AM Brief: iPad Event, SoundHound Upgrade, Spotify Staffs US, Facebook + Beluga, RootMusic & More

Hypebot publishes a morning roundup of music industry news every weekday morning prior to 11AM ET and when warranted will add a PM Update edition around 4:30PM ET.

• All eyes are on Apple's iPad Event @ 10AM PST today. Ars blogs live.
• SoundHound has issued a major upgrade to the paid version of its song recognition platform.
• Spotify is staffing for US launch and the team includes several ex-Limewire staffers. (Billboard)
• Sony apologizes for band's Nazi like costimues on Japanese MTV (AP)

MORE:

• What smartphone rise means for gamers, filmmakers and music producers. (Evolver.fm)
• Mobile music platform Didiom has been bought and will be relaunched by Exclaim Mobility.
• Facebook acquires Beluga, a mobile group messaging service. (NYT)
• MTV and Sony/ATV have formed a hybrid music production and licensing partnership to be fueled by new and emerging ndie artists.
• This week, RootMusic closed a small $800K round of funding, bringing total funding to $3.1M; and named Chris Wiltsee, former executive director of RIAA's SF chapter and founder of Youth Movement Records to head biz dev. (LA Times) Impressive, particularly for a Facebook app aimed solely at musicians.
• MP3 search engine SkreemR is back online.
• How MTV Is Marrying Digital Design & Social Good (Mashable)
• Digitize Your Music. Rip your records and transfer your audio tapes to high-quality digital files. Plus, tips on music OCR, and more. (PCWorld)
• Advice for New Music School Graduates. (MusicanWages)