Music Industry News: Bruno Mars Strategy, Google Music India, FUGA Scores. Live Nation & More

Is it just me, or is surprisingly little real news or even excitement coming from CMJ this week?  Unlike SXSW or even the smaller music and tech conferences, it seems no one uses CMJ anymore to launch big things anymore. The real fun in NYC seems to be at the Terra Firm EMI vs. Citi trial where yesterday Guy Hands admitted that he had no written proof that Citi had dupped him. Not good, Guy. Not good.

• Songwriters turned pop stars: the Bruno Mars strategy. – It worked for Motown, and now the music industry is doing it again – letting No 1 hit-writers sing the songs themselves. (Guardian)
• Google plans to launch an online music service in India that would enable users to search for legal music streams and downloads. (WSJ) This could offer some indicators as to Google's U.S. music plans… paidContent says not so.
• Digital distributor FUGA has added some significant new labels: Ministry of Sound, AWAL UK Ltd,  Phoenix Music Group, Back Yard Records, Freaky Music, 101 Distribution, 2Brains, Underground Music

More Music Industry News & Commentary

• Live Nation will reveal financial results on Thursday, November 4th at 5:00 PM ET. To access the teleconference: 888-603-6873 (U.S.) or 973-321-1019 (Int’l) ten minutes prior to the start time and reference passcode 16775958.
• Creative Commons' Branding Confusion (Techdirt)
• Bandcamp is hiring: http://bandcamp.com/jobs
• Songick concert listings will now be featured in Yahoo! search results.
• For the Pirate Who Has Everything. (Techi)
• MTV VJs: Where Are They Now? (FlavorWire) 
• Marcus Berkmann: No such thing as selling out. (Indie) 
• A new music collection society for Wales? (BBC)
• Accused pirates to indie filmmakers: Sue us (CNET)
• How Much Of The Music Industry Is Resting On Taylor Swift's Shoulders? (NPR)
• Technology feeds music to the masses: The state of music and the citizen’s insatiable appetite for sound. (Vista)
• Anberlin goes beyond labels: Band loves making music, despite business realities. (Freep)