Friday’s Music Briefing: News Passalong Prez, Dead To Tour, Evolution & More

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

• $800 Million Invested In Music Tech In 2008
• 2008 CD & Ringtone Sales Fall, Digital Growth Slows
• Microsoft’s 30G Zune Suffers Massive "2K9" Failure
  
  • How To Fix A Broken Zune 30
  • Official Microsoft Zune Press Release And Statement
• New Daily D.I.Y. Feature For Musicians & Labels
• 3 Trends Driving The Music Industry In 2009

MORE NEWS:

• Music technology developer Passalong Networks has named a new president, venture capital veteran Ray Gary. He had served as president of Koch Ventures. (BizJournals)
• 
  The Grateful Dead will tour this year starting on April 12th in Greensboro, NC and wrapping May 10 in San Francisc. Pre-sales start January 13. Original Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart will be joined by keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and Allman Brothers Band/Gov’t Mule guitarist Warren Haynes. (Dead.net)
• Human Evolution & Music: What appetite drives the proliferation of music to the point where the average American teenager spends 1½-2½ hours a day—an eighth of his waking life—listening to it? (The Economist)
• A free and open directory, open to any and all mp3/music/audio blogs. Add you blog and use it to find blogs in your region or genre. (Music Blog Directory)
• A new music subscription service Geetunes has lunched in Asia. (asiaone digital)