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Music merchandisers weren’t sharing the general optimism of most retailers during Thanksgiving weekend. Music sales were down from 10 percent to 30 percent, and big-name albums released for Black Friday, the post-Thanksgiving kickoff to the holiday retail season, didn’t perform up to expectations, according to merchants contacted by Billboard. Sources said that Kanye West’s “808s & Heartbreak” will sell in the range of 425,000-450,000 units, significantly down from 700,000-975,000 units previously projected. Guns N’ Roses’ “Chinese Democracy” is expected to clock in at 250,000-260,000, not the predicted 300,000-784,000 units. At music specialty stores Newbury Comics, sales were down 21 percent… Read more »

All is fair in Chinese Democracy, except when the citizens are denied the opportunity to drink what the Dr. ordered. Axl Rose, wholely mum when Dr. Pepper announced that it would bestow a free 20-ounce bottle to all Americans when Guns N’ Roses’ years-in-the-making album finally dropped, is taking the company to task via his attorney after learning that not all customers were served. The soft-drink slinger had arranged to bestow online coupons to any thirsty freebie-seeker who visited its website on Nov. 23, but the site crashed due to…well, high traffic brought on by people’s insatiable desire for free… Read more »

MySpace, the popular social networking website owned by News Corp, said on Tuesday former MTV executive Courtney Holt will become president of its MySpace Music joint venture with the four major record companies. Holt’s name has been circulating on blogs for several weeks as a likely appointee. He will take on the delicate balancing act of managing expectations for MySpace executive team and the management teams at Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music, Warner Music Group and EMI Music. MySpace said Holt will work with MySpace co-founder and Chief Executive Chris DeWolfe to oversee the growth and development of… Read more »

If you’ve ever dreamed of running away and joining the circus, December 1 is your night. Assuming, that is, you’re near New York’s Times Square and you are a Britney Spears superfan. A post on Brit’s MySpace page invites her supporters to be part of “Britney’s Greatest Fan Contest & Birthday Celebration,” asking them to congregate outside the Virgin Megastore in Times Square to celebrate the release of Circus, which hits stores December 2. At the event, Britney will be looking for her biggest fan, so contestants are being encouraged to “sing, dance, imitate or even profess their love for… Read more »

VATICAN CITY — Vatican media are praising the Beatles’ musical legacy and sounding philosophical about John Lennon ‘s boast that the British band was more popular than Jesus. Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano recalls that Lennon’s comment outraged many when he made it in 1966. But it says in its Saturday edition that the remark can be written off now as the bragging of a young man wrestling with unexpected success. The newspaper as well as Vatican Radio last week noted the 40th anniversary of the Beatles’ “White Album.” It said the album demonstrated how creative the Beatles were, compared with… Read more »

MTV launches its first-ever music award program for Africa on Saturday, with acts from across the world’s poorest continent nominated for prizes in the Nigerian capital. Winners were being selected by fans sending text messages, said Alison Reid, a spokeswoman for MTV Networks Africa. Africa has long featured a vibrant music scene , but artists have had difficulties breaking into overseas markets. Famous African artists include Senegal’s Youssou N’dour, Nigerian legend Fela Kuti and South African impresario Miriam Makeba , who died this month. MTV hopes the awards can offer the artists more exposure and celebrate the continent’s artistry. Nigerian… Read more »

EMI is preparing to launch a music service by the end of the year, representing the latest direct-to-consumer business being planned by a major label. "This is not an effort to compete with iTunes or Amazon," said a source familiar with the situation. The service may live on EMI.com, which is dedicated to a mix of corporate and artist news. The music service will feature a mixture of paid and free content and also might include non-EMI artists as well. EMI is positioning the effort, which was first reported Wednesday in the Financial Times, as an experimental "consumer lab." One… Read more »

David Pakman, CEO of eMusic, will leave the subscription service at the end of the year. Pakman explained his departure on Monday, and yesterday disclosed that his next destination would be VC firm Venrock. Pakman championed DRM-free music, viewing the measures as anti-consumer. This has been a phenomenon, along with his commitment to editorial investment – a stark contrast to Apple’s iTunes music store which one reader after launch called “an airport kiosk without the cigarettes and chewing gum.” Pakman grew the eMusic subscriber base from 10,000 to 400,000 in his four years as boss, turning it into the second… Read more »