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LONDON -- When the 43rd World Congress of CISAC--the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers--rolls into London this month, delegates from every continent will be on hand to [...]

LONDON--Is U.K. pop music losing its fabled grip on America? The country's cultural relations with the U.S. have always been newsworthy, and nothing unites the U.K. media like a negative [...]

LONDON -- Even as they finish their last-minute preparations for the fourth annual Latin Grammys, international music executives differ regarding whether the international broadcast of the Latin music celebration pays […]

Robert 'Mutt' Lange was among the big winners at the annual ASCAP/Performing Right Society (PRS) awards dinner Oct. 17 at London's Grosvenor House Hotel. Producer/songwriter Lange won five writing awards [...]

Additional reporting by Christie Eliezer in Melbourne, Larry LeBlanc in Toronto, Howell Liewellyn in Madrid, Steve McClure in Tokyo, Joanna Shore in Paris, Wolfgang Spahr in Hamburg, and Mark Worden [...]

LONDON--Among the most significant developments in the global music business in the past decade is the growing sales strength of European artists. No longer confined by language or culture to [...]

London-based Sanctuary Group has acquired classical/jazz label Black Box for £300,000 ($434,000). Sanctuary says the transaction will enhance ASV, its own primarily classical label. Chris Craker, founder/ artistic principal of [...]

LONDON--It was a very British coup. On Sunday, Oct. 14, Eric Nicoli and Ken Berry had arranged to meet in London. Before the day's end, the worldwide music industry grapevine [...]

LONDON--Signing groundbreaking acts will be the first priority of Philippe Ascoli, new VP of A&R/GM of repertoire at Virgin Records U.K., as he attempts to grow the company's British market [...]

LONDON--The United Kingdom has been referred to the European Court of Justice for allegedly failing to comply with European Commission (EC) rules on music broadcast in public places. The dispute [...]

Claude Nobs, managing director of Warner Music Switzerland, has retired after 29 years with Warner in Europe. Nobs, who is also the founder/organizer of the Montreux Jazz Festival, joined the [...]

LONDON--New licensing deals struck by Warner Music International (WMI) with the Disney-owned Buena Vista Music Group (BVMG) and U.K. independent Telstar Music Group have raised eyebrows among company observers as [...]

LONDON--Strong domestic repertoire and a lively music retail sector are among the factors that helped three major world markets--Britain, Australia, and France--buck the global trend of declining music sales in [...]

LONDON--If Stevie Wonder granted you the honor of choosing a song for him to perform, chances are you wouldn't choose 'If the Creek Don't Rise.' But that's the request Wonder's [...]

NEW YORK--The entertainment industry, which moved quickly to lend its voices and muscle to relief efforts, has also been busy assessing its own uncertain financial future in the wake of [...]

Chris Morrison received the Peter Grant Award for outstanding achievement at the Music Managers Forum's (MMF) seventh annual British Music Roll of Honour presentation Sept. 19 in London (Billboard Bullet [...]

LONDON--When Shirley Manson began work on Garbage's soon-to-be-released Beautiful Garbage album, she was probably unaware that a contract she signed eight years ago would come back to haunt her. The [...]

LONDON--While the recent terrorist attacks were aimed at devastating the U.S., what became clear within hours of the atrocities was that citizens worldwide were affected by the tragedy. Thousands of [...]

Tim Bowen departs Aug. 31 as executive VP of Universal Music International, after seven years with UMI and its predecessor, MCA Music Entertainment International. Originally hired in 1994 as senior [...]

U.K. retail giant Kingfisher has successfully floated its general-merchandise unit--which includes the 810-store Woolworths chain, the country's leading home-entertainment retailer. Kingfisher investors approved the demerger of the unit, which now [...]

COLOGNE, Germany--At a time when Germany's record industry is enduring plummeting sales (see story, page 45), delegates at this year's Popkomm trade show Aug. 16-18 spent much of their time [...]

LONDON--When the late Maurice Oberstein graduated college with a degree in chemical engineering, he probably had plans for a career other than in the record industry. Fortunately, any other notion [...]

Ken Cooper, London-based vice chairman of Warner Music International (WMI), retired July 31. Cooper joined WMI as financial director for WEA Australia in 1976 after spending six years at PolyGram [...]

LONDON--'We are an industry under assault.' So said Gary Sherman, Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) senior executive VP/general counsel during his guest speech at the British Phonographic Industry's (BPI) [...]

