Legendary producer, Timbaland, has just signed on with the board of directors for SMS Audio as an investment partner. In his new role, Timbaland will be in charge of designing and audio engineering for various SMS products. Timbaland also had this to say: “50 Cent has created an aspirational audio brand that produces the highest caliber…

US album sales slipped by 4% in 2012, after registering a modest year-on-year climb in 2011. According to new Nielsen Soundscan figures, overall LP sales in the territory fell from 331m units in 2011 to 316m units in 2012, as digital growth failed to make up the shortfall caused by physical’s decline. CD sales dipped…

Foo Fighters man Dave Grohl will debut a new supergroup, named Sound City Players, at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, reports Rolling Stone. The show, due to take place on January 18, will see Grohl take to the stage with guests and musicians featured in his documentary on the now-closed Sound City recording studios in Van Nuys,…

Recording Academy chief Neil Portnow sent a note to members this morning declaring victory—in the defeat by Congress of the Internet Radio Fairness Act (IRFA). The bill, championed by Pandora, Clear Channel and others invested in streamcasting, would have resulted in the shaving of royalty rates for online radio. “[IRFA] would reduce creator compensation by as much as 85%,” Portnow’s letter reads….

A few days before Irving Azoff’s abrupt resignation as chairman of Live Nation Entertainment, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino re-upped with a new five-year contract. In his only interview following Azoff’s resignation, Rapino, who has steered Live Nation since before it spun off from previous parent Clear Channel in 2005 and is largely credited with creating the LN…

A new report sheds greater light on the companies that place ads on illegal music web sites — and it has a couple very familiar names, Google and Yahoo!. A study by the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California released its first monthly report on Wednesday that details the top online ad networks used…