Mediadrome’s first launch is planned for recording artist Guided By Voices in conjunction with its upcoming reunion tour kicking off later this year. The tour includes a headline appearance with Sonic Youth, Pavement, Belle & Sebastian and many others at Matador Records’ “Matador at 20″ festival.

The music group’s customized multi-content storefront, called “Guided By Voices Digital,” is expected to feature an in-depth artist experience that combines the group’s catalog, rare tracks and previously unavailable material as well as live tracks. It is expected to also offer Guided By Voices fans the chance to purchase tracks from the reunion tour performances, including next-day availability. The projected material available on the site will include Bob Pollard’s Guided By Voices, along with his prolific solo output and side projects, including Circus Devils, Boston Spaceships, The Takeovers and many others.

Livewire Mobile is a leader in music personalization services. Founded in 1983, the company today operates one of the premiere full-track music services for mobile operators around the world including Sprint, Virgin Mobile Canada and Telecom New Zealand, and has provided additional download services for some 40 operators worldwide. The Mediadrome service builds on the foundation of the Company’s proven integrated storefront technology. It plans to provide a complete fulfillment channel inclusive of end-to-end content operations, storefront building and payment/settlement services.

“Our multi-content storefront service allows the music industry to monetize the content consumers are looking for – quickly and effortlessly,” said Matthew Stecker, president and CEO, Livewire Mobile. “Livewire Mobile’s expertise in managing and delivering content for the telecommunications industry allows us to offer a proven, rock-solid technology platform that can handle the needs of the most complex artists with a sophisticated fan base. We couldn’t think of an artist with a more intricate catalog than Guided By Voices to be our first customer.”

The company’s Mediadrome sites expect to sell not only traditional digital music, but to also feature rare tracks, live archives, and offer the next-day sale of live recordings. For Mediadrome artists and their fans, the service is expected to deliver an immersive experience that allows for navigation and exploration of a large and comprehensive body of work. The company believes that this type of site will be crucial in the digital music discovery experience of the future.

“Guided By Voices Digital will provide a way for fans – both old and new – to discover Pollard and Guided by Voices’ extensive library as well as a place to aggregate a diverse set of content. Our partnership with Livewire will enable fans to further connect with our recording artists, broaden their music discovery and purchase the broadest array of content,” said David Newgarden, Guided By Voices’ business manager at ManageThis.

Record labels and recordings artists seeking more information about Livewire Mobile’s multi-content storefront service, should visit www.livewiremobile.com

Ms. Wade will represent 615′s 20,000 tracks of production music across 10 of the company’s 23 catalogs. UK-based producers, directors, editors and content owners who seek music for film, television, commercials, videogames or new media projects may visit http://www.615music.co.uk/

“I’m thrilled to have Danielle as part of the 615 Music team in the U.K.,” said Wachtler. “She’s an enthusiastic music lover who will be fun to work in conjunction with, as her efforts will further our library’s presence and exposure internationally. I’m excited to have our U.K. friends get the chance to have her expertise in finding the right music for their projects.”

Adds Wade, “Teaming up with 615 Music is a huge step for me in an industry I have grown to love. I can’t explain just how supportive the whole team has been, getting behind me on all the ideas I’ve got for building a really successful partnership. Watch.This.Space.”

In his new role, Putnam will work with both the MCA Nashville and Mercury Nashville labels. Most recently, Putnam served as Senior Director of Promotion for the company. He will report directly to Royce Risser.

Michelle Tyrrell joins MCA Nashville from Lyric Street Records, where she served as Director of Regional Promotion. She will report to Van Haze, Vice President of Promotion for MCA.

“Joe has risen through the ranks to become one of the most reliable promotion execs in our company,” stated Risser. “He has become an integral go-to player at MCA, and he is always the one you depend on during challenging situations. His relationships and instincts are second to none, and I am absolutely confident he will transition into this expanded role with ease.”

On Tyrrell’s appointment, Risser commented: “Michelle’s passion, work ethic, personality, and her slew of PD/MD fans will be a welcome addition to our staff. We are proud to make her the newest member of Team UMG!”

Since 2006, Gore has served as Executive Vice President/General Manager for Rhino, where he oversaw day-to-day operations for the company’s new release, reissue, catalog management, web properties and licensing businesses, and contributed to the re-launch of Rhino.com, which provides limited edition runs of out-of-print audio and video content for sale on the Internet. Some of Rhino’s other key releases during Gore’s tenure include Emotion & Commotion, Jeff Beck’s first studio album in seven years, which was released this year, as well as the Grammy Award-winning and platinum-certified soundtrack to the Broadway musical, Jersey Boys, the Gold-certified movie soundtrack, Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, and Rhino’s first No. 1 album, the soundtrack for Juno.

