iWork Released for iPhone and iPod Touch!

People who enjoy creating work documents on the go (and Apple lovers), rejoice!

Today, Apple updated their iWork apps Pages, Numbers, and Keynote to be universally compatible with all iOS devices. The productivity suite was originally released with the first-generation iPad as one of its tentpole applications.

Over a year later, the apps are now compatible with the iPhone and the iPod touch. The original apps were updated, so if you already own an iWork app, all you have to do is download the update and put it on your iPhone. There is no need to buy it again (for $9.99). The updating of the apps come a week before the highly anticipated Worldwide Developer's Convention in San Francisco. There, Steve Jobs is expected to unveil iOS, Mac OS X Lion, and even possibly an updated iPhone.

The iWork suite is perfect for those who want to get work done while their own the move and can't pull out their laptops. It is also perfect for college students, who want to finish up a paper on their way to class Trust me, this could have been a lifesaver this past semester.

For those unfamiliar with iWork, Pages is the word processor, Numbers is the spreadsheet, and Keynote is the powerpoint presentation.

Speaking of Powerpoint, I am wondering if Microsoft is going ahead with their own set of iPhone/iPad apps that they implied they were doing with the release of OneNote.

Sunday Feature: How Lady Gaga and Born This Way's Promotional Blitz Should Change The Music Industry

Today marks the return of the Sunday Feature, where I recap on an important topic of the past week and offer my own thoughts. While I say this for every post I make, I would greatly appreciate any comments you have. Please feel free to discuss or debate this any future Sunday Feature topic with me!

Billboard is projecting that Lady Gaga's Born This Way will sell above 1.15 million copies by the end of business today. This means she will have the biggest first week sales of a pop artist since NSYNC's 2001 album Celebrity. Note that I added "pop" to the superlative, because there is something to be said about how pop music sells these days.

Unlike in the early 2000s, current music sales, especially of pop, are abysmal. Even with #1 singles and radio play, many pop stars are lucky to cross 250,000 in their first week. Case in point, Katy Perry had two of the biggest hits of last year, and sold 192,000 copies in her first week. Taio Cruz had two of the biggest hits of last year with "Break Your Heart" and "Dynamite", sold a paltry 24,000 copies in its first week.

And yet, Lady Gaga is about to cross a threshold that only a few artists have, even with the relative flop of "Judas" under her belt.

Some detractors of Gaga will try to asterisk her accomplishment because of the 99-cent Amazon deal. Yes, it is a highly unorthodox move on Amazon's part (since they are the ones who cut the price, not Gaga or Interscope), but it's a no-lose situation for all parties involved.

Considering the dire straits the industry is in at the moment, labels and artists should be looking towards Lady Gaga for inspiration to revitalize album sales.

What's quite funny is that, just like her music and fashion, Gaga isn't doing anything particular new or special. She is using the technologies and trends of now to reinvent the promotional practices of the past.

Let's explore what I call the "Gaga Model".

Lady Gaga's Born This Way Sells 500,000 in One Day!

UPDATE: Born This Way Has Sold 1.1 Million Copies In The US!

Lady Gaga has stormed the record books with her new album.

Born This Way sold an astonishing 500,000 copies in its first day of release from six retailers, according to Billboard. Amazon's industry-shaking 99 cent promotional deal accounted for 300,000 copies sold on Monday, which most likely influenced their decision to lower the price on Thursday.

Here is the sales breakdown from the other four retailers from the first day:

• iTunes: 104,000
• Best Buy: 45,000
• Target: 35,000
• Satrbucks: 10,000

Born This Way is stocked in 20,000 other retailers, including Whole Foods, Walgreens, and CVS. Billboard predicts that Gaga will ultimately sell at the least one million copies when the final figures are released next week. Some are speculating she will break Britney Spears' record for the highest first week sales for a female artist. Oops... I Did It Again sold 1.3 million copies back in 2000.

Billboard Explains Lady Gaga/Amazon Deal, The Blackout Controversy, and Criticizes Britney Fan Twitter Attacks

Billboard sets the record straight about Britney Spears and Lady Gaga

Billboard, the company that analyzes music sales in the United States, has published an article in response to the Twitter uproar caused by some Britney Spears fans.

