French media conglomerate Vivendi (EPA: VIV) saw Q1 revenue up six percent to €6.9 billion compared with last year - and it’s easy to see why. Vivendi told analysts last month it’s putting a “growing focus on subscriptions”, which have grown to comprise more than three quarters of the group’s…

Universal Music Group was early to tap into the whole music gaming phenomenon by partnering with Tapulous to make iPhone apps for artists such as Lady Gaga and Souja Boy Tell ‘Em. Now it’s branching off and working with others to create even more gaming applications. The record label’s latest…

Video games are shining brighter as the jewel in Vivendi’s crown. The French conglomerate is expecting Activision (NSDQ: ATVI) Blizzard to contribute a boat-load more to this year’s group profit, when two key titles trickle farther down. Its 2009 earnings, out today, show… —Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 shifted…

The move was telegraphed last year and now the timing is set: Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group International, will move from London to New York to become co-CEO with Doug Morris July 1. That’s supposed to last for six months, with Grainge reporting to Vivendi (EPA:…

The glitzy opening at a trendy club in Tribeca—followed by a crashing site when millions of would-be music video viewers tried to sign on and a night of instant scaling—was just the beginning for Vevo. But CEO Rio Caereff is careful not to jump too many chapters ahead when he…

Music labels’ YouTube-powered music video site Vevo may have had a glitzy launch in New York on Tuesday - but on Wednesday many who hit the site for the first time found it crashing under traffic weight, and everyone outside the U.S. and Canada who hits Vevo.com is getting the…

How much money do artists really make from Spotify? According to Swedish paper Expressen, 2009’s standout breakthrough artist Lady Gaga and her songwriter Redone made just SEK1150 (£100.76; $166.56) in songwriting royalties from one million Spotify plays of her hit Poker Face in Sweden in the first five months after…

Next year is shaping up to be an interesting one in terms of digital music. We’ll be able to see how much traction music video site Vevo ultimately gains, whether Google’s music search becomes ubiquitous, and possibly see Spotify launch here in the U.S. There will also be two new…

Vevo, the highly anticipated music video site, now has a launch date. It’s set to go live on the evening of Dec. 8, the site said a few minutes ago via Twitter. The announcement comes a day after Hulu said it too would make a foray into the music video…

Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 grossed more than $300 million in sales in its first 24 hours just in the US and the UK, making it not just the biggest video game launch of the year, but the biggest entertainment launch, in any medium, ever. That most hyperbolic…

Universal Music CEO Doug Morris will be succeeded by international chief Lucian Grainge next year, BusinessWeek reports. The Times Online also calls Grainge Morris’ “annointed successor” in a piece today. BusinessWeek says that Morris (pictured to the left)—who has overseen Universal Music’s operations for the last 15 years—plans to step…

At the famed Capitol Records building in Hollywood, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) officially unveiled its OneBox music search service. First news tidbit to emerge is that MySpace will be the brand powering the streaming music, videos and track purchases—not new acquisition iLike, as was initially reported. Google’s Marissa Mayer demoed what…

Former *Nokia* interactive ad sales vet David Kohl has joined Vevo, the music video site that labels like UMG and *Sony* are hoping will be “the next Hulu.” As EVP of of sales and customer operations, Kohl will lead Vevo’s efforts to secure big brand sponsorships, reporting to CEO Rio…

Fast growing digital music sales and the ongoing popularity of online multiplayer video games helped Vivendi (EPA: VIV) to a recession-beating 15 percent year-on-year revenue growth in the first half of 2009. —*Activision* Blizzard: The games division continued to power on - revenues up 300 percent from last year to…

Updated: Chris Stephenson, who has overseen global marketing for Microsoft’s Zune music player since its debut in 2006, is leaving Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) to join Universal Music, the WSJ reports. Stephenson confirms he is leaving to the WSJ. At Universal, he will lead marketing for Interscope Geffen A & M…

Universal Music has purchased the international rights to Frank Sinatra albums from the Sinatra Family and Warner Music, the Financial Times reports. Under the terms of the deal, Universal can reissue albums that Sinatra released for Reprise, the record label he founded in 1960 and later sold to Warner Music.…

DVD rental biz Redbox took a big hit in its efforts to sue several Universal Studios units over a policy withholding new releases from vending machines for 45 days. After a months-long delay, U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler dismissed two counts in the suit late Monday, in a 13-page ruling…

“Don’t it always seem to go you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” ... Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) didn’t pave paradise but it helped kill off albums and now it wants the magic—and the higher profit margins—back. The FT reports via multiple unidentified sources that Apple, EMI, Warner Music…

Universal Music is linking up with another digital music distributor, albeit this time a less traditional one. The company said it had signed a strategic alliance with TuneCore, a startup that in exchange for a one-time fee will take anyone’s song and distribute it to major online digital music stores.…