“Kevin is a superb executive who embodies the business creativity and passion for music that is absolutely essential for anyone leading a record company today,” said Lyor Cohen, Vice Chairman and Chairman and CEO, Recorded Music – Americas and the U.K. “We’ve worked hard to instill a philosophy of change and innovation throughout WMG, and Kevin has embraced that philosophy completely. He’s been a great asset in helping to push Rhino beyond the traditional boxed set business upon which its tremendous reputation is built and into promising new opportunities. I’m confident he will deliver even greater results in this important new role.”

“It’s a really great experience to have been here during a time of such dramatic transition and to have played a role in re-inventing this incredible company as we worked to find fresh new ways to share its legendary catalog of music,” said Gore. “I’m humbled to now have this chance to take the reins and thrilled to continue working in this new capacity with the great Rhino team, all of whom share with me the unwavering commitment to Rhino’s core mission of creating the best, most informative, innovative and fun music products.”

Gore joined Rhino in 2002 as Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing, coming from his position as President of Universal Classics Group. His prior experience includes roles as Senior Vice President/General Manager of Polygram Classics & Jazz, and Vice President of Jazz Promotion and Marketing for Columbia Records. He began his career working in record retail while in high school, before becoming one of the pilot college reps for CBS Masterworks while attending Northwestern University.

Gore succeeds Scott Pascucci who, in his nine-year tenure at Rhino, brought the company numerous successes and accolades, including the NARM award for “Label of the Year,” seven out of the last eight years, 17 Grammy Awards and four Emmys.

Naxos of America’s CEO, Jim Selby, commented, “At Naxos of America, Inc. we strive to partner with labels that have a mission similar to Naxos and our family of distributed labels and to provide services to our labels that enable them to grow and manage their businesses more effectively. Warner Classics and its imprints have decades of recorded history and we are excited and honored to be able to represent this fine label and its world-class artists.”

John Kelleher, Head of Warner Classics & Jazz, added, “Naxos is widely recognized as one of the most expert Classical music companies and one of the largest independent CD distributors in the world. By harnessing Naxos’ dedicated classical resources, this partnership will broaden the range of specialist titles we offer in the US and generate new commercial opportunities. At the same time, it enables Warner Classics to re-focus our efforts on growing our digital business in the region, as well as bolstering our A&R activities.”

The lawsuit was filed after DeVore and Hart made videos using the Henley hit songs The Boys of Summer, written by Henley and Campbell, and All She Wants To Do Is Dance, written by Kortchmar, to promote DeVore’s recent attempt to run for the U.S. Senate.

DeVore and Hart posted the campaign ads on YouTube and other sites. Rejecting the defendants’ claim that the videos were fair use “parodies,” the court found that the defendants’ use of the songs violated the plaintiffs’ copyrights.

DeVore and Hart issued the following statement:

“We apologize for using the musical works of Don Henley, Mike Campbell and Danny Kortchmar without respect for their rights under copyright law. The court’s ruling in this case confirms that political candidates, regardless of affiliation, should seek appropriate license authority before they use copyrighted works. Further, we regret all inaccurate, derogatory or disparaging remarks made about Mr. Henley during the course of this dispute.”

Don Henley commented, “My colleagues and I brought this lawsuit to protect our music from being taken and used, without permission, to promote someone else’s agenda. It was not a question of political ideology, but the right of artists to control the use of the works they create, and protect their livelihoods.”

As one of the most widely-recognized and highly-regarded catalogs in the popular Praise and Worship genre, Maranatha! Music is also one of the most active song catalogs on the CCLI charts (CCLI is a specialized chart used to track the use of songs in churches around the world). The acquisition of the music publishing assets of Maranatha! Music further establishes Brentwood-Benson as the world’s leading catalog of Christian Music copyrights. The announcement signifies UMPG’s firm commitment to its Christian Music division and follows an announcement made by the company in April 2009 that UMPG had acquired the publishing assets of Emack Music, the publishing arm of Christian label Gotee Records.

Dale Mathews commented: “This song catalog is known for being one of the very first, and one of the most important ‘Praise and Worship’ catalogs ever built. It is an honor and highly energizing, to bring this ‘gem’ into our family of copyrights. Taking care of this wonderful body of songs, and being able to represent the gifted songwriters that Maranatha! Music has introduced to the world is going to be a real treat for us! We look forward to growing this catalog and helping to perpetuate its legacy of being one of the most valued collections of Christian music copyrights ever assembled.”

