• Octone Merges with A&M.
  According to HITS, Interscope Geffen A&M has just announced the formation of A&M/Octone Records. The roster will include Octone acts including Maroon 5, Flyleaf, Michael Tolcher and Dropping Daylight
• Could we have a Columbia/Epic?
• Gambling on the Ringtone Business
  The Record labels are consumed right now cutting deals with mobile ringtone companies. A recent look at the global wireless market declared that the market for ringtones has peaked.
• Coleen Mcmahon is creating a lot of chatter around her. The 19 year old is well known in her Oregon hometown for being vocally and visually mesmerizing. After her classmates ‘elected’ her prom queen for being the most talented, she took her parents car and drove to Los Angeles catching the attention of  producers who worked with Evanescence and Josh Groban.  Insiders say she is the next Celine Dion.
• Sirius, XM expect deal to close by end 2007. Could iPod integration follow? Commentators think that if the deal goes through, it may give scope to integrate satellite radio with iPods in the future.
• Check out Matthew Perryman Jones (Nashville) who will be performing tomorrow at 7:00pm, the Living Room in NYC.

EMI the struggling British music company, has said it has received a fresh takeover approach from US rival Warner Music.

Analysts said even acceptance by EMI could lead to regulatory difficulties.

Warner’s approach comes as EMI is battling against sliding sales of compact discs in the United States. EMI last week said it expected revenue at its recorded music business — EMI Music — to show a decline of about 15 percent in the year to March 31 compared with the previous 12-month period. 

Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio on Monday said they would merge in a stock-for-stock deal, a move that has been long expected in the young industry.

XM and Sirius said they would combine to create a company with an enterprise value of $13 billion, including $1.6 billion in net debt.

Under the terms of the deal, XM stockholders will get 4.6 shares in Sirius.

Veteran media executive Mel Karmazin, currently Sirius CEO, will be CEO of the combined company, and Gary Parsons, now chairman of XM, will hold the same position in the new company. The deal will need regulatory approval.

KOAR posted weeks ago that it looked like MTV was going to cancel TRL since kids are no longer tuning in. According to sources MTV execs have officially canned TRL and fired the people responsible for its production.

MTV just canned 250 employees and the bloodbath isn’t over yet. MTV is facing the challenges of a changing society and the new frontier of the digital age.

Recent data from Nielsen media peg TRL’s viewership at 393,000, down from almost 600,000 in 2001.

Update – When MTV heard the press leak of TRL being canned, the CEO immediately responded with an open letter stating that TRL will air ‘as always’. Meaning TRL will air until they find a replacement.

Check out ‘new’ music from alternative act Alseep hailing from Youngstown, Ohio. Their motto? Refusing the worn out formulas of current mainstream trends in favor of making the most genuine music possible is no easy task in today’s recording industry. If you don’t believe it just check out the track
Stay to Live.

For more information: Rick Smith or Scott Frazier