warner music group

• Ticketmaster CEO Sean Moriarty says the company expects 2009 to look much like the second half of 2008. Meaning slow. "You would expect there to be some adjustment of pricing for an economy where people have less money in their pocket." (Bloomberg.com)

Apple has come to an agreement with Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music that will give iTunes their songs in MP3 format.

• A U.S. District Court judged ruled that video streaming site Veoh can claim exemption from liability under the DMCA's safe harbor protection in a lawsuit filed by Universal Music Group. Wrote the judge, "Service providers would be greatly deterred from performing their basic, vital and salutary function." There is not yet a decision in the case.

• Providing another blow to CD sales, UK retail chain Zavvi has gone into administration. (Reuters)

Here are some of the things that caught my eye while I was on vacation and since I returned:

• Radio revenues fell 20% in November. Off-air revenue was up 1%. (Radio Ink)

Seymour Stein, VP at Warner Music Group and founder of Sire Records, as quoted by the Globe and Mail:

Reaching a 50% digital share is music's equivalent to breaking the four-minute mile (though sustained profitability would be nice, too). And according to this IHT article, Atlantic Records claims over half its revenues now comes from digital.

Warner Music Group's Q4 and fiscal 2008 results show a company doing its best to move forward until its strategy pays off. For the most part, the story line hasn't changed: recorded music down and tenuous, publishing up and healthy, digital improved but growth slowing.