UMPG is a leader in the contemporary Christian/gospel sector through its ownership of Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing. Brentwood-Benson is also active in the important Praise & Worship market through its GreatWorshipSongs.com imprint.

With over 70,000 copyrights, Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing owns the world’s largest Christian music publishing catalogue as well as the second largest evangelically-styled choral music catalog. Its songs have been recorded by virtually every major singer in the Christian music industry as well as by such renowned artists as Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles, Linda Ronstadt, Amy Grant, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Alicia Keys, Clay Aiken, Trace Adkins, Kelly Clarkson, and Taylor Swift.

“Joel’s vast experience with the legal and business issues facing the music industry today, both domestically and international, will be immensely valuable to our clients,” said Tom Lambert, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp’s Managing Partner. “We also welcome Joel’s rich experience in New York’s private equity world.”

“I’ve known and admired MS&K attorneys for many years, both as clients and friends,” said Mr. Schoenfeld. “At this critical juncture for the industry, I’m excited by the prospect of partnering with them to apply the perspective
and experiences I’ve gained more broadly.”

At MS&K, Mr. Schoenfeld will focus on international intellectual property issues, including global licensing, applications licensing, privacy and data protection, U.S. and EU antitrust and competition issues, digital rights, and other transactional matters.

Mr. Schoenfeld was Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of eMusic.com Inc. since 2006, prior to which he was President and CEO of Dimensional Music Publishing. At the same time, he served private equity fund Dimensional Associates as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel. Prior to 2003, as principal of digital rights consultancy Schoenfeld Consulting/Fabric, Mr. Schoenfeld worked with many key music industry players as well as the United States Copyright Office. From 1989 to 2000, he was General Counsel and Senior VP, Business Affairs, Worldwide for BMG Entertainment. Prior to that, he served as General Counsel of the Recording
Industry Association of America. Mr. Schoenfeld is a graduate of New York Law School (JD) and Syracuse University (BA).

For more than 100 years, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP has maintained a reputation for excellence in providing sophisticated legal and business solutions for its clients in areas that include: Litigation, Intellectual Property & Technology, Labor & Employment, Entertainment & New Media, Immigration, Corporate Transactions, Homeland Security, Tax, Trust & Estates, Real Estate, and International Trade. Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP has offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.

For more information, visit http://www.msk.com

“Gabriel has graciously served The Latin Recording Academy for the past seven years as President, making immense strides to reach an international audience and establishing the Latin GRAMMY Awards as a brand recognized worldwide,” said Cobos. “He continues to demonstrate great leadership and is determined to create and support new initiatives and programs that will further increase the visibility of Latin music and culture. He has successfully led the Latin GRAMMYs through its milestone 10th celebration with vision and purpose, and we look forward to his continued success and accomplishments as The Latin Recording Academy enters its next decade.”

Throughout his tenure as President, Abaroa has provided overall direction and re-positioned the goals of the organization while maintaining its financial health. In 2005 the annual Latin GRAMMY Awards telecast moved from CBS to Univision, giving the show and its new home record-breaking ratings every year since, along with numerous memorable musical moments. Additionally, the Latin GRAMMYs have been held in different cities bringing the excitement of Latin music to such places as Los Angeles (Staples Center, Shrine Auditorium and Kodak Theatre); Miami (American Airlines Arena); New York (Madison Square Garden); Houston (Toyota Center); and Las Vegas (Mandalay Bay Events Center). He has led the way in making the Latin GRAMMY Awards a point of reference within the music community both domestically and worldwide.

Additionally, Abaroa has been actively involved in expanding the Latin GRAMMY brand internationally with special educational programs, panels and musical showcases produced in various cities and countries including Bogotá, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Madrid; Mexico City; and San Juan, Puerto Rico, among many others. He also has implemented a number of programs domestically that bring awareness to Latin music and its creators including the Latin GRAMMY Showcases at the GRAMMY Museum, which launched in 2009 and has featured artists such as César Franco, Marta Gómez, Alih Jey, Kevin Johansen, Eduardo Osorio, and Alberto Plaza. Since expanding to Miami, these showcases have featured performances by Yamandú Costa, Hamilton de Holanda, Debi Nova, and Aleks Syntek. Abaroa also activated the Latin GRAMMY In The Schools program, which unites musicians and music professionals with high school students to educate them on the various facets of the music industry. The program has taken place in schools across the United States and recently expanded to include schools in Mexico.

