Tuesday’s Music Brief: WMG & YouTube, Microsoft Takes On Spotify, EMI, Pandora, OurStage & More

Sorry for somewhat abbreviated editions of Hypebot the last two days.  I'm both battling a bug and traveling.  A truly fun combination.  I promise to cover (or at least point you towards coverage) and be back at full force in a day or two. – Bruce Houghton

• Warner Music Group and YouTube are talking again about royalties and getting WMG bands back on the popular video service.. (cNet)
• Microsoft is gearing up to launch a music streaming service similar to Spotify by the end of this month. (Telegraph) This may be UK only for now.  I've asked for clarification.
• Report: EMI is cutting back on the number of small record stores that it will sell to direct. (Wayne's World) Has anyone gotten these calls?  I'd love to here more.
• A look at how a handful of record stores like the UK's Rough Trade and US' Amoeba are reinventing themselves and thriving. (FT)
• Pandora now pushing radio to pay for music, too. – US radio stations don't pay performers and producers for the music they play, but the recording industry hopes to change that with a new performance rights bill in Congress. Webcaster Pandora has jumped into the fray on the side of the artists and labels, asking why radio gets a free ride when Pandora does not. (ars)
• Bob Frank is leaving E1/Koch and Alan Grunblatt has been promoted to president. (Billboard)
• OurStage raising more funding. (TechCrunch)
• 10 Weird Ways To Distribute Music. (Epicenter)