy Hands’ wardrobe at Three Day Suit Broker. (12/15p)

EMINEM READY FOR RELAPSE: Eminem is finishing up his new album Relapse with producer Dr. Dre, who put his own Detox album on hold to work on the project, which is scheduled for release next year. "Me and Dre are back in the lab like the old days, man," he wrote in an e-mail to Billboard. "Just him banging away on tracks and me getting that little spark that makes me write to it. We are up to our old mischievous ways ... let's just leave it at that." He added that 50 Cent’s Before I Self Destruct will be out in February on his Shady label, while Ca$his will release the follow-up to his 2007 EP County Hound. (12/15a)

KISS OFF FROM A ROSE: Axl Rose surfaced on a pair of Guns N’ Roses web sites over the weekend, addressing a wide range of topics, including his relationships with former band members and specific songs from Chinese Democracy. On why the original GNR line-up fell apart, he says: "What I can say now is you've been told a lot of things in order for others to promote themselves that factually they cannot backup in regard to either… They are complicated legally, financially and have devoured a good portion of my life." He also mentioned there was additional material from the sessions. "I will say I've always thought of it as a double album,” adding a video for the new single, “Better,” would be released “in a week or so.” As for his reluctance to promote the new album in the press, he added: "What I have to say a lot of people have no desire to hear… Your misconceptions and fantasies along with your misguided sense of entitlement don't dictate my actions." So there. (12/15a)

UMG TOP 10 ONLINE: Universal Music Group has climbed into the Top 10 online music destinations for November, according to comScore, which tracks such things. The Top 10 music destinations for the month include AOL, Yahoo, MySpace Music, MTV, ArtistDirect, Clear Channel Online, PlayList, MSN Music, MetroLyrics and UMG. (12/15a)RETAIL DOLDRUMS: November represented the fifth consecutive month of retail declines, according to figures from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, down 1.8% from October and 7.4% from last year to $355.7 billion. The heavy downturn is affecting brick-and-mortar music retailers as well as online CD sellers. With buyers demonstrating more selectivity, companies like Wal-Mart and McDonald’s are up, while deep discounting is spurring consumer electronics sales. E-commerce sales are down 4.8% year-over-year for the month of November and first week of December. That’s right folks, only 10 shopping days until Christmas. (12/15a)

NOT-SO-SILENT BUT STILL DEADLY: More holiday gift ideas. Apple iTunes App Store has approved a new software application for its iPhone known as iFart Mobile. Yes, it’ll have users asking friends to pull their finger. The Digital Sound Machine also functions as a built-in security system designed to surprise and discourage iPhone theft. Makers encourage users to employ the application and then take pictures of reactions to upload on YouTube. What will they think of next? (12/15a)

PEARL JAMMING: Harmonix and MTV Games will offer Pearl Jam’s Ten, the band’s acclaimed debut album, which sold 12 million copies, for download in the Rock Band Music Store day-and-date with the reissue of the disc in stores March 24. MTV SVP Electronic Games and Music Paul DeGooyer added, “Just hearing the first few notes of ‘Jeremy’ or ‘Alive’ brings back all the raw emotion of this incredible, hugely important album. We are honored to be working with Pearl Jam to deliver Ten as it is re-issued.” The band’s “Alive” is already available on the Rock Band 2 game disc. (12/15a)

DIGITAL THIEVERY: Alan Ellis, administrator of the BitTerrorist hub OiNK, was charged with conspiracy to defraud by a British court on Friday. Ellis did not enter a plea, and his case was adjourned until next spring. Five ex-users of the shuttered site were also brought up on charges of copyright infringement and according to reports, four of them pleaded guilty. (12/15a)

YOUR WEAKEND TOP 10 CHART PREVIEW: As the work week winds down, it's still a tight race for #1 next week, but our crack numbers crunchers are giving a slight edge to Big Machine’s Taylor Swift (190-200k) over Jive/ZLG’s Britney Spears (180-190k). With only two weekends left until Christmas, they’re expecting strong sales on the skyrocketing country star at the big-box accounts, and while Britney could still take the top spot, she'll have to buck the trend of big second-week drops in order to do so. As for the rest of next week’s leader board, it’ll be composed of the usual suspects: #3 Beyonce (Music World/Columbia), 140-150k; #4 Nickelback (Roadrunner), 130-140k; #5 Kanye West (Roc-A-Fella/IDJ), 120-130k; #6 Now 29 (UMe) 110-120k; #7 High School Musical 3 (Walt Disney) or Twilight (Chop Shop/Atlantic), both trending toward 100-110k; #9 David Cook (19/RCA/RMG) 95-100k; and finally, at #10, the week’s lone debut, Musiq Soulchild (Atlantic), with 90-95k. (12/12a)