Bill Werde, the editorial director of Billboard, wrote the article after some fans of Britney accused Billboard on Twitter of bias towards Lady Gaga and her new album, Born This Way. The alleged bias stemmed from the company's decision to count the sales from Amazon's 99 cent sale of her album, which have pushed first week projections of her album to over 1 million copies.

Some fans are also still upset over Billboard's 2007 decision to change the chart policy that prevented sales from one sole retailer from counting towards the album chart. The decision resulted in The Eagles topping the Billboard 200 instead of Britney's album Blackout, which was originally projected to hit the top.

Although the situations are different, fans are arguing that Billboard is unfair in not changing the rules against Gaga, when they were changed against Britney. To retaliate, some Britney Twitter users were trying to trend #Billboardcorrupt and #FraudThisWay.

In response, Werde called out Britney fans directly for spreading misinformation about the Amazon situation: "In the hope of clearing up misinformation I've seen around the web -- Britney fans, I'm looking at you, or at least at the evil ones who keep cursing me on Twitter without asking questions -- I'll share a few guiding dynamics, as well as some specifics for this week."

He explained in detail both situations, and gave his stance that Billboard examined situations on consumer interest, not on prices. He also wrote that Billboard had no intention of setting a lower-bound price limit in its analyses. He did concede, however, that Billboard is always looking into new changes and shifts in the market, and adjusts the methodologies accordingly.

Essentially, he told Britney Spears fans to stop crying over spilled milk.

While I wonder if the shade was necessary, it was a well-written article that definitely put all of the information out there. It should clear up any confusion (or lies).

Here is the link to the article: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/retail/why-billboard-isn-t-revising-chart-policies-1005205422.story

Do you guys think that Billboard is right? To fans of Britney, are you guys upset over the Blackout incident in 2007, or about Gaga's Amazon deal counting? Share your thoughts with me!

It's War! Amazon Undercuts iTunes, Sells Gaga's Born This Way for $0.99 Again!

Amazon is launching a full-out assault against iTunes, using Lady Gaga as its huge, egg-shaped vessel.

The online retail giant has dropped the price of Born This Way again to 99 cents, repeating their industry-shocking decision from Monday. With the purchase of the album, the buyer will also receive a free upgrade of 20GB of storage from Amazon's Cloud Drive service. The promotion was only supposed to last one day, but the astonishing success has clearly changed Amazon's mind on the matter. The promotion, according to the website, will end today.

It should be noted that this was a decision made my Amazon, not Gaga or her record label Interscope. The Wall Street Journal has confirmed that Amazon has paid the wholesale price of the album, approximately $9, which allowed the right to offer the album for such an incredibly low price.

No doubt this could potentially influence the first-week projections for Gaga's album, which now stand at 900K from Hits Daily Double.

If you are a frugal Lady Gaga fan, I suggest you pop on over to Amazon RIGHT NOW and get this deal before it's too late. Or, head over to my Twitter and retweet my #gagaclaus post to get it gifted, from me!  Hurry though, it won't last long, either deal!

An Interesting Read... Forbes Examines The Born This Way Campaign

Gaga blitzes the market with landmark campaign - Forbes.com

For those who have been critical of Lady Gaga's promotional tactics for her album Born This Way, this articles by Forbes (who just named her the most powerful celebrity in the world) puts a really interesting spin on all of the craziness.

Lady Gaga's Born This Way Has Massive Digital Sales, Caused by iTunes/Amazon Battle

Born This Way has iTunes and Amazon going "gaga"

UPDATE: Amazon reselling Born This Way for 99 cents again! Read the details here!

Lady Gaga is on track to have the fast-selling digital album of all time, while two online retail giants duke it over her.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the pop phenom's Born This Way sold in the range of 250,000 to 350,000 copies between Amazon's MP3 store and the dominant iTunes store. Yesterday, Amazon launched a frenzy amongst buyers when they sold the standard edition for an astonishing 99 cents, compared to $11.99 at iTunes. The purchase of the album also came with a free upgrade of 20GB for Amazon's recently launched Cloud Drive.

The shock pricing, which caused Amazon's servers to overload due to demand, was a business strategy called loss leading. Amazon, by lowering the price of the album, took a considerable loss in the hopes that people would flock to the company and stick with them. Amazon, despite selling their songs at a cheaper price than iTunes, doesn't hold a significant market share. iTunes holds at least 90% of all digital music sold. Still, Amazon's very agressive tactics were enough to garner a response. Hits Daily Double reported that iTunes threatened to cease their promotion of Gaga's album in retaliation.

