AM NEWS: Apple’s Big Day, R.I.P Zune, White Exits Billboard, Creative Allies, AFM, Rhapsody & More

We'll be watching and posting about today's Apple announcement re: music related developments. It appears the old-school iPod will be history. There may be more on the iCloud which Apple is now seeking worldwide music rights for.  And a bit of code appears to show that Apple may enable App rentals – a development that could have interesting implications for music and media. (Tech Erra)

• R.I.P.  The Zune: “We will no longer be producing Zune players… Your device will continue to work with Zune services just as it does today…" (Microsoft)
• Another Billboard staffer leaves – General Manager of Digital George White has exited. Antony Bruno left last week.

MORE:

• Creative Allies, an online community used by many music projects for design work, has tapped Kevin Carroll as VP of Business Development for Entertainment and Music. Carroll has been a SVP of EMI Music and VP Promotions at Sony Music/Relativity.
• Why Rhapsody Needs More Than Just Napster To Thrive (paidContent)
• Sean Parker And Daniel Ek's Plan To Save Music. (Forbes)
• As AFTRA struggles with with major label negotiations, the AFM has issued a statement backing the fight according to the Hollywood Reporter.
• The editors of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary decided to remove the term "cassette tape" from its pages this summer to help make room for 400 new words including "cyberbullying" and "retweet." (USA TODAY) And this at a time when cassettes – at least as a novelty – are making a bit of a comeback.