THESE MEN ARE AN ISLAND: Lonely Island, the Emmy-winning comedy/musical troupe formed by SNL’s Andy Samberg with collaborators Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer and responsible for some of the web’s biggest viral videos, have been signed to Universal Republic Records by President/CEO Monte Lipman and brother Avery. The trio will release Incredibad, their first comedy CD/DVD Feb. 10. Lonely Island’s work includes such SNL/YouTube classics “D**k in a Box,” featuring Justin Timberlake, and “Lazy Sunday,” a farcical rap about The Chronicles of Narnia. Their latest digital short and first single from the new album, “J**z In My Pants,” became the #1 Most Viewed Video on YouTube after just one airing on SNL. Check it out here. (12/12p)

A MONKEE CHRISTMAS: Stumped for a great holiday gift? How about a share of publishing royalties for a hit by The Monkees? SongVest is offering what it calls "music memorabilia with a paycheck." Purchase a percentage of the songwriter share of songs made famous by The Monkees and receive royalty checks as well as a plaque denoting your ownership. Songs include “(Theme from) The Monkees,” “Last Train to Clarksville,” “I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone” and more. For soap opera fans, the site will auction the “Theme From Days of Our Lives” beginning Wednesday. Expected pricing for all songs ranges from $1400 to $25,000+. (12/12p)

RAZOR BURNS: Razor & Tie PR head Carise Yatter has left the building as of today. Reach her at cariseyatter@gmail.com or on her cell (917) 301-6664. For any Razor & Tie publicity needs, contact Kerri Brusca at kbrusca@razorandtie.com. (12/12p)

GHOST BUSTING: Amanda Ghost, the English singer/songwriter reportedly (by us) in line for a top label post at Epic, received a Golden Globe Original Song nomination for co-writing Beyoncé's "Once in a Lifetime," from the movie Cadillac Records, with Knowles, Scott McFarnon, Ian Dench, James Dring and Jody Street. (12/12p)

PULL UP TO THE BUMPER: As the year draws to a close, Jesse and Erica step back to acknowledge those good-ears people who turned them on to the acts they featured in Wheels 2.0, as we ll as the industry veterans who mentored them. See if your name is on the list right here. (12/12a)

COMPLICATED: Following up those published reports that Avril Lavigne is leaving Nettwerk management, Digital Music News got word from a source that she’s headed to—right you are—Front Line, as Irving Azoff continues in his quest to manage every gold and platinum act in the biz. The split with Terry McBride's company is believed to be related to growing dissatisfaction by the Lavigne camp over album sales, touring receipts and overall career development. (12/12a)

FOR A SONG: The rest of the Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Song are “Aside Down to Earth" (WALL-E), music by Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman; lyrics by Peter Gabriel; "Gran Torino” (Gran Torino), music by Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens; lyrics by Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens; "I Thought I Lost You” (Bolt), music & lyrics by Miley Cyrus, Jeffrey Steele; and "The Wrestler” (The Wrestler) music & lyrics by Bruce Springsteen. (12/11p)

KEEPING SCORE: Clint Eastwood received just two Golden Globe nominations, both for music, including a Best Score nod for Changeling along with Alexandre Desplat (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ), James Newton Howard (Defiance), A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) and Hans Zimmer (Frost/Nixon). (12/11p)

SPARE THE ROD: International Talent Booking’s Rod MacSween is up for U.K. Booking Agent of the Year in this year’s annual Pollstar Poll, which can be seen here. MacSween is practically the Susan Lucci of the event, a perennial loser to The Agency Group’s Neil Warnock, so he is trying to get out the vote to avoid another ignominious defeat in a category that also includes Solo Agency’s John Giddings and X-Ray Touring’s Steve Strange. MacSween’s clients include The Who, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Lenny Kravitz, Christina Aguilera, Bon Jovi and Pearl Jam, among others. Vote for him and he’ll see if he can get you a private audience with Fred Durst. (12/11p)

