Reports last week that Google GOOGL -0.11% is in talks to acquire Songza, a six year old music curation and streaming service, show that an industry-wide rollup in streaming services is now in real possibility. This is on the heels of Apple AAPL -0.44% snapping up Beats Music recently, and may be a sign of…

“You would be amazed by how many people at some very high levels who are managing some very good acts who really don’t know shit,” said president and COO of RCA Records Tom Corson Monday at a freewheeling New Music Seminar panel entitled “Label Heads: The Gambler.” Corson, Republic Records president and co-founder Avery Lipman,…

Austin Wintory, whose score for Journey was the first ever video game soundtrack to be nominated for a Grammy,  has taken to YouTube to bring attention to a situation he calls “untenable.” The America Federation of Musicians notified Wintory in January that he had violated the terms of the union’s contract and was facing a possible…

Dave Chappelle sat down Tuesday night for an alternately hilarious and insightful interview on The Late Show With David Letterman, marking his first late-night appearance in six years (and his first on Letterman’s show in a decade). There’s a clear mutual respect between the two comedy legends, as the duo exchange friendly family banter and…

Sometimes getting an electric guitar center is dead easy and other times getting the sound to fit into the track seems like the most difficult thing in the world. Here’s an excerpt from my Audio Recording Boot Camp book that provides an almost foolproof method for miking a guitar amplifier. “Electric guitar recording has evolved…

“Chuck D, no one elected you president of Hip Hop,” Peter Rosenberg says. Chuck D responds saying “HipHop doesn’t need a President. It needs…Socialism.” After Chuck D condemned Hot 97 for the station’s recent Summer Jam event in a series of Tweets, on-air host Peter Rosenberg responded during a segment of The Realness. Asking the…

  The BBC has announced it will be cutting its Radio division’s staff by 15% by 2017. The British media behemoth, funded principally by a license fee charged to British taxpayers which brought in £3.6 billion in 2012/13 (as well as an additional £1.4 billion through ancillary sources like BBC Worldwide), is under orders to…

Lupe sat with Katie Couric for Yahoo! News to discuss his “Mission” campaign. He also spoke on his Islamic faith, Obama comment, growing up in Chicago and more. Afterwards, Katie, who lost her husband and sister to cancer, hits he studio to record the upcoming, “Re-Mission”.  …

The European Union’s antitrust regulator has launched an investigation into tax deals that Apple, Starbucks and Fiat struck with some European countries, the start of a wider push to keep multinationals from taking advantage of loopholes. EU antitrust commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Wednesday a preliminary probe by his office has found the arrangements are improper,…

50 Cent’s, “Animal Ambition,” debuts 4th on the charts with 47,000 records sold in the first week. Clearly his worst first week ever but this is also his first independent album release. Thoughts on the album and the sales? Do you see a G-Unit album selling a lot more records? [Real Talk NY]