Under Abaroa’s watch, The Latin Recording Academy has increased its membership significantly. In 2009 a new comprehensive website at www.latingrammy.com — presented in English, Spanish and Portuguese — was created allowing members and the general public access to regularly updated information about the various events, programs and initiatives The Latin Recording Academy produces throughout the year. Additionally, he launched a biweekly newsletter aimed at keeping members informed of upcoming events, recaps and accomplishments. In conjunction with the 10th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards, The Latin Recording Academy introduced a new and successful social media plan including the creation of official pages on Facebook and Twitter. This allowed members and fans, as well as artists themselves, opportunities to interact and discuss nominees, performances and winners.

Successful events that continue to thrive under Abaroa’s leadership include the annual tribute gala honoring The Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year (Gloria Estefan, Juan Gabriel, Gilberto Gil, Juan Luis Guerra, José José, Ricky Martin, and Carlos Santana have been honored during Abaroa’s tenure), and the Special Awards Ceremony (recognizing Lifetime Achievement Award and Trustee Awards recipients), which was institutionalized as a way to recognize and honor the work of legends in Latin music.

Before becoming President in 2003, Abaroa served as the Vice Chairman of The Latin Recording Academy Board of Trustees. Prior to that, he also held the position of CEO at both Wireless Latin Entertainment and IFPI Latin America, the international recording industry association. He is a proud member of the National Council of La Raza, a trustee of the Miami Symphony Orchestra, and a member of Enlace México. Abaroa comes from a family of talented musicians and entertainment business professionals.

Abaroa reports to the Board of Trustees of The Latin Recording Academy and leads a staff that works in Los Angeles and Miami.

“We remain committed to bringing to market the highest-quality music when it is best-positioned to succeed artistically and commercially,” said Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Warner Music Group’s Chairman and CEO. “Despite our anticipated very light release schedule, this quarter we grew digital revenue to 41% of our U.S. Recorded Music revenue, maintained U.S. album market share at 21%, continued to sign and develop some of the industry’s most promising talent to expanded-rights agreements and invested further in the artist services business – all consistent with our strategy to build a diversified music company positioned for long-term success.”

“We remain focused on actively managing costs and generating significant free cash flow,” added Steven Macri, Warner Music Group’s Executive Vice President and CFO. “Our cost-management initiatives are largely designed to help mitigate the effects of the recorded music industry transition.”

For the quarter, revenue declined 15.7% to $652 million from $773 million in the prior-year quarter, and was down 15.3% on a constant-currency basis. This performance is due to a light release schedule. In addition, our revenue results continue to reflect the transition from physical to digital in the recorded music industry where increases in digital revenue have not yet fully offset the declines in physical revenue.

International revenue fell 19.2%, or 18.7% on a constant-currency basis, while domestic revenue declined 10.9%. Revenue growth in the U.K. and Latin America was offset by weakness in the U.S., Japan and the rest of Europe. The overall increase in digital revenue, primarily as a result of continued global download growth, was more than offset by contracting demand for physical product and lower revenue from tours promoted by the company’s European concert promotion business for the quarter.

Digital revenue of $179 million grew 2.3% over the prior-year quarter, or 1.1% on a constant-currency basis. Digital revenue was down 10.1% sequentially from the second quarter of fiscal 2010, or 8.7% on a constant-currency basis, and represented 27.5% of total revenue for the quarter. The sequential decline in digital revenue was primarily due to the timing of releases and the seasonal pattern of digital consumption.

Operating loss was $1 million compared to operating income of $25 million in the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was down 3.4 percentage points to (0.2%). OIBDA decreased 28.9% to $64 million from $90 million in the prior-year quarter and OIBDA margin contracted 1.8 percentage points to 9.8% (see below for calculations and reconciliations of OIBDA and OIBDA margin). Operating income and OIBDA for the current- and prior-year quarters included the Severance Charges.

Net loss was $55 million, or ($0.37) per diluted share, compared with net loss of $37 million, or ($0.25) per diluted share, in the prior-year quarter. Severance Charges had a $0.06 per diluted share impact in the current quarter and a $0.02 per diluted share impact in the prior-year quarter. Additionally, interest expense in the prior-year quarter included $18 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, of previously unamortized deferred financing fees related to the company’s senior secured credit facility. These fees were written off in the prior-year quarter when the company repaid the credit facility in full.

