Yet while major and independent labels are pinning their future on digital music, whether it is access models or actual ownership, they can ill afford to abandon physical sales which account for somewhere in the region of 70 percent of revenues.

"The physical format is in decline, but I don't think it will go away completely," said Ed Christman, who tracks music sales for industry publication Billboard.

"What you want to do, since the digital 'magical bullet' hasn't appeared, is to sustain your revenue from CD sales for as long as you can."

Although relatively small in terms of a label's revenues, digital streaming, downloading, online subscriptions and advertising are seen as key to the industry's future.

"The revenue is still small, but at least it's revenue," said one major label executive. "Don't forget, some 95 percent of the digital market is illegal. If we can grow that five percent significantly, we've got a future."

That task is proving slow going, and while a recent report from PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that the music industry will return to growth in 2013, some analysts are less sure.

"Given the incredible number of ways a person can now listen to music for free or near free, that gap between interest and willingness to pay is the biggest hurdle in record labels' quest to grow digital revenues," Billboard said of the report.

In the short term, all eyes will be on Eminem, one of the world's best-selling artists of the last decade who has said in interviews to promote Recovery that he is over his prescription drug addiction, is sober and more tolerant than he used to be.

Whether the "nice guy" image appeals to fans is unclear.

Early reaction to the album, out on Universal Music Group's Interscope label, has been mixed.

London's Evening Standard was among the most positive with a four-star review that concluded: "After seven albums, Eminem is so far ahead of the pack he only has himself to compete with. Even by that measurement, he's winning."

The Independent was less glowing, stating: "If we're being brutally frank, I think we already know far more about Eminem's private life and his alleged mental torment than is probably healthy for us, let alone the rapper himself."

Source: Reuters

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Director Of The Year: Michael Maxxis for Billy Talent - Saint Veronika

Pop Video Of The Year: Hedley - Cha-Ching

Rock Video Of The Year: Billy Talent - Devil On My Shoulder

Hip-Hop Video Of The Year: Trey Songz and Drake - Successful

Indie Video Of The Year: Belly F feat. Snoop Dogg - Hot Girl

International Video Of The Year by an Artist: Miley Cyrus - Party In The U.S.A.

International Video Of The Year by a Group: Jonas Brothers - Paranoid

International Video Of The Year by a Canadian: Justin Bieber - One Time

Ur Fave Video: Justin Bieber feat. Ludacris - Baby

Ur Fave International Video: Adam Lambert - Whataya Want From Me

Ur Fave New Artist: Justin Bieber feat. Ludacris - Baby

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Katy Perry "California Girls"


Drake "Over"


Ke$ha "Tik Tok"


Drake Accepts Award For Best Hip Hop Video

Miley Cyrus "Can't Be Tamed"

What makes Conchita different from other Miami Beach socialites: She's a Chihuahua. Conchita came into her wealth upon the March death of her owner socialite Gail Posner, the daughter of late corporate raider Victor Posner.

Whether Conchita keeps her millions will be decided in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, where Gail Posner's only living child, son Bret Carr, launched a legal battle this month over his mother's estate. Carr claims his mother was manipulated into changing her will in 2008, leaving millions to her dogs and hired help.

``She never would have done that unless she was under extreme influence,'' said Carr, 46, who has a video shot on his iPhone of a visit with his mother in late 2008 where she claimed her staff was trying to ``kidnap and kill me.'' In the video, Posner also asks her son to ``get me out of here.''

The battle of Bret vs. Conchita and the hired help is just the latest window into the eccentricities of the Posner family. It was only eight years ago that Gail Posner and other family members were enmeshed in a similar court fight upon the death of Victor Posner.

Gail Posner's will and trust gives her three dogs -- Conchita, April Maria and Lucia -- the right to live in the two-story Sunset Island mansion until they die.

She also left $27 million to her maids, bodyguards and personal trainer, plus the right for some of them to live rent free in the seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion in exchange for taking care of the dogs. Bret Posner got only $1 million. The remainder of the estate goes to charities.

Posner is certainly not the first to leave at least a portion of her fortune to her pets. The case has similarities to Leona Helmsley, who left a $12 million trust fund to her Maltese that was later reduced by a judge to $2 million.

Carr sees his mother's fascination with her dogs as a sign of a deeply troubled woman, who was the victim of childhood incest and spent her life battling addictions to drugs and alcohol. Carr held his mother in her arms as she died at 67 of cancer, which had spread throughout her body.

``By protecting and pampering those dogs, she was really trying to pamper the little girl inside of her that was abused by Victor and never found safety in her own home,'' said Carr, a Hollywood filmmaker, who divides his time between South Florida and California. ``That frailty was leveraged by her staff. They exacerbated her paranoia and tendency to be in a delusional world.''

Court documents describe Gail Posner as a ``deeply disturbed recluse with serious emotional and psychological problems stemming from her history of having been sexually abused by Victor, (her daughter) Tina's suicide, and her lifelong mental health imbalances and alcohol and substance abuse.''

Posner in 2007 had hired a publicist for Conchita, who she billed as the world's most spoiled dog. Gail Posner told The Miami Herald in 2007 about Conchita's $12,000 summer wardrobe and a $15,000 Cartier necklace that the Chihuahua refused to wear after choking on it.

``Conchita is the only girl I know who doesn't consider diamonds her best friend,'' Posner told The Miami Herald.

