Mike also gave a fantastic presentation at Midem - a case study on Trent Reznor.

Episode #6 of the Music Industry Forum Podcast is now available!  This is the first of a series of three podcasts "The Best of MIDEM 2009".  Our intent is to provide the best of MIDEM for those who were unable to attend the conference this year.  Look for upcoming podcasts to feature MIDEM presenters as well as respected industry executives.

Via Billboard.com

Saturday morning the Warner Music Group pulled all of its music from YouTube as negotiations over payment with Google’s video site reached an impasse. Warner’s move will affect its recordings as well as the songs it owns through Warner/Chappell Music.

“We are working actively to find a resolution with YouTube that would enable the return of our artists’ content to the site,” Warner said in a statement. “Until then, we simply cannot accept terms that fail to appropriately and fairly compensate recording artists, songwriters, labels and publishers for the value they provide."

Warner, one of the first media companies to strike a deal with YouTube, wants to make more money from online video. Although the nature of the negotiations is unknown, a sticking point could be that YouTube has lagged in monetizing its considerable traffic at a time when competitors, like Hulu, are emerging. Warner still makes videos available to MTV, MySpace Music and other sites.

YouTube also has agreements with the other major labels, which it is now renegotiating. It is not known whether Warner’s move could effect the other negotiations.

“Sometimes, if we can't reach acceptable business terms, we must part ways with successful partners,” YouTube said in a statement on its blog.

This year, Warner has more than 20 percent market share of albums, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and Atlantic is the No. 1 label in the U.S.

From WSJ.com

After years of suing thousands of people for allegedly stealing music via the Internet, the recording industry is set to drop its legal assault as it searches for more effective ways to combat online music piracy.

The decision represents an abrupt shift of strategy for the industry, which has opened legal proceedings against about 35,000 people since 2003. Critics say the legal offensive ultimately did little to stem the tide of illegally downloaded music. And it created a public-relations disaster for the industry, whose lawsuits targeted, among others, several single mothers, a dead person and a 13-year-old girl.

Instead, the Recording Industry Association of America said it plans to try an approach that relies on the cooperation of Internet-service providers. The trade group said it has hashed out preliminary agreements with major ISPs under which it will send an email to the provider when it finds a provider's customers making music available online for others to take.

Depending on the agreement, the ISP will either forward the note to customers, or alert customers that they appear to be uploading music illegally, and ask them to stop. If the customers continue the file-sharing, they will get one or two more emails, perhaps accompanied by slower service from the provider. Finally, the ISP may cut off their access altogether.

The RIAA said it has agreements in principle with some ISPs, but declined to say which ones. But ISPs, which are increasingly cutting content deals of their own with entertainment companies, may have more incentive to work with the music labels now than in previous years.

The new approach dispenses with one of the most contentious parts of the lawsuit strategy, which involved filing lawsuits requiring ISPs to disclose the identities of file sharers. Under the new strategy, the RIAA would forward its emails to the ISPs without demanding to know the customers' identity.

Though the industry group is reserving the right to sue people who are particularly heavy file sharers, or who ignore repeated warnings, it expects its lawsuits to decline to a trickle. The group stopped filing mass lawsuits early this fall.

It isn't clear that the new strategy will work or how effective the collaboration with the ISPs will be. "There isn't any silver-bullet anti-piracy solution," said Eric Garland, president of BigChampagne LLC, a piracy consulting company.

Mr. Garland said he likes the idea of a solution that works more with consumers. In the years since the RIAA began its mass legal action, "It has become abundantly clear that the carrot is far more important than the stick." Indeed, many in the music industry felt the lawsuits had outlived their usefulness.

"I'd give them credit for stopping what they've already been doing because it's been so destructive," said Brian Toder, who represents a Minnesota mother involved in a high-profile file-sharing case. But his client isn't off the hook. The RIAA said it plans to continue with outstanding lawsuits.

Over the summer, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began brokering an agreement between the recording industry and the ISPs that would address both sides' piracy concerns. "We wanted to end the litigation," said Steven Cohen, Mr. Cuomo's chief of staff. "It's not helpful."

As the RIAA worked to cut deals with individual ISPs, Mr. Cuomo's office started working on a broader plan under which major ISPs would agree to work to prevent illegal file-sharing.

The RIAA believes the new strategy will reach more people, which itself is a deterrent. "Part of the issue with infringement is for people to be aware that their actions are not anonymous," said Mitch Bainwol, the group's chairman.

Mr. Bainwol said that while he thought the litigation had been effective in some regards, new methods were now available to the industry. "Over the course of five years, the marketplace has changed," he said in an interview. Litigation, he said, was successful in raising the public's awareness that file-sharing is illegal, but now he wants to try a strategy he thinks could prove more successful.

The RIAA says piracy would have been even worse without the lawsuits. Citing data from consulting firm NPD Group Inc., the industry says the percentage of Internet users who download music over the Internet has remained fairly constant, hovering around 19% over the past few years. However, the volume of music files shared over the Internet has grown steadily.

Meanwhile, music sales continue to fall. In 2003, the industry sold 656 million albums. In 2007, the number fell to 500 million CDs and digital albums, plus 844 million paid individual song downloads -- hardly enough to make up the decline in album sales.

49 songs are eligible for the 2009 Oscar.  Who is your favorite?

