universal music group

Prerecorded music has been a fading industry for years, and herding struggling labels together will only make it that much easier to identify the remains. And there aren't too many people mourning major labels' passing.

For many rap and hip-hop artists, behind all the trash talk and posturing, it's all about business. Forbes recently released its Hip Hop Cash Kings list, and the 20 big names on it racked up a total of about $300 million, despite the weak economy and the Internet revolution that is killing the CD business.

Even former cocaine kingpins have to worry about brand protection. Infamous drug lord Ricky "Freeway Rick" Ross is suing the rapper known as Rick Ross for alleged violations including trademark infringement and misappropriation, among others, for $50 million in damages.

If CDs are priced at $9.99 or less, would you buy them instead of downloading them? The Universal Music Group plans to test that premise by dropping prices on new CDs to $10 or lower -- hoping to reignite the world's love affair with the compact disc. Suggested list prices range from $6 to $10....

The release of rapper Lil Wayne's upcoming rock album, Rebirth, was pushed back last week (for the sixth time) to February 1. But 500 lucky Amazon (AMZN) customers got the surprise stocking stuffer in the mail this week.

A splashy music-industry event in New York City on Tuesday night began, inevitably, with a speech by Bono. American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert and pop artiste Lady GaGa closed the gala out. In between, passionate testimonials from Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt and Universal Music Group CEO Doug...

Last week, British sensation Susan Boyle set the record for the highest single-sales week of 2009. This week, Boyle continued to lure consumers where they'd resisted going all year: the music aisle. I Dreamed A Dream, Boyle's debut for Sony's (SNE) Sony Music Entertainment, sold 527,000 copies in...

Universal Music Group recently signed deals giving it control over much of Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra's catalogs and likeness rights, Variety reports. Universal will become the official multiyear licensee for 38 albums and 14 DVDs by Ol' Blue Eyes, and the exclusive manufacturer and...