Gail Posner lived her whole life under the manipulation and shadow of her father, whose hard-charging business personality extended into his personal life. But in death, Gail may have turned out more like her father than anyone could have imagined.

``She took on her father's identity and got similar results,'' Carr said.

Just like her father, there are allegations that as Gail's health deteriorated she was ``imprisoned'' in her house and cut off from her family. She also changed her will shortly before her death, giving away much of her fortune to others and slighting her family. Carr alleges she wasn't mentally capable of drafting that will and was ``blackmailed'' by her employees.

It will be up to the courts to decide if Gail Posner knew what she was doing when she signed that will and no one who stood to gain from the will exerted ``undue influence'' on her, said Carl Westman, a trusts and estate planning attorney with GrayRobinson in Naples.

Other attorneys say key evidence could be video of Gail Posner signing the new will or independent third-party witnesses.

``Especially when you're talking about people with a lot of money and notoriety, who are going to disinherit family members, any attorney is going to take a lot of precautions to make sure the estate is not overturned,'' said David Kron, a Fort Lauderdale trusts and estate planning attorney with Ruden McClosky.

Source: Miami Herald

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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The FBI received tips on Boosie, who allegedly ordered a hit on Chris "Nussie" Jackson, a local rapper, offering to pay $30,000 for the hit. Antony Jung, a federal agent, testified under oath, that he knew Lil Boosie had sent out the order for a hit on Nussie.

Boosie and Nussie had been beefing for a while over industry competition. Boosie recorded a song "What Goes Up Must Come Down" that supposedly contained a threat to Nussie.

Nussie, real name Chris Lynell Jackson released his last album 'The Champ Is Here' in April 2008.

Louding, who was 16 at the time, is a hired assasin and is believed to have shot Nussie February 9, 2009 inside his home.

Louding, the only one directly linked to all six slayings has been charged with 5 felony counts of murder, one count of second degree murder and two counts of attempted first degree murder .

Boosie's 25 year old girlfriend, Walnita Decuir, faces the same drug charges he does. She surrendered herself to police on Friday.

Source: Popeater

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Murder charges:The couple are both in flames as Mr Salazar makes a run for a shop in a bid to find water to douse the fire

The terrifying images, captured on CCTV cameras, show Mr Salazar desperately running into a shop, where he opens a fridge door in a desperate search for water.

The shopkeeper and his assistant lurch out the way of his flaming body and grab gallon-sized jugs to throw over both of them, sending smoke pouring into the air.

But the blaze had caught hold of their apartment block in the Queens area of New York, and three people died in the ensuing fire.

The shocking video was shown to a jury at the trial of Bermudez, who was horribly disfigured in the blaze.

She is charged with four counts of murder for allegedly dousing Mr Salazar in carpet cleaning solution and igniting him, killing him and three of his upstairs neighbours in the June 2008 fire.

A third-floor tenant, Flor Sandoval, 48, tried to get out and hung from her window screaming, 'Help Me! Help me! Catch me in your arms,' as the flames inched closer to her.

Fireball: Shop workers look on in horror as Mr Salazar runs into a convenience store next door to his apartment building looking for water to put out the flames

Alight: A shop worker runs to grab some water and move out of the way as Mr Salazar turns and heads back out of the store

Horrendous: Mr Salazar screams in pain as he runs outside. He was followed by deli owner Mohammed Almatari and good Samaritan George Zugajewicz who throw water over him

Onlookers on the ground shouted up to her to hold on because help was minutes away but she lost her grip and fell to her death.

Also killed was Sandoval's husband, Heriberto Garcia, 57, and their 20-year-old son, Felipe Garcia Sandoval.

As Mr Salazar was being treated for his injuries he told a friend at the scene that it was Bermudez who attacked him, a court in New York was told.

'Agnes is crazy. She threw that s*** on me and the whole place went on fire,' he is said to have told Sebastian Castro.

The jury was told that Mr Salazar and his ex-girlfriend had a drunken brawl the weekend before the incident.

Raul Palacios, Mr Salazar's flatmate, said he had punched Bermudez in the face in a row over a laptop computer,

Mr Palacios said: 'He jumped on her. He was mad. He was drunk.'

He also claimed that Bermudez attacked Mr Salazar in a nightclub because he was dancing with another girl.

'She started to yell at him, "You are nothing. You owe me everything." She gave him a slap,' Mr Palacios said

.
Grim: Mr Almatari pours water over him, as Bermudez lies on the ground still burning

Firemen surround Bermudez after the flames have been doused. Slazar can be seen second left. He died four days later in New York Hospital's Burn Center having suffered 50per cent burns to his body

The court was also told that Salazar's roommate, José Chacon, told police he'd heard the couple arguing before the inferno and that he had screamed: 'Kill me, Kill me!' before the fire broke out.

She allegedly replied: 'I'm going to kill you. I already know about the girl. You think I'm stupid? You're going to pay for this!'

Bermudez appeared in court wearing a black suit but the skin around her neck and face was badly scarred by the burns.

In his opening statement her lawyer, David McGruder, claimed that Salazar had set her client on fire, not the other way round.

He asked State Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter to block the release of the video of the incident - claiming that the material was 'inflammatory.'

Source: Daily Mail

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Child Support: Another rapper plagued by child support issues. Fif's baby mother Shaniqua has repeatedly taken him to court to try and get more money out of him. But 50's credited the birth of his son with helping him to leave the streets and become a successful rapper. And he keeps his boy laced as a result.