What iTunes did have over Amazon was the very attractive "Complete My Album" feature, where buyers who purchased previous songs from the album can get the full record at a discounted price. Since Gaga released four singles prior to the album's release, fans were able to get the deluxe edition at a potential price of $10.83, compared to $15.99. That edition is sitting at #1 on the iTunes album chart, with the standard edition at #2.

As Apple and Amazon duke it out in the retail department, it's clear who the real winner is; Gaga. If these first day estimates pan out, Gaga will have the fastest selling digital album by a mile. Currently, Coldplay's Viva La Vida holds the title with 288,000 digital copies in its first week. On top of digital sales, her album is reportedly sold out in Wal-marts and Best Buys throughout the country. Hits Daily Double revised their first-week sale predictions to a whopping 900,000 copies, with the possibility she could hit the coveted million mark. Interscope Records, who pulled out ALL of the stops for this album, shipped a staggering 2 million copies to retailers.

If Gaga pulls off 1 million, she will be the first pop artist in years to do so. The last artist to sell 1 million copies was Taylor Swift with her album Speak Now.


To read my review of Born This Way, click here.

iPhone 4 Disaster: Will Apple Recall iPhone 4 Over Antenna Issues?

Experts are suggesting that Apple recalls the iPhone 4, or risk irreparable damage to reputation

Class action lawsuits, ordering drama, signal issues, and now calls for a recall? Apple is arguably suffering the backlash from hell.

I am a proud owner of an iPhone 3GS (iPhone 3G before switching it out a week after I bought it to get the latest model). While I could've easily purchased another phone for a lot less than my current one, I did for one reason. I bought the iPhone because I knew that Apple only made quality products that would last me a significant while.

While I still believe that to be true, there is no doubt that Apple's sterling reputation for engineering excellence has been tarnished by the widely reported signal issues associated with the latest iteration of the iPhone, iPhone 4.

Despite the multitude of new features, it hasn't prevented people from noticing that, when held a certain way, the cell signal is degraded to almost nothing. Apple has remained relatively mum on the subject, only copping to a software issue, but the issues have now begun to affect the acclaim of the hard-won Apple brand of perfection. This week, Consumer Reports magazine, which offers recommendations on products, has revealed that they wouldn't recommend the iPhone 4 after testing it and confirming the reality of the signal issues. Despite not receiving the recommendation, iPhone 4 still ranked highest amongst all smartphones.

Now, the Cult of Mac blog is suggesting, with commentary from multiple experts in public relations, that the only way to prevent a widespread Apple crisis is to recall the popular phone and fix the hardware, not the software. The experts, including "Master of Disaster" White House consultant Chris Lehane has related the iPhone 4 issues to the recent Toyota recall crisis, where over ten million vehicles were recalled worldwide, sparking government hearings over the matter. They believe that the cost of a recall doesn't overvalue the reputation of the Apple brand, and that a recall is the only way to resolve the issue. Lehane even referred to Apple's response to the furor over their 2007 iPhone price cut. Instead of ignoring disgruntled customers, Apple CEO Steve Jobs offered both an apology and refunds. Lehane was quoted as saying: "Apple must protect its brand image, its crown jewels, at all cost. Apple has enormous consumer loyalty but it depends on whether people believe it’s credible."

I completely agree with the PR experts on this one. If there is no software fix to this issue, then Apple has really no choice but to recall the phones and fix them. People, like me, don't pay up to $500 for phones that can suffer from such terrible signal strength (and that's considering we are dealing with AT&T here). Apple has always prided itself on its customer service and quality product. Well, they clearly gaffed on the latter, so its time to prove they are still the company to beat with the former.

Good News, Bad News: iPhone 4 Reaches 600,000 Pre-Orders, New Orders Delayed to July 14th

Amidst the disastrous hot mess that was yesterday's iPhone 4 pre-order launch is some good news. Apple announced yesterday that the highly anticipated product has received an astonishing 600,000 pre-orders in the first 24 hours alone. According to AT&T, the demand was ten times higher than first day pre-orders for the iPhone 3GS released last year.

Which, of course, leads to the really sucky news.

