The “Les Miserables” musical film soundtrack is on course to jump straight into the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart next week. Industry forecasters are suggesting the 20-song “Highlights” set may sell around 100,000 copies by the end of the tracking week on Sunday, Dec. 30. Unlike most albums — which are released Tuesday…

Live Nation has amended its employment contract with CEO Michael Rapino, extending its term through December 31, 2017 (from May 31, 2014) and raising Rapino’s base salary to $2.3 million, effective January 1, 2013. The amendments were made Thursday and announced in an SEC filing on Friday. While Rapino gets a new salary, his annual grant of…

Warner Music Group announced in an SEC filing Friday that Cameron Strang, Chairman and CEO of Warner/Chappell Music, and Brian Roberts, Chief Financial Officer, have signed new employment agreements with the company. Strang, who now oversees Warner Bros. Records and Warner’s West Coast operations as well as Warner/Chappell, will receive a base salary of $2.25 million…

The departures may be continuing for Simon Cowell’s reality singing show “The X Factor,” with Us Weekly reporting that Britney Spears and her $15 million contract will be following now-ex judge L.A. Reid out the door. “It isn’t working,” said one source to the magazine regarding Spears’ single season as a judge. Another annoyed insider chimed in…

Falling sales of MP3 players, impacted by feature-filled smartphones, could turn out to be one of the music industry’s biggest opportunities in years. It should come as no surprise that market research company Mintel announced this week that MP3 player sales in the UK had fallen 22% from 2011 and will be cut in half by 2017….

Kim Kardashian is pregnant with her first child. The 32-year-old reality star’s boyfriend Kanye West announced the exciting news during his concert at Revel in Atlantic City on Sunday (December 30). Kanye reportedly told the audience to “stop the music and make noise for my baby mama,” referring to Kim who was in the audience. Last week, Kim and Kanye were spotted attending the Los Angeles Clippers game…

Across the country — from Coldplay and Jay-Z in Brooklyn and  Nicki MInaj in Vegas to Skrillex in Detroit and Willie Nelson in Austin — many American music fans will be kicking off 2013 with their favorite artists. Here then are 13 write-ups (for 2013) and listings of major U.S. concerts. Coldplay/Jay-Z in New York…

What would a Kanye West show be without a rant? After debuting his designer masks on Friday, Mr. West was back to his old self during his second of three shows at Revel in Atlantic City. While performing “Clique,” he went on a tangent about the media (“They’ll try to tell you Kanye’s so crazy,…