THOSE WERE THE DAYS: The reunion of Arista Records’ ’88 staff aka “That Championship Season,” organized by Ken Levy, Rose Marino and Kim Forepaugh at N.Y. bistro Sambuca, was a resounding success. Among the attendees were Clive Davis, Donnie Ienner, Richard Palmese, Rick Bisceglia, Jordan Katz, Rick Dobbis, Michael Klenfner, Kirk Bonin, Barry Levine, Sean Coakley, Tom Ennis, Jim Cawley, Monte and Avery Lipman, Tony Anderson, Jon Klein, Jean Riggins, Jay Ziskrout, Saul Shapiro, Marty Diamond, Mark Rizzo, Bruce Schoen, Doug Daniel, Tony Anderson and Mitchell Cohen. Levy played an introductory video of the late production chief (and early HITS icon) Milton Sincoff as Alfred Hitchcock, after which Clive delivered remarks. About 90 minutes later, the party resumed. (12/11p)

PICK TO CLICK: Fontana’s Ron Spaulding is high on Norwegian punk-rocker Ida Maria, whose debut album comes out in March on veteran label exec Ric Aliberte’s Upper 11 Records, newly signed to the UMGD indie distribbery’s stable. The 24-year-old’s single, “Oh My God,” came out in Europe this summer, and is already buzzing on the hit list in the new Spin and Rolling Stone, as well as being named the #3 record of the year in Time here. Ida will be in L.A. and N.Y. for showcases in January and at SXSW after that. Contact Aliberte at raliberte@upper11.com. (12/11p)

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE: Terra Firma’s Guy Hands told a U.K. reporter that he and Citigroup were just “two months too late” in acquiring EMI. In an interview for a BBC radio show, The EMI Story, Hands said: "It was incredibly unfortunate timing, some people would say bad timing, but the reality is if either Citigroup or ourselves could have guessed where the markets were going to head, we'd have been geniuses and have made a fortune, the reality is that sitting in May 2007, which is when we committed to the deal, it didn't close legally until the end of September, but sitting there in May 2007, the world looked a very cheerful place.” (12/11p)

ADD EMI: EMI Music A&R head Nick Gatfield also chimed in: "I think there's more pressure now to spend money smarter, be more prudent, and be more strategic in what you do, but I think that's a pressure now which is right across the music industry. EMI has the most incredible history, the most incredible catalogue. Five years ago, the UK company had a 33% share of the domestic repertoire market, from Coldplay to Robbie Williams to Kylie to Gorillaz. It was a powerhouse; it needs to be wound up, kick started again, and invested in, which we're doing." (12/11p)

DECK THE HALLS WITH HOLLY: HITS’ former Neobilly queen Holly Gleason celebrated her co-writing of Kenny Chesney’s #1 hit, “Better as a Memory,” under the name Lady Goodman, at a BMI-sponsored gathering of Music Row’s elite recently. Co-written by Travis Hill under his alias, Scooter Carusoe, and produced by Buddy Cannon, the tune was also voted one of NSAI’s “Ten Songs I Wish I’d Written.” Chesney himself joined in the happy task of thrusting Gleason, a behind-the-scenes guru who has also toiled as a publicist and music journalist, into the spotlight. Wonder if she kept her shoes on. (12/11p)

JIVE/ZOMBA ON THE MOVE: On Monday (12/15), the Jive/Zomba West Coast staff will be firmly ensconced in their new headquarters at the I.M. Pei building (9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212). The main line is (310) 272-2100. Individual numbers are as follows: Ken Lucek (2647), Beata Czechowski (2642), Danny Cooper (2068) and Promo Fax (2629). (12/11p)

MATT GONE: Matt Farber has left his Fuse post as EVP Programming/Development/ Digital, and can be reached at matt@wildernessmedia.com. (12/11p)

EAST vs. WEST: The Los Angeles Film Critics chose the animated feature Wall E as the best film of 2008, while the New York Film Critics went with Milk. (12/11a)

