NEW MUSIC: JUELZ SANTANA FT. RICK ROSS, FABOLOUS & MEEK MILL - "SOFT"

Juelz Santana drops a new song off the upcoming "God Will'n," and even though it's called "Soft," it goes hard! Rick Ross handles the hook, and Fabolous and Meek Mill drop verses for the Harlem spitter. The mixtape hits the streets January 14, but until then listen below!

TAGS: Juelz Santana, Rick Ross, Fabolous, meek mill, Soft, God Will'n

Hey, Spotify! Muve Music Passes 1.1 Million Subscribers in U.S.

Muve Music, the all-in-one subscription service by wireless carrier Cricket Wireless, revealed Tuesday it has surpassed 1.1 million subscribers less than two years after its launch.
 
Other on-demand music subscription services may get more attention both inside and outside the music industry, but Muve Music has quietly become one of the brighter spots in today's digital marketplace. The service, created from the ground up by Cricket, combines an unlimited music subscription service with a pay-as-you-go mobile phone service. Its catalog offers songs from all three majors and numerous independent distributors.
 
Tuesday's announcement means the top three on-demand subscription services in the U.S. are in roughly a dead heat. Spotify announced one month ago it had 1 million subscribers in the U.S. (and five million globally). It also has many more users of its free, ad-supported service. Rhapsody's last public announcement, in December 2011, put it at 1 million subscribers.
 
According to the earnings release of Cricket parent company Leap Wireless, Muve Music had more than 700,000 subscribers at the end of the third quarter of 2012. Over 500,000 Leap Wireless users signed up for Muve Music in the first year. Then in August, Cricket opted to make Muve Music a standard service for all new Android phone plans.

"By including Muve into every Cricket Android smartphone rate plan, we've created a compelling product that differentiates Cricket in the marketplace and helps to create a loyal customer driven by the importance our customers place on their music," Cricket Communications CEO Doug Hutchison said in a statement. 
 
This is like found revenue for the music industry. Muve Music has reached 1.1 million subscribers even though it avoids computers altogether. The mobile-only service offers no desktop apps for personal computers and no apps for tablets. According to information provided to Billboard.biz by Cricket in 2011, most Cricket users don't even have a personal computer and 70% don't have a landline or credit card. In effect, Muve Music has been able to tap into a group of underserved music fans who weren't actively participating in the digital economy.

UPDATE: CARMELO ANTHONY SAYS HE WAITED FOR KEVIN GARNETT TO "TALK"

Did Carmelo Anthony try to meet Kevin Garnett outside after exchanging words on the court?

Based on the video below, it sure looks that way. After the upsetting Boston Celtics win over the New York Knicks in a 102 - 96 victory, Carmelo went to go wait for KG outside of the Celtics bus. The two rival players both got technical fouls after an exchange of harsh words.

UPDATE: Carmelo recently spoke out in regards to the reports that he was waiting to fight KG, stating, "There's certain things that you just don't say to men, another man. I felt like we crossed a line, but like I said, we both had an understanding right now, we handled it the way we handled it. Nobody needs to know what was said behind closed doors, so that situation was handled."

He also added, "Nothing happened for me to be suspended. I wanted to talk to KG. I think it was something we both needed to get off our chest and see what really the problem was. No altercations, it was just some words and a conversation that we needed to have."

Props: CBS News

See the video below to see Carmelo showing a bit of that "New York attitude", followed by another video of game highlights:

CES 2013: Tablets and Smartphones To Rule Global Consumer Electronics Market

After declining 1% in 2012, the consumer electronics industry is poised to make a modest 4% rebound this year, fueled largely by mobile devices, according to forecasts released this week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show.

Consumers are expected to spend $1.105 trillion this year on electronics, according to the Consumer Electronics Association and GFK Digital World, a global research firm that tracks sales at 340,000 retail stores in more than 90 countries. That's up from $1.058 trillion in 2012 and $1.069 trillion in 2011.

Read All Our CES 2013 Coverage Here

As people become digital content omnivores, they are looking to mobile devices to consume media wherever they happen to be. As a result, sales of tablets and smartphones will account for 40% of all consumer electronics spending worldwide this year, predicted GFK and CEA, the trade organization that hosts CES. Once laptops and notebook computers are added, that figure rises to about half of consumer spending devoted to mobile devices.

Tablets are already in 44% of U.S. households, up from just 8% at the beginning of 2011. Smartphones are now in 55% of U.S. hones, up from 39% two years ago. Those numbers are expected to continue to grow this year as revenue from the sale of tablets are forecast to grow 25% this year, with smartphones expected to grow 22%. The growth in units are expected to be even higher as prices come down.

That was the good news. The bad news is that just about every other category of consumer electronics -- with the possible exception of game consoles -- are expected to continue their downward slide this year. That includes entertainment product categories such as Blu-ray players, home audio gear, LCD TVs and portable media players.

Some categories are collapsing because their functionalities have been integrated into tablets and smartphones. Pocket point-and-shoot cameras, MP3 players, GPS navigation systems and handheld game consoles have suffered steep declines as consumers turn to the smartphone as a sort of Swiss Army Knife for their digital lives.

