Chrysalis Pays $8 Million For Germany's

Global Music Chrysalis Group has bought German independent publisher Global Music Group for 15.1 million deutschmarks ($8 million), it was announced yesterday at MIDEM in Cannes. The company, founded 30 years ago by former artist Peter Kirsten, owns 15,000 local and international copyrights, including the Jacksons hit "Blame It On The Boogie" and has sub-publishing agreements for G/S/A covering Elvis Presley, Paul Simon, some Lieber & Stoller compositions, and the DreamWorks and Cherry Lane catalogs. Kirsten will remain at the company as managing director for two years.
In other news from MIDEM:
--The U.K. government underlined its commitment to protect copyright in the digital age, when Kim Howells, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department of Trade and Industry, pledged his support for the music business and other content-led industries. "There's a whole new world in cyberspace. If we're not sharp it will make us all redundant," he told a gathering of U.K. executives, organized by the British Phonographic Industry and authors" umbrella body British Music Rights. Howells said other interests would "thieve" from creative people without protection and suggested that copyright legislation might have to be updated yearly to keep abreast of technological changes. --Dominic Pride, Cannes
--The RIAA is planning to make pirate music Web sites harder to find by working more closely with search-engine companies. RIAA executive VP/general counsel Cary Sherman said during a speech yesterday at MIDEM that his organization will target search engines that "willfully direct Internet users to illegal sites." He said the RIAA will also be working with legitimate companies to ensure that their search engines do not inadvertently point out sites with unauthorized music. --Jeff Clark-Meads, Cannes
--Representatives of Europe's authors' bodies and the major music publishers yesterday signed an agreement to work to protect their rights in the area of physical distribution of music. The "memorandum of understanding regarding offline products' will apply particularly to multimedia discs and also covers mechanical royalty agreements applying to enhanced CDs. --Jeff Clark-Meads
--MCY Music has launched a Web site that allows for digital downloads of about 300,000 songs and albums provided by 350 independent labels. The site, at www.mcy.com, includes selections by Tina Turner, John Coltrane, and Bob Marley. Rather than license music from labels, MCY provides them with a turnkey system serving as a digital warehouse, allowing imprints to monitor sales in real time. Consumers pay $.99-$1.99 per song and retail-equivalent prices for album downloads, with MCY taking a fee for each transaction. MCY, which incorporates Aris Technologies' encryption system, plans to market a $199 chip-encoded player in March. The company has offices in Berlin, London, and New York. --Ed Christman, Cannes
--A new Internet strategy by Squeeze marks the first digital distribution promotion by HMV and the first European campaign for AT&T's a2b music. Next month, a2b will provide a CD-quality download of the track "In The Morning" from Squeeze's album "Domino," out in the U.K. on Quixotic Records. The track can be accessed at www.a2bmusic.com, www.hmv.co.uk, and www.squeezefan.com. A link will offer a downloadable coupon for 1 pound off the album at HMV online and brick-and-mortar stores. No word on a U.S. release for "Domino."

Risk Buys Distributor MDI
Los Angeles-based Risk Music Group has acquired Dallas-based regional indie distributor Music Distributors Inc. (MDI) for an undisclosed sum. Nina Easton, president of Atlanta-based 404 Music, which is associated with Risk, has been named CEO of MDI; the distributor's founder, Don Gillespie, will remain president. By February, MDI will be operating as a full-service national distributor, with a national sales staff and regional offices in Atlanta and L.A. The company will continue to be headquartered and warehoused in Dallas; plans call for the opening of a satellite warehouse in New York. --Chris Morris, L.A.

McCartney Fights For Play Of Wife's Single
Sir Paul McCartney took out an "anonymous" ad in four U.K. newspapers yesterday to protest what he claims is a media ban on "The Light Comes From Within," the new single from his late wife Linda's "Wide Prairie" album on EMI. The single was released yesterday with a parental-guidance sticker, as the lyrics feature the f-word. In the ad, parents are told, "Your children need your guidance in this matter. It is your Parental Duty to listen to this record." Although no station has admitted to banning the record, it has not been playlisted by any major outlet. "Do you honestly believe your children don't hear this word?" says McCartney in a statement. "I'm daring [programmers] to play it --to grow up and get with the 20th century." --Paul Sexton, London