As of June 30, 2010, the company reported a cash balance of $400 million, total long-term debt of $1.94 billion and net debt (total long-term debt minus cash) of $1.54 billion.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $49 million compared to $11 million in the prior-year quarter. The increase was primarily related to the timing of sales and collections. Free Cash Flow (defined as cash flow from operations less capital expenditures and cash paid or received for investments) was $29 million compared to $11 million in the prior-year quarter. Unlevered After-Tax Cash Flow (defined as Free Cash Flow excluding cash interest paid) was $117 million, compared to $54 million in the prior-year quarter (see below for calculations and reconciliations of Free Cash Flow and Unlevered After-Tax Cash Flow).

There were cash interest payments of $88 million in the quarter, compared to $43 million in the prior-year quarter. Following the company’s May 2009 refinancing, all of the company’s cash interest payments are made semi-annually in the first and third quarters of the fiscal year. The company previously made quarterly interest payments under its senior secured credit facility, which was retired in May 2009. Additionally, WMG Holdings Corp.’s senior discount notes have now accreted to their full principal amount. As a result, the company has begun to pay interest semi-annually, resulting in the first cash interest payment on these notes of $12 million on June 15, 2010.

Below is the business segment discussion for the quarter.

Recorded Music
Revenue from the company’s Recorded Music business declined 17.9% from the prior-year quarter to $519 million on an as-reported and constant-currency basis. The decline in constant-currency revenue reflected weakness in the U.S., Japan and most of Europe, partially offset by strength in the U.K. and Latin America. Both local and international artists fueled growth in Recorded Music revenue in the U.K.

International Recorded Music revenue declined 21.8% from the prior-year quarter to $272 million on an as-reported and constant-currency basis, while domestic Recorded Music revenue fell 13.0% from the prior-year quarter to $247 million. The company’s Recorded Music business experienced strong growth in international digital download revenue. This performance was more than offset by a light release schedule and contracting demand for physical product. Revenue declines were also attributable to lower revenue from tours promoted by the company’s European concert promotion business for the quarter. Major sellers in the quarter included B.o.B, Michael Bublé, Jason Derulo, Plan B and the “Eclipse” soundtrack album.

Recorded Music digital revenue of $169 million grew 3.7% over the prior-year quarter, or 2.4% on a constant-currency basis, and represented 32.6% of total Recorded Music revenue, compared with 25.8% in the prior-year quarter. Domestic Recorded Music digital revenue amounted to $102 million, or 41.3% of total domestic Recorded Music revenue, compared with 37.0% in the prior-year quarter. Year-over-year digital revenue growth was driven by global strength in digital downloads, partially offset by the timing of our release schedule and declines in mobile revenue primarily related to lower ringtone demand.

Recorded Music operating income declined to $21 million from $39 million in the prior-year quarter, resulting in an operating margin of 4.0%, down 2.2 percentage points from 6.2% in the prior-year quarter. Recorded Music OIBDA fell 23.5% to $65 million for the quarter and Recorded Music OIBDA margin declined 0.9 percentage points from the prior-year quarter to 12.5%. Recorded Music operating income and OIBDA for the current- and prior-year quarters included the Severance Charges.

Music Publishing
Music Publishing revenue declined 6.1% from the prior-year quarter to $139 million, and was down 4.1% on a constant-currency basis. Domestic Music Publishing revenue was flat at $54 million, while international Music Publishing revenue declined 9.6% from the prior-year quarter and fell 6.6% on a constant-currency basis, to $85 million.

Digital revenue from Music Publishing fell to $13 million from $16 million, and was down 13.3% on a constant-currency basis, representing 9.4% of total Music Publishing revenue. Mechanical revenue increased 16.3%, while performance revenue declined 13.8% and synchronization revenue fell 17.2%. On a constant-currency basis, mechanical revenue grew 19.0%, performance revenue declined 10.7% and synchronization revenue fell 17.2%.

The increase in mechanical revenue was due to an increase in sales of physical recorded music product containing the works of Warner/Chappell songwriters and a shift to accrual-based accounting for a U.S. collection society. Declines in performance and synchronization revenue reflected the continued delay in benefits from the nascent recovery in the advertising market. Digital revenue fell primarily due to the timing of collections.

Music Publishing operating income declined to $1 million from $11 million in the prior-year quarter, resulting in an operating margin of 0.7%, down 6.7 percentage points from the prior-year quarter. Music Publishing OIBDA fell 35.7% to $18 million and Music Publishing OIBDA margin contracted 6.0 percentage points to 12.9%. The margin contraction was primarily the result of changes in revenue mix as mechanical revenue tends to have a lower margin than other types of Music Publishing revenue.

Financial details for the quarter and fiscal year can be found in the company’s current Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.