But that doesn't mean dedicated devices such as cameras are dead. They can still thrive in niche markets and applications. Woodman Labs, for example, has carved a $600 million niche in its GoPro line of tiny, rugged cameras used by action sports enthusiast (think head-mounted camera on a skateboarder or snowboarder).

Kazuo Hirai, the new chief executive of Sony Corp., acknowledged in an interview that smartphones and tablets are cannibalizing some product categories within his own company. But Sony prefers to take a proactive approach by, for example, embedding a 30-megapixel camera into its own newest Xperia Z smartphones.

The consumer electronics industry faces another potential peril - the "applification" of technology. GPS devices, for example, are rapidly being replaced by smartphone apps such as Waze and Google Maps for mobile. As the software, service and content get offloaded to remote servers to do the technical heavy lifting, devices may evolve into little more than connected displays and speakers that do little but stream content on demand.

For content providers, such a prospect means they need to build partnerships with the companies that are building the connective tissue between content and hardware. Want proof? Just about every major consumer electronics company that put on press conferences on Monday at CES mentioned they were working with Google, whose Android operating system powers hundreds of millions of mobile devices. For a company that doesn't even have an exhibit booth at the show, that's telling.

UMPG, Capital Music Group Launch Capitol CMG Publishing

Universal Music Group Publishing and the Capital Music Group and have launched a new publishing entity, Capitol CMG Publishing, which combines EMI CMG Publishing and Brentwood Benson Music Publishing. 

In putting together the two Christian publishing divisions as part of rationalizing UMG's acquisition of EMI, EMI CMG president Eddie DeGarmo was named president of the new merged Christian publishing arm, while Brentwood Benson president Dale Mathews is leaving the company. DeGarmo will report to Capitol Christian Music Group president/CEO Bill Hearn and UMPG North America president Evan Lamberg. 

In addition to having such songwriters as TobyMac, Kirk Franklin, Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns and Jars of Clay, the newly merged entity will also encompass such prominent Christian music catalogs as sixsteps, Thankyou Music, Hillsong, Maranatha! Music, Emack Music, Reunion Music and the Sparrow catalogs (containing numerous legendary gospel and Christian evergreens).

TIMBALAND NOW OWNS A CHUNK OF SMS AUDIO, SAYS 50 CENT [AUDIO]

Days after news broke out about mega producer Timbaland teaming up with 50 Cent's SMS Audio headphones brand, the G-Unit head has let loose a few more details on their unexpected partnership.

According to Fif, Timbo now owns a solid portion of his growing company.

"That's exciting, that's really exciting that Tim, you know, wanted to come and get involved with SMS. Because now, he has ownership in the company. Equity ownership and he's involved in it and it gives him the same incentive that I have with moving forward and being successful. We're doing big things. We've got the CES [Consumer Electronics Show] convention coming up. We're doing good, man." (Whoolywood Shuffle)

Buzz behind the new deal heated up the Internet heading into last weekend.

The "Candy Shop" hit-maker founded SMS Audio LLC in 2011 and his range of electronics has been a big hit among fans. Now, Timbaland is throwing his support behind his pal's business venture by funneling his own cash into the firm and agreeing to serve as a member of the corporation's board of directors. The music producer, real name Timothy Mosley, will also help design new products. (Star Pulse)

Both hip-hop artists initially released statements to confirm the hype is real.

He says, "50 Cent has created an inspirational audio brand that produces the highest caliber of headphones on the market. I'm looking forward to working with 50 and being part of a company so eager to bring studio-quality sound to music fans all over the world." And the 37 year old is happy to have Mosley as his partner: "As an entrepreneur in the music industry, I have great respect for Timbaland and his evolving role as a producer, artist and influencer. I welcome his expertise and guidance." "Timbaland will be a huge asset to the SMS Audio team as we move forward with new and innovative audio products." (Star Pulse)

SMS Audio President Brian Nohe previously talked to SOHH about the growing brand.

"I remember being a kid in the 1950's listening to my transmitter radio, most people are probably too young to remember, but there was a single bud you put in your ear and that's how you listened to your transmitter radio," Nohe told SOHH. "Headphones have been around for a long time and some competitors have done a brilliant job inducing the market in terms of either quality or fashion. It has been good for the marketplace -- the headphones category over the past few years is growing at about ten percent per year. I love the competitors and I think people like Skull Candy have done a great job and Beats have done a good job in terms of speaking to their consumers and I think there's more than enough room for good, solid competitors and we are going to be one." (SOHH)

Check out 50 Cent's interview:

Layoffs at EMI Amid UMG Restructuring: Sources

As the Universal Music Group continues to rationalize its acquisition of EMI, sources say that layoffs occurred at the acquired company Monday.

Universal Completes $1.9 Billion EMI Recorded Music Acquisition

While some EMI sources speculated that the total was in the double digits, one insider said that nine people were let go Jan. 7, including a few each in international, Latin and at the label. EMI senior VP of international marketing Matthew Tilley and EMI senior VP of sales Saul Shapiro was among those cited as leaving the company.

Layoffs at Universal, EMI Distribution and Nashville Offices

There will still be additional restructuring over the next few months as UMG continues to merge in the EMI staff into its operations, one knowledgeable insider says.