Garland Company Debuts Web Video Channel
BlueTape, a new company co-founded by former MTV, the Box, and VH1 executive Les Garland, has launched sputnik7.com, a new online music video channel. The site, which features rock, electronica, and hip-hop videos, will also offer audio-only channels provided by Music Choice. Garland tells Bulletin that BlueTape will encourage feedback from users and modify the site based on their responses. He says more than 30 record labels will provide content for the Web site, which officially debuts today. Amazon.com will provide a retail link for consumers. --Doug Reece, L.A

Phil Costello To Exit; Baumgartner Hired
Phil Costello, senior VP of promotion and marketing at Capitol Records, will exit his post on Thursday to pursue other interests. His promotion duties will be taken over by Burt Baumgartner, who recently left his post at the Work Group (Bulletin, Jan. 20). Costello's marketing responsibilities have not yet been reassigned. --Melinda Newman, L.A.

Universal Ponders Central Distribution For Scandinavia
Universal Music Group is considering centralizing its Scandinavian distribution operations in either Sweden or Germany, Bulletin has learned. A committee consisting of the managing and financial directors of each of the national affiliates has been established to analyze the implications of such a move. Universal has been distributed by BMG through various companies and joint ventures in the region. Existing label structures will likely be retained in Denmark, Norway, and Finland; plans suggest a split along existing lines, with one division for Mercury/Polydor/A&M and another for Universal/Geffen/Interscope/DreamWorks. Plans for Sweden are unclear. Layoffs from the merger with PolyGram so far are 15 people in Denmark, 10 in Norway, and seven in Finland. The figures represent one-third of the workforce. Universal Music Denmark MD Jens-Otto Paludan confirms that Universal's Niclas Ancker will be head of local A&R, predominantly due to his work with international hit act Aqua. Mikael Boier will continue as international marketing director of Universal; his counterpart at PolyGram, Michael Dawids, has exited. --Kai R. Lofthus, Oslo

New Executive VP At Warner In Japan
Warner Music Japan has named Kazuma Toumoto to the new post of executive VP. He will report to WMJ senior director Masahiro Wakabayashi. Toumoto, 48, began his career in 1976 at CBS (now Sony Music Entertainment Japan), rising to GM, domestic marketing. In 1997 he moved to Pony Canyon, where he was a board member and GM of the advertising division. Toumoto's appointment follows WMJ's recent hiring of two former SMEJ executives, Akira Tanabe and Masaki Kikukawa, to senior marketing positions, as WMJ chairman Hiroshi Inagaki--formerly a Sony executive--continues to reshape the label. --Steve McClure, Tokyo Robert Shaw, Conductor, Dies Internationally esteemed choral conductor and educator Robert Shaw died of a stroke yesterday in New Haven, Conn. He was 82. A winner of 14 Grammy Awards, Shaw received his latest nomination this year, for a Telarc disc of Barber, Bartok, and Vaughan Williams with his longtime associates, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. He made 41 albums over nearly two decades with Telarc, after an early tenure with RCA. Shaw's final recording--of the Dvorak Stabat Mater--is scheduled for release this fall by Telarc. --Bradley Bambarger, N.Y.

Warner In Finland Names New MD
Marita Kaasalainen has been named managing director of Warner Music Finland, effective Feb. 1. She will replace Hans Englund, who is retiring after 25 years at Warner Music International, most recently as MD of the Finnish affiliate and regional director of Scandinavia. Kaasalainen, who was deputy MD of Warner Music Finland, will report to Gerd Gebhardt, Warner Music Europe president of central and northern Europe. Belgian Producer Dies En Route To Cannes Belgian producer Mike Dellanay was killed in a car accident while traveling to MIDEM on Sunday morning. He was 40. Italian-born producer and remixer Vito Lucente, 27, remains in a hospital near Toulon with spinal injuries following the accident, which occurred on the motorway some 60 miles from Cannes. Brussels-based Dellanay had a 15-year career as a bass player and producer, and ran his own company, Peanuts Productions. A former member of the group Kiwi, he was responsible for a number of European dance hits, the most recent of which was "Do It" by H2SO4. He is survived by three children. --Mark Solomons, Cannes