EVERYBODY MUST GET STONE: TV on the Radio’s artistic breakthrough Dear Science is #1 in Rolling Stone’s just-posted Albums of the Year list, while Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” is the #1 single. Interestingly, an artchival collection—Tell Tale Signs—The Bootleg Series, a captivating look at Bob Dylan’s last 20 years of work—was the #2 album, according to the mag’s editorial staff. As for the year’s biggest sellers, Lil Wayne came in at #3, and Coldplay at #7. On the singles side, Santogold’s “Les Artistes” was #2 and MGMT’s “Time to Pretend” #3. Click here for the Top 50 albums and here for the Top 100 singles. (12/11a)

THAT’S GROSS! Bon Jovi commanded the year’s top-grossing tour, racking up $210.6 million on over 2.1 million ducats, sayeth the Bible. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band took second place on a $204 million gross, trailed by Madonna ($162 million), the second leg of The Police reunion tour ($150 million) and Celine Dion ($91 million). The touring industry may not be recession-proof, but it had its best year on record, with grosses just south of $4 billion, up 13% from 2007. (12/11a)

CARDINAL SIN: Alterna-cult hero Ryan Adams has a new day job. Page Six reveals. Adams has spent the past few weeks as an intern at BlackBook magazine, and he just got promoted to staff writer. Adams (“who shuns baths,” the item points out) will write a weekly column about life on the road as he traverses the country promoting his new Lost Highway album Cardinology. “Let's hope Adams, who likes to ramble on incessantly on the Web, has a good editor,” the item concludes. (12/11a)

SAY WHAT? Sony BMG was sued yesterday by the Federal Trade Commission for collecting and disclosing personal data about 30k children without informing their parents, Bloomberg reported. The civil lawsuit, which alleges violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, seeks unspecified monetary damages and an injunction. This doesn’t have anything to do with the rootkit fiasco, does it? (12/11a)

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Labels Focus On Their Own Web Sites

Major Labels Spending More Time On The Web

After years of watching everyone from APPLE to YOUTUBE develop profitable and close relationships with music fans, major record labels have been quietly making a big push to understand who buys their music, reports REUTERS. The labels are betting that owning the music fan relationship will be key in their ongoing struggle to turn around dwindling sales of music after nearly a decade of being ravaged by digital piracy on the Web and CD copying.

EMI said on WEDNESDAY it was taking the wraps off its long-rumoured EMI.COM consumer portal for U.S. and U.K. fans, featuring options for them to discover both new and archive music and videos from their favourite EMI artists.

The company described the new site as a "learning lab. It will help us gain even more knowledge about consumers' preferences," EMI executive ALEX HAAR said in a statement.

LONDON-based EMI is somewhat late to the game in launching a group consumer site. Its larger rivals all have group or label sites like UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP and SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT's MYPLAY.COM and WARNER MUSIC GROUP's ATLANTIC RECORDS.

Attitudes have begun to change at major labels, who have started appointing executives with experience in consumer marketing and digital to top positions. For instance, EMI this year appointed former RECKITT BENCKISER executive ELIO LEONI-SCETI as chief executive of recorded music and DOUGLAS MERRILL, a former GOOGLE executive, as president of digital.

Executives said that the need to understand what fans want and how they want it has become a crucial part of the way a music label is run today. These executives insisted that the motivation for owning the fan relationship is not about cutting out the retailer or building intrusive databases but will instead grow new forms of revenue such as advertising, tickets and merchandise.

"We create products and we create platforms and we can go direct-to-consumer, which is free for the fan, but the B2B(business-to-business) part is where we make our shekels," said a person familiar with UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP's plans.

Sony Partners With Ibibo On Michael Jackson Release

Michael Jackson

SONY BMG has partnered with online social network IBIBO.COM to roll out the first ever community voted compilation of the best of "MICHAEL JACKSON King Of Pop."

The music album that will be in stores by JANUARY will be a special selection of MICHAEL JACKSON songs collectively voted by community members of IBIBO.COM. The community members with the most voted tracks will win prizes and get recognition on the website.

The IBIBO.COM community will be able to listen and vote for over 100 hits of JACKSON. The community can join the fan club and also watch MJ’s videos and photos. The tracks will be from MJ’s popular albums like Thriller, Dangerous, Off the Wall, History, Bad etc. Based on the most voted for JACKSON tracks, SONY BMG will release into the market a double CD collection called MICHAEL JACKSON-The King of Pop.