Sirius and XM: The FCC have reached a tentative deal to approve the merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM. The companies are valued at $7.5 billion combined.

Myspace Finding New Ways to Make Money: Myspace will be launching a new music service that allows myspace members to listen to free streaming music as well as purchase song downloads, ringtones, T-shirts and concert tickets.

Warner Stock Media Stock: Warner had the best performing media stock says the NY Post. “As of yesterday’s close, WMG shares are up 34 percent year-to-date while the stock of every other company in its peer group is down.” “The music industry’s bottoming is evidence that media stock valuations can get too low,” said Laura Martin, senior media analyst at Soleil Securities.

War On Piracy: A groundbreaking deal between the music industry and broadband companies that will prevent illegal downloading will be unveiled today according to the Financial Times. The biggest service providers that represent 90% of the broadband industry have signed a memorandum that will commit them to working towards a “significant reduction” in illegal file-sharing. “The service providers will send letters to 1,000 prolific illegal downloaders a week under a three-month trial.” The net neutrality activists must hate this..

New Music: Listen to Tonight and My Heart Your Hands by Dommin. For fans of Type O Negative, Depeche Mode, Danzig, and HIM. The LA four piece just signed to RoadRunner. The band released an LP in 2007 titled ‘Mend Your Misery’ which was produced by Logan Mader, best known as a former member of the heavy metal bands Machine Head and Soulfly. Veteran A&R rep Monte Conner signed the band to the label and was quick to express his excitement, saying, “Dommin comes across as very fresh and unique in today’s landscape. Kristofer Dommin is their secret weapon. His vocals are absolutely compelling, and this is especially evident live where you can feel the power, passion and emotion of every word he sings.”

This band is a KOAR favorite as they have seperated themselves from the mediocrity by creating songs that can bring about memories while challenging new artists to expand their boundaries.

Rock Refugees: Rolling Stone mag has profiled 10 people who have left the music biz. Check it out here.

New Music: Emphatic, an unknown band from Omaha, is finding their way on Billboard Heatseekers Chart. Currently they are being produced by 116, a partnership between Matt Noveskey of Blue October and Chuck Alkazian. Listen to the track Goodbye Girl.

Who says the CD is Dead? Kid Rock sold 73k this week, Up 20% from last week. The kid has 0 digital sales as he doesn’t have his music on iTunes. This is incredible and proves that the right song trumps everything. Also, O.A.R. had their biggest debut to date with 33k copies sold.

more sales…

Disturbed ‘Indestructible’ 28,496
3 Doors Down ‘self titled’ 19,916
Shinedown ‘Sound of Madness’ 13,134
Metro Station ‘self titled’Â 11,782
Saving Abel ‘Saving Abel’ 7,023

XM Satellite Close To 10 Million Subscribers: XM Satellite Radio says it ended the second quarter with 9.7 million subscribers, up 17 percent from a year ago.

Do We Need Another indie Band?: Read the article that discusses the current state of the indie world.

“These days the term ‘indie’ is little more than a generic sonic description for any band that plays guitars and probably wears skinny ties, skinny jeans, and skinny cardigans”

“John Niven was an indie fan in the 1980s, an A&R man in the Britpopping 1990s, and is now the author of Kill Your Friends, a sadistic satire of the record industry of which he was once an enthusiastic member. “I was in Gap a few weeks ago and there was some sort of generic indie music playing,” he says. “I was with a friend who’s a promoter and a bit younger than me. After about three or four tracks I asked him: ‘Whose LP is this?’ And he said, ‘No, it’s a compilation.’ Every track sounded identical. The guitars, the production; all these bands sound like they’re made in the same studio with the same producer. It’s such a ball-less, soulless, generic whitewashed indie sound. You could probably take a member from each band and throw them together in a new group and no one would be able to tell the difference. They’re completely interchangeable. Scouting for Girls are like the sound of Satan’s scrotum emptying. They’re abysmal.”

Have you listened to the music that is being spun in Starbucks? This is what Jon Niven is talking about.

Making Noise On YouTube: Boyce Avenue is pop rock band based out a Florida that built up their following by covering songs by Coldplay and Rihanna and posting clips on Youtube. Boyce Avenue has seven of the top 25 songs on the TuneCore song chart. In fact, the band covered the Jordan Sparks track Tattoo which landed on Sparks myspace page after she found the song on Youtube. Listen to the track Not Enough.

Kid Rock Will Take Record Sales Over iTunes: Kid Rock responds to the lefsetz emailer with this statement…

“Why sell a million downloads (at a dickweed penny rate) that u say equals a 100,000 records when I’m selling well over a hundrend thousand records every 2 weeks? And I’m helping my heros sell records too???? Sounds like I’m winning, if this were the olympics I would definatley be receiving the gold medal, but that’s a lot like itunes, a lot of glory, no money!!!!

i only wanna sell my album. i made a great album. itunes said “no”, i dont like being told “no”. thier just as guilty. ps, i have a ton of apple stock, pretty ironic eh? lol

The Guardian has a piece today discussing EMI’s strategy to gain future revenue and stay afloat. Nick Gatfield, who was responsible for discovering Amy Winehouse, is heading up EMI’s labels in the UK and the US. EMI has a new approach to consumer research.

“We have been relatively unsophisticated in understanding the consumer. Our direct relationship with the consumer has been very poor,” Gatfield says. “We have had a good relationship with the gate keepers, the radio stations and media companies. But increasingly, our mission is about understanding music consumers and not the tastes of Radio 1.”

EMI believes understanding consumer behavior will result in signing artists that people will pay for and delivering music in the proper formats. Of course this sounds more scientific and seems more suitable for a pharm company than a music company.

UK Chief executive of Universal David Joseph says, “We think that if you get the right artists, consumers like being told what to buy, as opposed to trying to find out what they want,” he says. Research can only take you so far. “If they say they like Abba, are you going to get on a plane to Sweden?”

“Amy Winehouse and Take That are successful recording artists, we don’t sit around talking about their brand values,” says Joseph. “If you sign quality, the commerce will follow.”

I think we are suffering from an epidemic of over-thinking, especially when it comes to signing artists. You either like it or you don’t. I’m not suggesting you lose your mind, but the minute you start analyzing market conditions, playlists, and consumer behavior – you will bet yourself right out of the game. Plus, most consumers don’t even know what they like. Go ahead and ask a consumer today what type of music they listen to and the response will be ‘EVERYTHING’. How do you quantify ‘EVERYTHING’? You can’t. Therefore, signing artists should be based on great songs, stage presence, and activity.