New Music Industry Briefing For Tuesday May 23, 2006

– Proving the appetite for ad supported but free, 3 million people have grabbed downloads of several hit ABC TV shows since they began offering them 2 weeks ago. (Reuters)

– Epic Nashville is closing and axing 20 employees. Future releases will come via Columbia Nashville. (Billboard)

– One analysts put the number of lay-offs that would result from and kind of EMI/WMG merger at 20% of a 10,000 combined workforce. At the same time some key EMI shareholders are balking at the combo all-together particularly if the price continues to rise. (UK’s Independent)