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Nielsen Music, which supplies chart data to Billboard through Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, has promoted three key executives. Nancy Wagner is named East Coast senior VP/GM, Mark Tindle becomes West Coast senior VP/GM and Abbe Frank gets the post of senior VP of product development and client relations. Wagner was one of the original BDS staffers in Los Angeles when the company launched in 1990. Most recently, she served as GM of Nielsen SoundScan/Nielsen BDS, East Coast. Tindle has been with Nielsen SoundScan/Nielsen BDS since 1999, most recently as West Coast GM. Frank has been with SoundScan since 1999 as director of product development in New York. All three executives report to Rob Sisco, president of Nielsen Music/COO of Nielsen Entertainment East Coast operations.



The Walt Disney Co. board said March 3 that it separated the positions of CEO and chairman at the entertainment conglomerate the same day that 43% of shareholders voted against re-electing chairman/CEO Michael Eisner to the board. The Disney board, meeting in Philadelphia after a contentious shareholder gathering, said it had elected former U.S. Senator George Mitchell chairman by a unanimous vote. Eisner will continue as CEO. Mitchell had served as Disney's lead independent director; 24% of shareholders voted against his re-election at the annual meeting. REUTERS



After casting a critical eye on the prospects of Clear Channel Entertainment in a previous analysis, equity research firm William Blair & Co. admits it was "surprised by the organic growth of Clear Channel's live entertainment division" in a recent report. Last fall, William Blair & Co. issued a report that stated it would "view favorably a sale of the [entertainment] division" of Clear Channel Communications (Billboard, Oct. 25, 2003). The new report, which analyzes fourth-quarter 2003 performance, states, "Pro forma revenue [for CCE] increased 2%; we had modeled a decrease of 10%." The report goes on to say that "expense growth lagged revenue growth, and the division's margin increased to 3.5% from 2.2%." Overall Clear Channel numbers also exceeded estimates. RAY WADDELL



A suit that Ruben Blades filed against his former record and publishing companies is set to go to trial March 8 in New York federal court. The suit against Fania Records, Vaya Records, Musica Latin Internacional, Vaya Publishing, Fania Publishing, Vev Plub and Sonido includes multiple counts against the companies. All companies are or were part of the Latin music enterprise owned by the late Gerald Massuci, who recorded some of the biggest names in the genre. In the 1970s, Blades signed to Fania Records and released some of his most famous recordings under the label. Among other things, the suit claims failure to pay recording royalties, failure to pay publishing royalties and copyright infringement. Blades also alleges that several of the companies named in the suit unlawfully exploited compositions that he owns in full. In 1984, Blades filed a similar complaint, and all parties reached a settlement in 1985. Blades claims the defendants have not adhered to the court-ordered terms of the settlement. Sony/ATV has administered Blades' publishing since 2000. LEILA COBO



Digital-music service provider Loudeye has acquired Overpeer in a stock swap valued at $4 million. Seattle-based Loudeye, which provides online retailers with music services including downloads and streaming radio, plans to market Overpeer's anti-piracy technology as a way to track music being swapped on peer-to-peer networks, block file swapping and promote legitimate content. Overpeer is a leader in distributing decoy files over P2P services, a practice commonly known as "spoofing." Labels are increasingly populating P2P networks with such phony files in an attempt to stymie unauthorized downloading of music content. BRIAN GARRITY



Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., disagrees with the ruling by the Federal Communications Commission last month allowing new low-power FM stations in urban areas with existing FM stations. In his March 2 letter to chairman Michael Powell, Gregg takes the FCC's outside study by the Mitre Group to task, saying several "technical and methodological errors" in the study hide that interference would be a problem in some cases. BILL HOLLAND



Production of Tobias electric basses has returned to the United States with a new line of instruments handcrafted in Conway, Ark. Originally made by luthier Mike Tobias in 1977 in Orlando, Fla., the company changed hands, and production moved to Asia. The new Tobias basses, which feature Bartolini electronics, exotic wood combinations and neck-through-body construction, will be made in the facility previously used for production of Baldwin grand pianos. CHRISTOPHER WALSH