If you are pre-ordering an iPhone today, you won't be getting it for a while. A long while. Apple and AT&T have completely sold out of their pre-order stock. The carrier has suspended all pre-orders for the time being, while Apple is reporting a ship date of July 14th, a near two week pushback from the original ship date of July 2nd. For those who don't want to wait a month, you might have better luck going to a retail store to get your new phone. Just prepare to brave the expectedly long lines as other people shut out by the iPhone 4 order failure join you.

Luckily for me, my upgrade doesn't come until March, and by that time, Apple will be prepping iPhone 5, and will have learned from this disastrous hot mess currently happening.

Emphasis on the disastrous hot mess.

AT&T Meltdown! iPhone 4 Pre-Order Disaster Includes ANOTHER Security Breach

Things just went from bad to horrific with the scandal-plagued AT&T.

Just days after AT&T was hacked an thousands of iPad users had their information exposed, Gizmodo is reporting that people pre-ordering the highly anticipated iPhone 4 have been re-directed to another person's account, giving them access to tons of valuable, private information.

It is only a bit of the disaster that the iPhone 4 pre-order process has become. Since Apple and AT&T began allowing people to pre-order this morning, there have been numerous issues, all seeming to stem from AT&T's processing system. Apparently, the entire AT&T system has collapsed, resulting in failures on Apple's end as well. The problem has become so drastic that AT&T has temporarily prevented users from accessing their online accounts and closed some of their retail stores. While some orders were successfully processed, they were subsequently canceled due to an undisclosed error.

As I mentioned earlier, the security breach is the second in a matter of days. Last week, a group of hackers exploited a hole in AT&T's system to expose thousands of iPad 3G users' information. Among the hacked included Diane Sawyer, Michael Bloomberg, and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. The company recently apologized for the security breach.

AT&T also threw a curve ball at its subscribers two weeks ago with the announcement of their new data plans, ultimately killing unlimited data for new users. If you remember, unlimited data was the big selling point at the iPad announcement in January, so it was a big slap in the face to the 3G adopters. Then there is iPhone tethering, which was delayed a year, only to be announced for an additional $20 a month, only with use of the 2GB data plan.

So, what the hell is going on with AT&T? While the company has always been plagued with embarrassments, especially regarding the iPhone, two major disasters within days of each other is not a good look for the company, especially concerning its tenuous relationship with Apple. Rumors continue to persist of Apple dropping the company when the exclusivity agreement ends, and with these latest embarrassments, they'll only grow bigger.

Steve Jobs Comes For Adobe's Life with "Thoughts on Flash"

 VS  

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has always expressed distaste for Adobe's Flash platform, and has refused implementation of it on the iPhone, iPod touch, and the recently released iPad. The decision has received significant criticism and accusation of being closed-platformed by Adobe itself.

Well, with the tech world still confused as to why Apple and adobe are at loggerheads, Jobs has finally released a statement, which is more like a giant middle finger in Adobe's face, titled "Thoughts on Flash". Here are some highlights:

"Apple has a long relationship with Adobe. In fact, we met Adobe’s founders when they were in their proverbial garage."

"Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system."

"Another Adobe claim is that Apple devices cannot play Flash games. This is true. Fortunately, there are over 50,000 games and entertainment titles on the App Store, and many of them are free."

"In addition, Flash has not performed well on mobile devices. We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it."

"Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short."

"New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind."

So, in case you have reading comprehension issues, Steve Jobs thinks that Adobe is a whiny little bitch of a company with sub-standard results. Oh, and Flash sucks.

Steve Jobs just dragged Adobe to Cupertino and left it there to die. Ouch.

To read the whole article, click here

FBI Launches Investigation Over Wolverine Film Leak

Yesterday, an "incomplete and early version" of the highly anticipated film X Men Origins: Wolverine was leaked to the Internet, inciting both fury over at 20th Century Fox and an FBI investigation.

The film, not due for US release until May 1st, was posted on various file-sharing websites yesterday. 20th Century Fox, the studio distributing the movie, confirmed that the copy has been removed.

The Hugh Jackman flick leak has caused so much outrage that now, the FBI is launching an investigation. A spokesperson from the studio said about the investigation: "The source of the initial leak and any subsequent postings will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Those who haven't seen the leaked version aren't missing much. According to BBC News, the leaked version was missing scenes, sounds, music, and the crucial CGI effects.

