When we first heard about Bluebeat.com streaming the entire Beatles catalog as well as selling each song for only 25 cents, we were definitely shocked. We were surprised further yet when Bluebeat continued to sell the music after major British label, EMI, filed a copyright lawsuit.

Now, we’re just amazed to find out that Bluebeat is confident they can win this battle. Does anyone else agree with them? Talk about being an underdog!

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Musician turned mogul Calvin Broadus aka Snoop Dogg can add another executive title to his long resume. According to Variety, the rapper has been brought on as the Creative Chairman of EMI’s Priority Records. That’s right, Snoop Doggy Dogg has got a seat on the board. After label hopping for the past 15 years or so, the rapper has returned to his former music home.

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The BBC and EMI are teaming up for an exciting, music project.  The music company and broadcaster are set to release a series of classic, and unreleased live recordings by a number of the Punk, Post Punk and 2-Tone movements’ leading bands, according to Clash Music.

Look for the live archives to feature unreleased tunes and concert sets from artists like The Stranglers, The Specials, Gang of Four, Ultravox and Dexys Midnight Runners; the music will be available for the first time as digital downloads. The live material was compiled from classic John Peel and David ‘Kid’ Jensen radio sessions and in concert sets.

The EMI-BBC live archive will be released in three monthly installments. Check below for the complete release schedule.

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Empire of the Sun will stream audio and video from their live performance during the solar eclipse on July 22^nd, shortly after 8pm (PST). For 6 minutes and 39 seconds, fans can watch the broadcast on the website eclipseofthesun.org next Wednesday.

Next week’s solar eclipse will be only be visible throughout the Asia Pacific region, so if you can’t see the eclipse, at least you can get a soundtrack for the event!

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Hulu, the site that offers free streaming TV shows and movies, is trying to strike deals with major labels Universal, EMI, Sony and Warner to host music videos. The dealings indicate that Hulu is planning to compete directly with YouTube-backed music video site Vevo.com, which is expected to launch later this year.

YouTube has already teamed up with Universal Music Group (UMG) for Vevo, but is also interested in negotiating the addition of the remaining labels to the new video site. Ironically, if all goes as planned, Hulu and Vevo will both stream the exact same music videos licensed from the same labels. They will undoubtedly be contending with each other for our attention in the near future, but if they are offering the same content, how will we choose between the two?

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Universal Music Group and YouTube/Google are a few weeks away from an agreement over the label’s video rights. YouTube will be responsible for creating a new site, Vevo.com, which would distribute Universal’s video content, and step up advertising revenue with new strategies.

Sony renewed their contract in February, and now Universal, home of U2 and the Killers, will also end their war with YouTube. The soon to be launched Vevo is supposed to generate enough cash to pay for the licensing bill.

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EMI and Capitol Records are suing music search engine SeeqPod for copyright infringement in New York. Seeqpod doesn’t host tracks, but provides a search index and player for them, and despite the lawsuit, says that it will continue business as usual.

The record companies argue that Seeqpod includes many pirated and illegally-downloaded sources of music. The company makes no attempt to block out these sources, but if you compare the service with search giants such as Google and Yahoo, the only difference is that the search results are music related (more relevant) and a music player is provided.

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It is a fact that the music industry is in recession. In the aftermath of 2008, when miserable record sales and widespread file-sharing destroyed profits for major labels, the music industry is now scrambling for new ways to get their hands on your hard-earned cash. Competing with “free” isn’t easy, and the industry has shown it’s ready to adopt creative attitudes toward music consumers and free distribution, while simultaneously trying to implement new business models that force money into their pockets via taxes or subscriptions. It’s time to take a closer look at these schemes.

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Why the Beatles haven’t made their catalogue available online, EMI reports massive losses for the first half of 2008, DJ Hero is confirmed by Guitar Hero publisher Activision and new online music service Lala combines iTunes with social networking features. Check out the round up:

• We’re in 2009, and the Beatles have yet to make their songs available on iTunes, Amazon, Zune, or any of the other major online music stores. MSNBC reports that The Beatles’ business entity, Apple Corps, has to agree to anything done by EMI, which owns the group’s recordings, and the two sides have yet to cut a deal. There is speculation as to whether the music will ever go online, but industry executives say “we have to reach fans wherever they are.” [MSNBC]
• EMI Group Ltd. reported a first-half loss of $221.9 million on Friday as cost cuts failed to outweigh falling CD sales. Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd., the private-equity firm run by Guy Hands that bought EMI in 2007, is struggling to turn the company around, as reducing marketing spending and paying smaller advances to musicians isn’t enough to make up for piracy. [WSJ]

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