Wednesday Music Briefing: Wal-Mart, EMI, IODA, Thumplay & Much More

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

• Walmart Gets Serious About Downloads
• The Record Business Is Not The Music Business
• MTV Takes A Shot At YouTube And Misses
• Tribes: Music For A Movement

MORE NEWS:

• 
  EMI denies that is has signed with Baidu. (Billboard)
• Microsoft has opened as Univision branded download store. (press release) Expect more branded stores from media giants and brands.  See Shcokhound below.
• Teen fashion retailer Hot Topic has opened its Shockhound download store. (press release)
• Thumplay has launched a full song wireless download store in beta. (press release)
• 
  From WOMEX comes the announcement that IODA has added the World Circuit label to its global digital distribution and marketing roster. World Circuit artists include Buena Vista Social Club, Ali Farka Touré, Ibrahim Ferrer, Orchestra Baobab, and Rubén González.
• The obituary of Grateful Dead attorney Hal Kant offers a rare glimpse into the machinery that built the band and protected the band’s integirty. (WSJ) A very worth read about the buiding of one of music’s most famous tribes.
• World satellite radio firm WorldSpace has been delisted from NASDAQ.  (BusinessWire) Is Sirius XM next?
• Rumors continue to swirl that Led Zepplin will tour and record without Robert Plant. (BBC)