Legendary Soap Guiding Light May Be Cancelled in September

The future of the soap opera is looking bleaker every day.

TV Week and Entertainment Weekly are both reporting that CBS is planning for a replacement for Guiding Light, the longest-running soap opera and drama in broadcast history.

Although it's not set in stone, there seems to be little hope for the struggling sudser. Despite an extremely high-profile change in the show's production, as well as the return of fan favorite Grant Aleksander as Phillip Spaulding, ratings are still low compared to other daytime programs. Guiding Light averages about 2.5 million viewers a week.

Although I haven't really been watching Guiding Light much (since it's been a steaming pile of horse crap lately except for Aleksander), hearing of its cancellation just makes the ending of the soap opera all the more inevitable.

How Jay Leno's Primetime Gig Could Change Television Forever

It was announced today that comedian Jay Leno, vacating host of The Tonight Show, will receive his own program that will air Monday through Friday, at 10 pm.

The primetime slot, which is usually reserved for television dramas such as E.R. and Law and Order, is being given to Leno after he leaves his current job on The Tonight Show. Conan O'Brien, host of Late Night..., will take his place, and SNL star Jimmy Fallon will take Conan's place.

The new deal comes after NBC president Jeff Zucker revealed his plans to cut the channel's broadcasting schedule due to budgetary issues. It appears that the Leno deal is the first phase of his mission. Talk show formats like Leno's are much cheaper to produce than scripted television. Replacing a talk show with a primetime drama would cut 5 hours a week out of NBC's scripted television schedule. With 52 weeks in a year, a maximum of 256 hours of scripted television would be cut from NBC screens. More importantly, at least to NBC executives, 256 hours of scripted television would be cut from the tightening budget.

According to Yahoo! News, which recently did an article discussing the costs of scripted television compared to reality television, the average costs for dramas like ABC's Grey's Anatomy are $1-2 million an episode. That means, at most, NBC is trimming half a billion dollars from its budget. When you add the low production costs of the proposed show, as well as Leno's expectedly enormous paycheck, NBC is still looking at some healthy numbers.

The show will likely be a success. Jay Leno has always been a ratings grabber, and with an extra 10 million viewers available compared to his current slot, people will probably flock to see Leno chat with the latest celebrities. The show's success could see other networks follow the same pattern, as they usually do. What would happen next?

Less and less scripted television, more and more talk shows and reality programs.

Only time will tell the true ramifications Jay Leno's new television program will have, but its pretty safe to say that the Writers Guild of America is quietly kicking themselves over the strike they instigated. You know what they say; karma's a bitch, and his name is Jeff Zucker.

Why Is Sony BMG/Syco Screwing Up Leona's Career?

You would assume that when you have a multi-platinum pop star on your roster, you would your damn-best to make sure she has as much success as possible, right?

Explain that to Sony BMG/Syco, her record label, who have bungled her single choices/appearances more times than one can count.

Here are the biggest mistakes:

• No summer release in the UK: The summer season is the most lucrative (next to winter) in the music business. More people are at home (especially kids) or at the many places where music is played. What a wasted opportunity for Leona to not have a huge smash single that could've carried album sales through the summer to the crucial winter season (plus, a number one wouldn't be bad either). Instead, they release Leona's would-be summer single in November, months after her last release, effectively killing any momentum.

• Releasing "I Will Be" instead of "Forgive Me" in the US...in 2009: Blame the disappointing performance of FM in the UK or the idiocracy of her management, but radio website FQMB is reporting that the Avril Lavigne-penned track "I Will Be" will be released in January. Another ballad? Don't get me wrong, I love Leona's ballads, but she really needs something uptempo after BL and BIT. She also needs something that will sell, well. As proven with the #11 peak of BIT, the slow-tempos aren't the huge money-grabbers that they used to be. FM would be perfect to put her back in iTunes' Top 10. Also, the release date sucks. If they have to release IWB, why not now, to capitalize on the Christmas season, which LOVES balladry?

• Useless performances in the US: Leona Lewis performed on two big shows this past week: Jimmy Kimmel Live and the results show of Dancing with the Stars. Instead of previewing a new single, she performed past singles "Bleeding Love" and "Better in Time" respectively. Why? Why perform a song that is either not on radio or beginning to leave radio? It's basically wasted promo.

