Hypebot’s New Music Business Briefing For Monday December 4th, 2006

> "Anecdotal evidence suggests we’re entering the tail end of the recent indie-rock boom.." (LA Weekly)

> Artists are up in arms as the UK (and most of Europe) seems unlikely to extend copyiright protection past 50 years. This would make many of the hits of the 50’s available for free. (Reuters) U.S. protection extends for 95 years.

> Allofmp3.com attempts to fight back. (TechWeb)

> Affordable cell phones that also play music are proving to be a very hot Christmas gift. (WSJ)

> Does portable music have to be compressed and crappy sounding? "[Our] research shows that 56 percent of consumers have never even
heard what they would consider to be a ‘great audio experience,’ " says
Ms. Boone, "so they don’t know how to evaluate ."(Christian Science Monitor)

> The scoop on the VH1 "Big In ‘O6 Awards". (Press release after the jump). Sorry it was a slow news day.

Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Kiefer Sutherland Win ‘Big’ at ‘VH1 Big in ’06 Awards’ Premiering Sunday, December 3 at 9 PM*

‘VH1 Big in ’06 Awards’ Delivers One of Pop Culture’s Biggest Nights Proving That Size Does Matter

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ — Today’s biggest celebrities made a "BIG" splash at the "VH1 Big In ’06 Awards" red carpet. Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Kiefer Sutherland were among the ‘big’ winners at the show.

VH1 pays homage to the biggest stars, the biggest moments and the biggest crazes of this year with "VH1 Big in ’06 Awards," premiering Sunday, December 3 at 9PM*. Viewers voted for each category online at http://big.vh1.com/ and on their mobile phones.

Actor and comedian D.L. Hughley hosted the annual year end celebration which featured appearances by Justin Timberlake, Eva Longoria, Kiefer Sutherland, Lance Bass, Stephen Colbert, Tommy Lee, Xzibit, Mario Lopez, Joey Lawrence, Katharine McPhee, Masi Oka, lonelygirl15 (Jessica Rose,) Megan Mullally, Miley Cyrus, David Hasselhoff, Brooke Hogan, Danny Bonaduce, Dominic Monaghan, Emily Procter, Hayden Panettiere, Gary Dourdan, Kathy Griffin, George Takei, Ice-T and Coco, Janelle Pierzina (Big Brother,) Jenna Jameson, Ken Davitian, Perez Hilton, Mat Kearny, Alec Mapa, Arden Myrin, Andrew Dice Clay, ANT, Brody Stevens, Hal Sparks, Kennedy, Lawrence Zarian, Lisa Arch, Loni Love and Oscar Nunez with performances by Fergie, The Fray, The Killers, "Weird Al" Yankovic and a special performance by Dennis DeYoung. Flavor Flav also was on hand as a backstage on-air correspondent. Yes, it was that BIG!

VH1 exclusive event coverage launches on VSPOT (http://vspot.vh1.com/), VH1’s broadband channel today. Content includes: pre- and post-show artist and celebrity interviews and behind-the-scenes event coverage hosted by Aamer Haleem. Show highlights including exclusive musical performances and award presentations are now available on-demand on VSPOT.

  Big Music Artist:
  JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

  Big Comeback:
  DAVID HASSELHOFF

  Big Mama:
  BRITNEY SPEARS

  Big Web Hit:
  "WHAT’S A DATE" (lonelygirl15: Jessica Rose)

  Big Breakthrough:
  STEPHEN COLBERT

  Big Shocker:
  NORTH KOREA TESTS A NUKE

  Big Reality Star:
  JANELLE PIERZINA

  Big IT Girl:
  KATHARINE MCPHEE

  Big Outlaw:
  PARIS HILTON

  Big Entertainer:
  DANE COOK

  Big TV Star:
  KIEFER SUTHERLAND

Warner Bros’ new motion picture, "Unaccompanied Minors," L’Oreal Paris(R), Burger King(R), Alltel Wireless, Cotton Incorporated, and Bebe are the sponsors of "VH1 Big in ’06 Awards."

"VH1 Big in ’06 Awards" is executive produced by Lee Rolontz and Michael Dempsey.

*All Times ET/PT

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 90 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital services including VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul and VSPOT, VH1’s broadband channel. Connect with VH1 at http://www.vh1.com/.

  Contacts:  Scott Acord/VH1               Tracy McGraw
             310-752-8075                  212-846-7879
             scott.acord@vh1staff.comtracy.mcgraw@vh1staff.com

Source: VH1

CONTACT:  Scott Acord, +1-310-752-8075, scott.acord@vh1staff.com, or Tracy McGraw, +1-212-846-7879, tracy.mcgraw@vh1staff.com, both of VH1

Web site:  http://big.vh1.com/
http://vspot.vh1.com/
http://www.vh1.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS:  For up-to-the-minute and archival press information including releases and photographs, visit VH1’s press-only Web site at http://www.vh1.com/press