"Another Way to Die" from "Quantum of Solace"

"Barking at the Moon" from "Bolt"

"The Boys Are Back" from "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

"Broken and Bent" from "Role Models"

"By the Boab Tree" from "Australia"

"The Call" from "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"

"Can I Have This Dance" from "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

"Chase the Morning" from "Repo! The Genetic Opera"

"Chromaggia" from "Repo! The Genetic Opera"

"The Code of Life" from "My Dream"

"Code of Silence" from "Save Me"

"Count on Me" from "The Women"

"Di Notte" from "The Lodger"

"Djoyigbe" from "Pray the Devil Back to Hell"

"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E"

"Dracula's Lament" from "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"

"Drive" from "Fuel"

"Forever" from "They Killed Sister Dorothy"

"High School Musical" from "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

"Gran Torino" from "Gran Torino"

"I Thought I Lost You" from "Bolt"

"I Want It All" from "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

"In Rodanthe" from "Nights in Rodanthe"

"It Ain't Right" from "Dark Streets"

"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire"

"Just Getting Started" from "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

"Just Wanna Be with You" from "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

"Little Person" from "Synecdoche, New York"

"The Little Things" from "Wanted"

"A Night to Remember" from "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

"Nothing but the Truth" from "Nothing but the Truth"

"Now or Never" from "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire"

"Once in a Lifetime" from "Cadillac Records"

"Right Here Right Now" from "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

"Right to Dream" from "Tennesee"

"Rock Me Sexy Jesus" from "Hamlet 2"

"Scream" from "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

"The Story" from "My Blueberry Nights"

"Sweet Ballad" from "Yes Man"

"Too Much Juice" from "Dark Streets"

"The Traveling Song" from "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa"

"Trouble the Water" from "Trouble the Water"

"Up to Our Nex" from "Rachel Getting Married"

"Walk Away" from "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

"Waterline" from "Pride and Glory"

"The Wrestler" from "The Wrestler"

"Yes Man" from "Yes Man"

"Zydrate Anatomy" from "Repo! The Genetic Opera"

From today's LA Times:

Annual sales of digital songs will surpass 1 billion downloads this year, a first for the struggling music industry.

Nielsen SoundScan predicted in April that music downloads would reach this milestone, and with two weeks remaining in the year, that forecast appears to be proving accurate.

Individual song downloads will reach about 1,040,000 for the year, with the top 200 tracks accounting for 17% of sales. The best-selling digital song of the year is Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love," which sold 3.3 million downloads.

Still, that's not enough to offset the decline in CD sales. This year's album sales are off 45% from the same time in 2000. A recent Forrester Research report projects that disc sales will continue to fall by an annual rate of 8% a year over the next five years.

-- Dawn C. Chmielewski

As reported by WSJ today:

Band's Stock Sale Will Cost Company Millions; Madonna Can Cash In, Too

By ETHAN SMITH

The Irish rock band U2 hasn't toured since 2006, but it stands to make $25 million in a sweetheart stock deal, according to SEC filings Wednesday and people familiar with the matter. In March, the band struck a 12-year deal with Live Nation Inc., that called for the concert promotion giant to pay U2 partly with stock. Live Nation promised to pay tens of millions of dollars to high-profile artists in exchange for several years' worth of revenue from a broad range of their work, including concerts, online fan clubs and t-shirt sales. The idea was pitched as a novel way to make money in the ailing music business.

European Pressphoto Agency The company had held up the stock component of the U2 deal as evidence of the band's faith in Live Nation, as well as confidence in its new business model. But that faith was shaken Wednesday when the band moved to sell the shares, forcing Live Nation to make up an estimated $19 million in losses., Live Nation had guaranteed that U2 would receive $25 million for 1.6 million shares. But the current market value was just $6.1 million at the close of trading Wednesday. That leaves Live Nation on the hook for the balance, which the company said Wednesday in a SEC filing it would pay with cash on hand or borrowed money. There could be more bad news coming from another of the company's marquee acts: Madonna. In April, Madonna is eligible to sell $25 million of stock under the terms of her contract, even though the stock's market value has plunged 83% since she struck her deal in October 2007.

Live Nation Chief Executive Michael Rapino sought to play down the significance of the stock sales. "Madonna and U2 are the only two deals that did contain this provision," he said. "The Madonna business is great, and we look forward to monetizing our investment in U2 next year." Madonna's current "Sticky & Sweet" world tour is the pop star's first outing since she signed her 10-year, $120 million deal with Live Nation. Live Nation expects to start recouping its investment in U2 when the band begins a planned tour next year and releases its 12th album.

Reached in London, where U2 is wrapping up work on the forthcoming album, band manager Paul McGuinness said: "We're very much in business with [Live Nation] and we're planning to tour in 2009." Madonna and U2 were the first of six superstar acts whom Live Nation has agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars each for several years' worth of revenues. Jay-Z, Nickelback and Shakira are among the other artists with whom Live Nation has deals.

Read the full story here.

A quick round up of some shows happening on New Years Eve:
 
Atlanta: Gym Class Heroes, TPain, Lil’ Wayne at Philips Arena, The 
Whigs at Variety Playhouse and Julianne Hough at Underground Atlanta
 
New York City: Chuck Berry at BB Kings and My Morning Jacket at 
Madison Square Garden Arena
 
Los Angeles: Stone Temple Pilots at Club Nokia
 
Nashville: Lynyrd Skynyrd and Trace Adkins at Sommet Center CANCELED
 
Chicago: Hum at Double Door and Blues Traveler at House of Blues
 
Las Vegas: Akon at House of Blues and Kid Rock at The Palms
 
Denver: Widespread Panic at Pepsi Center

Any suggestions of other shows?  Leave them in the comments below...