Sale Puts Carl Fischer Publishing Firm Back In The Family
U.K.-based music publisher Boosey & Hawkes has spun off the Carl Fischer publishing/retail/distribution setup it acquired last year. The buyer, for an undisclosed sum, is Hayden Connor, the great-grandson of Fischer, who founded the company in 1872. The U.K. firm initially bought Carl Fischer in part to reclaim the Boosey & Hawkes stock the company held. Connor has named Sandy Feldstein, former president of Warner Music Publications, to run the company. He is relocating from Miami to New York, where he will operate out of Carl Fischer's offices, which will move in view of Connor's acquisition. Carl Fischer's assets include a publishing company, wholesale and jobbing operations in New York and Chicago, a retail store in New York and two in Chicago, the management of direct-mail firm Gamble Music Co., and a printing operation in New York. More than 100 staffers are being retained by the new management. --Irv Lichtman, N.Y.

Label Veteran, Former Billboard Publisher Hal Cook Dies
Hal B. Cook, a former label executive and publisher of Billboard, died Friday of a heart attack at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Desert, Calif. He was 80. Cook's 35-year career began in 1948 at Capitol Records, where he rose to VP of sales in 1952. From 1955-60, he held key posts at Columbia and Warner Bros. Records and later formed RSI Record Source International, a subscription service for radio. He also developed the "Music in the Air"concept, which was purchased by American Airlines in 1964 for use as the first in-flight music. In 1962, he was named publisher of Billboard, for which he developed the International Music Industry Conference and purchased music magazines in the U.K., Denmark, and Japan, while opening Billboard offices in 12 cities outside the U.S. He retired in 1974 and was retained as a consultant until 1985. In recent years, he aided in developing a syndicated radio jazz show and in forming the World Jazz Assn. A service is scheduled for Feb. 1 at Palm Desert Community Presbyterian Church. The family suggests that donations be made to MusiCares, via the Recording Academy, 3402 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, Calif. 90405, or the Living Desert, 47900 Portola Ave., Palm Desert, Calif. 92260. --Irv Lichtman, N.Y.

Our Price To Sponsor Radio Chart Show
U.K. music retail chain Our Price has linked with national pop radio station Atlantic 252 to sponsor a midweek chart program. "The Our Price Lowdown" will be based on up-to-the-minute sales data from the retailer's outlets in the territory. Starting tomorrow, the Wednesday drive-time show will feature Our Price's top 20 singles and albums as well as dedicated slots for new releases. Promotion of the show includes in-store and on-air activity. --Mike McGeever, Music & Media

Trans World Links With Custom CD Company
Trans World Entertainment Corp. has entered into an agreement with Custom Revolutions Inc. to include its customdisc.com service on the TWEC.com Web site. The custom CD maker has a library of 185,000 songs, including selections by Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, John Lee Hooker, Bauhaus, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Charles Brown, R&B Legend, Dead At 76 R&B singer/pianist Charles Brown, 76, died of congestive heart failure Jan. 21 in Oakland, Calif. Brown scored his first hit, "Drifting Blues," in 1946 with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers. On his own, he notched several R&B smashes, including the No. 1 entries "Trouble Blues"(1949) and "Black Night"(1951); his smooth vocals and elegant piano work influenced such later R&B stars as Ray Charles and Fats Domino. His long-dormant career received a boost in 1989 when he opened U.S. tour dates for Bonnie Raitt; he went on to record for Rounder's Bullseye Blues imprint and Verve. --Chris Morris, L.A.

The Artist To Issue '1999' Remix Single
An extended CD single of seven versions of the Artist's song "1999"will hit U.S. retail Feb. 2 on his NPG Records label. "1999--The New Master"includes remixes by Larry Graham, Rosie Gaines, and Doug E. Fresh, as well as a cappella and spoken-word versions. The song was originally on the 1982 Warner Bros. album of the same name. Artist Developments ForeFront acts dc Talk, Audio Adrenaline, and Rebecca St. James will perform today at the Kiel Center in St. Louis before the public prayer service by Pope John Paul II.

What's On

"Tammy Wynette Remembered" airs on TNN tonight at 9 ET. Daytime tomorrow: Monica (on Regis & Kathie Lee), k.d. lang (Roseanne), Sugar Ray (Rosie O'Donnell).