Kings of A&R

Tougher Times For EMI: Citigroup is giving Guy Hands three extra months to turn EMI around. EMI who houses artists including Coldplay and Kylie Minogue must generate underlying earnings of £180m by September to meet key targets set by Citigroup. If EMI does not meets its goals, then what happens next? Most likley, there will be am extensive shakedown between Citigroup and EMI.

TVT Records Under Investigation: Creditors are claiming a financing deal between owner Steve Gottlieb and hedge fund D.B. Zwirn was aimed at diverting assets from the creditors according to the New York Post. “The creditors’ committee is conducting an investigation into the elaborate finance transactions of [TVTRecords] and its affiliates,” Richard Wolfe, the chair of TVT’s creditors’ committee, said. “I believe the scheme was designed to insulate the value of the publishing assets of [TVT] from its creditors.”

iPhone Now Welcomes File Sharing: An illegal file sharing application for the iPhone and iPod touch is now available. “We were able to download half of a full-length movie in 20 minutes, while our first song download took only three minutes over WiFi says Wired“.

Signings: Camera Can’t Lie has signed to Atlantic Records. Mercy Mercedes has signed to the Militia Group…what’s up with the Cher autotune effect?

The Lack of Memorable Talent, Makes Idol Boring: “Contestants who were good but not memorable made for mediocre television, watchers say.” “Because the talent level was so high, nothing anyone did was surprising,” Anderson said. The audience for American Idol” has dropped by about 8 percent from the nearly 31 million viewers who watched last year, but “Idol” has withstood the downturn better than many other hit series, such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” down about 20 percent.

Bruce Flohr, a former record company executive now with Red Light Management, is an “Idol” admirer but said the show has to do a better job of weeding out lesser singers who make it too easy to guess who will make it through to the end.

“Part of the problem is people are starting to use the show as a vehicle to stardom, whether they truly want to sing or not,” he said.