The European Union (EU) and the U.S. reached a 'procedural agreement' in their dispute over nonpayment of royalties to European artists by U.S. retailers and bar and restaurant operators. A [...]

EMI Group is strong and will continue to deliver shareholder value, chairman Eric Nicoli told investors July 20 during a speech at the company's annual meeting in London: 'Our performance [...]

LONDON--A row is brewing over changes to the system that enables non-American acts to work in the U.S. Under old guidelines, acts visiting the U.S. for tours, promotional work, TV [...]

Labels' body the Indian Music Industry is establishing a U.K. office in an effort to cut the piracy of Asian entertainment products. The London office will be headed by Pravin [...]

LONDON--Perhaps anticipating a few prickly merger questions, EMI Recorded Music president/CEO Ken Berry will offer some upbeat news July 20 at the EMI Group's annual general meeting: a fresh configuration [...]

After doubling its European distribution in less than five years, MTV has passed a milestone: The network is now available in 100 million homes in Europe. 'This is a very [...]

U.S. CONCERT PROMOTER SFX is expanding its European business with the acquisition of Solo, a London-based booking agent and promoter specializing in international tours. Terms were not disclosed. Solo was [...]

Association Also Votes In Three New Members For Its Board LONDON--Britain's independent record companies are pushing ahead with plans to launch their own sales chart, after members of labels body [...]

LONDON--A key part of the European record industry's government-relations program is in new hands. Gerd Gebhardt, president of Warner Music for Central and Northern Europe, is taking on the additional [...]

LONDON--Chrysalis Group is searching for a new CEO to head up its music division now that chief Steve Lewis has opted not to extend his contract. The move shocked Chrysalis [...]

Euro Expansion Continues, New Office Is To Boost Group In Portugal LISBON--The Zomba Records Group is entering the next phase of its European expansion program, with the July 1 opening [...]

U.K. Labels Investigate Ways Of Breaking Into Asian Markets LONDON--As Asian economies begin to show signs of recovery, U.K. independent labels are investigating ways of breaking into the Far East's [...]

LONDON--When it launched in April 2000, Warner Strategic Marketing (WSM) International set out to improve TV promotions, special projects, and catalog sales for parent Warner Music International (WMI). In just [...]

LONDON--Sanctuary Group is paying 10.4 million pounds ($14.5 million) for one of the UK.'s most extensive reggae music catalogs: Trojan Records. The deal involves more than 10,000 tracks by such [...]

LONDON--EMI is spearheading a British invasion of America, with no fewer than eight U.K.-signed acts performing in the U.S. the week beginning June 25. Established alternative rock outfit Radiohead leads [...]

LONDON--While the global music industry endured flagging sales during the year 2000, music pirates profited more than ever before, with worldwide sales of illegal music discs soaring by 25%. This [...]

LONDON--Sanctuary Group is looking to expand its artist management activities in the U.S., in an effort to increase its ownership of intellectual property rights. In the company's financial report covering [...]

Bumper Sales Expected Following Burns Documentary Broadcast LONDON--Europe's major labels are gearing up for bumper sales of jazz product, as award-winning TV-documentary maker Ken Burns brings his jazz series to [...]

Eager to emerge from the shadow cast by its two failed attempts at merging in the past year-and-a-half, the EMI Group revealed robust financial results for fiscal 2001 and sought [...]

LONDON--Britain's independent record companies are looking to further define and separate their interests from those of the country's major record companies by considering the launch of a 'radical' multi-format chart [...]

British Trio Returns To Native Soil Following U.S. Recognition LONDON--While success in the U.S. may not necessarily follow success in the U.K., at least one British band is finding that [...]

U.K. RIGHTS BODY the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) has revised its licensing guidelines to make it easier for mobile-phone ring-tone suppliers to obtain licenses and to ensure more accurate [...]

While many U.K. acts are still struggling to make a dent on the U.S. charts, a number are experiencing gains via deals with smaller, left-of-center labels, for which success isn't [...]

LONDON--As RCA enters its second century of business, changes at RCA in the U.K. appropriately are providing the label with a new forward-looking strategy aimed at future success. BMG U.K. [...]

Global Sales Drop 1.3% LONDON--Global recorded music sales fell 1.3% in value to $36.9 billion and 1.2% in units to 3.5 billion in 2000 from the year before, reportedly as [...]

BERLIN--A move away from convention always poses a challenge and often brings with it a mixture of excitement and controversy. That's exactly what the change of location from Hamburg to [...]