Sony Music Plans Launch Of Web Portal Uville.com

Sony Music is planning the launch of a major Internet portal, Uville.com, it was revealed yesterday by Fred Ehrlich, president of new technology and business development, during the Plug.In conference in New York. According to a Sony spokesperson, Uville will launch in the fall and will offer music news, reviews, and product sales. Downloads could be added later, utilizing Microsoft technology under a deal struck in the spring (Bulletin, May 12). Content will not be limited to Sony artists.

In other news from Plug.In:

-- Danny Goldberg, president of the newly formed Sheridan Square Entertainment and Artemis Records, discussed Internet marketing from the indie-label perspective during yesterday's keynote address. The digital environment is ideal, he said, for marketing niche artists and time-sensitive material such as holiday music or parodies, as well as for soliciting upper-demo consumers, or "old farts," who do not frequent record stores. However, he said, traditional record companies--majors and indies--will remain vital as "investment bankers" and marketing and A&R experts. "Clusters of the public are still going to gravitate toward stars and superstars," Goldberg stated, later adding that no new acts have significantly broken through solely because of the Internet. "So far, that model does not exist," he said.

-- CDnow has inked a deal giving it access to the music licensed by amplified.com. Under the arrangement, the Internet retailer will be able to offer digital downloads and custom CDs of material from the amplified.com catalog.

--Carolyn Horwitz and Ken Schlager, N.Y.


Koch Plans Adult-Oriented Label, New Nashville Arm

Distributor Koch International is starting an Atlanta-based adult-oriented label, Oberon Records. The imprint will be run by Trammell Starks, former senior VP at Platinum Entertainment. Oberon will issue four to five releases a year; one of its first titles is expected to be "The Symphonic Songs Of Peter Gabriel."

Additionally, Koch International president Michael Koch told staffers at the company's sales conference last week that the firm will be establishing a Nashville division, which will be headed by two well-known Music City veterans. However, he declined to supply additional details.

--Chris Morris, L.A.


EMI Deal Completed For Kiosk Downloads

As first reported here, Digital On-Demand has completed a deal with EMI Recorded Music to distribute the company's catalog on Digital's RedDot Network of retail kiosks (Bulletin, June 16). More than 5,000 songs will be available for the kiosks, which allow consumers to download albums and manufacture a CD in stores. The kiosks are expected to roll-out in Virgin Megastore and Trans World Entertainment outlets this fall.

--Eileen Fitzpatrick, L.A.


MP3.com IPO Today

Shares in MP3.com were priced yesterday at $28 for an initial public offering today (Bulletin, July 13). The San Diego-based Internet music distribution company will put 12.3 million shares on the market.


Yahoo! Completes Broadcast.com Buy

Yahoo! yesterday completed its acquisition of streaming site broadcast.com. The stock deal, announced this spring, was valued at $5.7 billion (Bulletin, April 1). Yahoo! plans to integrate broadcast.com's content and services starting in the third quarter. Shares in Yahoo! closed down 4.93% to $142.12 in a day that saw major drops in Internet stocks.


PolyGram Tech Vet McDermott To Sony

Longtime PolyGram Group Distribution executive Jim McDermott has joined Sony Music as VP of new technology, reporting to president of new technology and business development Fred Ehrlich and Sony Music Productions senior VP Al Smith. The New York-based McDermott was a new-tech VP at PGD before making the transition to a VP post at Universal Music Group's Web-development operation.

--Ken Schlager, N.Y.


Reciprocal Links With TVT, Alliance

Digital rights management company Reciprocal has inked a deal in which its services will be used for secure downloads from TVT Records. The label will offer singles and albums at www.tvtrecords.com in the Microsoft and InterTrust formats, from acts that include Sevendust, Speech, Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, and the Connells.
New York-based Reciprocal has also signed a letter of intent to enter into a multiyear arrangement with Alliance Entertainment Corp. for use of Reciprocal services on the distributor's Web sites.


IFPI, Film Body Sue Piracy Suspects In Hong Kong

Members of the IFPI and Motion Picture Assn. of America (MPAA) on Monday jointly filed writs in the High Court in Hong Kong seeking damages and injunctions for alleged copyright infringement. The defendants, five companies and six individuals, already face criminal charges following an April 1998 raid by Hong Kong customs and the territory's Independent Commission Against Corruption, during which 22 million discs and a large quantity of manufacturing equipment were seized (Billboard, May 9, 1998). That raid also led to the arrest of Gregory Wong Pui-sham, head of the Customs and Excise department's prosecution, intelligence, and investigation bureau, who received a four-year jail sentence for corruption in May. The other criminal cases have yet to be heard.

In a statement, IFPI head of worldwide enforcement Iain Grant says, "Piracy is theft. While the Hong Kong government is working hard to catch and prosecute optical disc pirates, we will be working just as hard to pursue compensation for the hundreds of millions of dollars of losses these thefts represent."

Ricky Fung, CEO of IFPI Hong Kong, says, "We want to show that there is a policy of zero tolerance and that we will take civil action against alleged suspects."

The 22 plaintiffs in the actions--the first to be filed jointly by IFPI and MPA members--include the Hong Kong affiliates of Warner Bros., Sony, Universal, and BMG and the local firms Musician Hong Kong, Go East Entertainment, Cinepoly Records, and Capital Artists, as well as MPAA members Castle Rock, Disney, Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer, Paramount, and Twentieth Century Fox.

--Mark Solomons, London; Owen Hughes, Hong Kong


Bronx Flash Inks Publishing Deal

The U.S. and Canadian administration rights to two catalogs owned by Germany's Rolf Budde Musikverlage have switched to Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based Bronx Flash Music Inc., company owner Ken Weiss tells Bulletin. The material was administered by Windswept Pacific. Weiss says his company will handle some 2,500 songs controlled by Budde Music (ASCAP) and Budde Songs (BMI), including such hits as "Always On My Mind," "Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days Of Summer," "The Letter," and "Pata Pata." Bronx Flash is the publisher of material by Stephen Sills, Chris Hillman, Rick Roberts, and others and has a co-publishing arrangement with Warner/Chappell Music for songs written by Frank Wildhorn.

--Irv Lichtman, N.Y.


NMPA Elects Board

The National Music Publishers' Assn. has re-elected all but one of 18 board members to new two-year terms, effective immediately. As reported at the body's annual meeting Monday in New York, Nick Firth, president of BMG Publishing, is the new board member, replacing Jerry Flowers, who has left the publishing business. Re-elected are Martin Bandier, Freddie Bienstock, Helene Blue, Leon Brettler, Arnold Broido, John Eastman, Al Gallico, Lance Freed, Donna Hilley, Maxyne Lang, Leeds Levy, Bill Lowery, Evan Medow, Stanley Mills, Jay Morgenstern, Ralph Peer II, and Irwin Robinson. The board will elect officers in the fall.

--Irv Lichtman, N.Y.


MOBO Awards Set

The fourth annual Malibu MOBO (Music Of Black Origin) Awards, sponsored for a second year by the beverage company, will take place Oct. 6 at London's Royal Albert Hall. Channel 4 will air a 90-minute highlights show on British TV the following evening. Last year's show on the channel attracted a peak audience of 3.6 million. Nominations will be announced Sept. 1; tickets for the show go on sale July 31.

--Paul Sexton, London


EMI Mexico Revamps

EMI Mexico has restructured its operations following the departure this spring of president Mario Ruiz (Bulletin, April 27). The company is now headed by two executive VPs: Marcelo Ripoll, who held the title before, and Arturo L