Citigroup Inc. has agreed to sell EMI’s recorded music and publishing businesses in separate transactions for a combined $4.1 billion.

From the Article

Universal Music Group will buy EMI’s record labels, home to Katy Perry and Coldplay, for 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion), and a Sony Corp.-led group that includes billionaire...[read more]

The upcoming Deas Vail album has been pushed back to October 11th due to the fact that the band is now working with Sony Red Music. Hit the replies for a statement from the band.

Submitted by DandonTRJ

Sony is relocating its CD plant - not a good sign for the physical media industry.

Submitted by emopunkfan

Tonight Alive have signed with Sony Records and will be recording throughout December and January with Mark Trombino. More info can be found in the replies.

Submitted by KissTheBottle

Sony is no longer producing the Walkman. My cassette copy of Deep Blue Something's 11th Song weeps softly in a box somewhere.

Submitted by provethatIexist

EMI, Warner Bros, Sony BMG and Universal are all being sued for piracy.

Submitted by cavalry

On October 22nd, Sony will launch their Club Dates series by showing a Third Eye Blind high-definition live performance in several movie theaters across the country. We have two tickets for each theater to give away - just head to the replies and claim the theater you'd like to attend.

Crash Parallel have signed with SonyBMG.

Submitted by kennedyAM

Last week, Song/BMG announced it would drop DRM on MP3's sold through digital music services. Now, the label is running a new product: artist and album-branded gift cards redeemable through MusicPass.com.

Sony/BMG will now license out DRM-free MP3s on digital music services. Sony/BMG is the last of the four major music labels to do away with the sharing-prevention software.

Following promotional deals with Amazon and Pepsi, Sony and WMG are seriously considering distributing releases in MP3 format next to EMI and Universal.

Sony BMG has recalled Deep Purple's live album after the band urged fans not to buy it due to its horrible quality.

Submitted by ByelineCole

Sony BMG Music Entertainment has created an ad-supported channel for music video content titled "Musicbox Video", courtesy of digital video distribution platform Brightcove. Head to Clickz.com to read an article on this.

From Billboard.com: The apparent power struggle between new Sony BMG Music Entertainment CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz and Sony Music’s two highest ranking creative executives has reached its breaking point. Don Ienner, the Sony Music Label Group chairman/CEO, and Michele Anthony, president/COO of the division and executive VP of Sony BMG, abruptly resigned their posts on June 1.

No reason was given for their exits, but company insiders say the...[read more]

Remember when Sony decided to put a root-kit on their albums? Well the final settlement has been released. Sony must stop using the program and consumers who bought a CD with the XCP software can receive a replacement disc. They will also receive either a cash payment of $7.50 and one free album download, or three free album downloads.

Source: BBC

Below is a message from Phil Pirrone (ex- A Static Lullaby) regarding Sony's cd protection software that was put on ASL's last release, Faso Latido, without permission.

Phil Pirrone On CD Protection Software

Hello Everyone. As some of you already know and are pissed off about, my former band, A Static Lullaby's album, Faso Latido was released by Sony, but that's not what EVERYONE is pissed about, only some "hardcore" fans were pissed about that. The worst...[read more]

Sony Music is the first major label to launch a "gay music label".

Submitted by: noles05

Sony BMG has struck a deal with the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit over copy-restriction software it used in music CDs, according to a settlement document filed at a New York court Wednesday.

The record label has agreed to compensate buyers of CDs that contained the XCP and MediaMax DRM programs and to provide software utilities to allow consumers to uninstall both types of software from their computer.

In the settlement filing, Sony states that it will immediately recall all XCP CDs and replace them with non-content-protected CDs. It has also agreed to...[read more]

Texas files another lawsuit: Just as the commotion over the Sony BMG rootkit seemed to be dying down, another problem has surfaced. The latest ripple comes from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who has now filed a second lawsuit against the beleaguered company. In the most recent allegations, the attorney has charged Sony BMG with violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, this time through the use of its MediaMax copy protection scheme. According to Abbott, when users access a MediaMax CD, they are given files prior to their acceptance of the licensing agreement. Abbott alleges...[read more]

Below is an article from HitsDailyDouble.com regarding the recent shakeup at Sony BMG:

Article

U.S. Music Head Ienner Realigns Execs, Consolidates Key Team

December 2, 2005

The action continues at Sony BMG today, at least on the Sony side, with that company’s U.S. music division chief Don Ienner putting major executive changes and promotions into effect, consolidating and...[read more]

The state of Texas is suing Sony Records over the copyright protection spyware issue.

Submitted by: volume+volume

The following story is taken from Hits Daily Double: In response to a worldwide barrage of criticism regarding the deeply flawed DRM technology contained on several million recently released CDs, and to gird itself against further class-action suits, Sony BMG Wednesday morning formally announced the institution of a massive recall of XCP-encoded CDs as well as an exchange program for disgruntled customers. More than 4 million CDs containing XCP have been manufactured, with 2.1 million of those now in the hands of consumers.

read more]

The following story is taken from PunkNews.org: There appears to be more fallout coming in regarding Sony Music's recent copy-protection system. According to the Washington Post, a class-action lawsuit has been filed in California alledging that the copy-protection software falls under the scope of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act and violates the Consumer Protection Against Spyware Act.

Mark Russinovich, who uncovered the original "rootkit," also demonstrated that even the new version software contacts Sony music with...[read more]