• Not releasing Run digitally until December 1st: Last Saturday, Leona delivered a perfect performance of "Run", one of the new tracks off of the re-release of Spirit. It was believed that the album, included with the song, would be released the midnight after the performance to maximize sales. Instead, fans were surprised to see it not there. It turns out that the label decided to withhold the single to maximize sales of the album. Big mistake. Instead of robbing Leona of a chart double, they should've released the album online, allowing people to download "Run" and the album. Did they forget about iTunes' nifty "Complete My Album" feature?

Hopefully, these will be last of the Leona bungles, and her management will finally get things back on track. It would be a travesty if the reason why Leona's career begins to slide is because of her own team.

Harry Potter Film Pushed Back to '09

Blame the damn Writer's Strike!

In a move that will surely pissed off Harry Potter fans across the globe, the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is being pushed back from its original November release.

Warner Bros. studio revealed yesterday that the movie has to be pushed to a release date of July 17th, 2009 to help anchor a near-dead movie season. The Writer's Strike left a hole in the summer schedule next year, and the Harry Potter films is one of the biggest franchises the studio has.

Sorry HP fans. You'll have to wait one more year before you can see the world's favorite wizard teen in his latest exploits.

Usher Sacks Entire Management For Mom

Remember my post about R&B singer Usher's fury with Benny Medina over his album sales?

Well, the inevitable has happened.

Usher, in a really smart move, has dropped his entire management team at Benny's Handprint Entertainment in favor for his mom's J-Pat Entertainment.

The decision to bring his mama back into the fold comes after he was reportedly furious that his album was outsold by Lil Wayne. While his album currently stands at around 940,000 sold, Lil Wayne has sold over 2 million in only two months. The numbers are even more embarrassing considering his last effort, Confessions, sold almost 10 million in 2004. Its not just albums. His second single, "Moving Mountains", is on the verge of flopping, with tepid radio play and disappointing sales (he is being outsold on iTunes by, among many more, Lil' Wayne, Leona Lewis, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Miley Cyrus, Shwayze, Madonna, Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry, and The Game).

I'm sure he's hoping his mother can kiss the ginormous boo-boo his career has, but I think it might be too little too late (since the album sucks).

"The Dark Knight" To Soar Over Competition Over Weekend

Fans of "The Dark Knight" are definitely not lazy, according to movie ticket seller Fandango.com.

The extremely-anticipated film (which is also one of the best reviewed, with 92% rating at Rotten Tomatoes) has reportedly sold out over 200 weekend shows in New York City alone. Advance tickets for the IMAX screening have been sold out for days (believe me, I've tried).

The New York Post reports that advance sales of "The Dark Knight" have surpassed all but "Revenge of the Sith", and it is expected to happen very soon.

I suggest you snap up your tickets soon, if you wanna see it this weekend at least!

UNBelievable! Teenage iPods Contain Over 800 Illegal Songs

Seriously, I thought it was more!

The Times in the UK reported that the average teenager has 842 illegal copied or downloaded songs on their iPod.

According to their research, the average iPod for people 14-27 years olf has 1,770 songs on it, meaning that 48% of the songs has been obtained illegally. The percentage rises to 61% when its between 14-17 years.

Wow.

Is the music industry in the toilet, or what?

Nickelback Humiliates Record Label By Signing Live Nation Deal

Megapopular rock group Nickelback has signed with concert production company Live Nation's artists division, joining the ranks of Madonna and most recently Shakira to forgo record labels in favor of the "360 deal".

Nickelback's new deal has left record label Warner Music Group with egg on their face. According to trade publication Hits Daily Double, WMG spent $75 million to buy controlling interest in Nickelback's record label Roadrunner Records at the end of 2006. They have been courting the multi-platinum band ever since to sign a revenue-sharing deal, however, those plans are now dead in the water.

Nickelback is the second artist Warner Music Group lost to Live Nation. Earlier this year, Madonna made headlines when she chose the touring company instead of signing a new contract with her 20-year long label. She is the founding artist of Artist Nation, LN's division that will manage every aspect of an artist's career.

Nickelback is one of the most successful bands in recent history. Their latest record, All The Right Reasons, sold 10 million copies worldwide, including nearly 7 million in the United States.