Bertelsmann’s Ostrowski should exit the sucky music business

Hartmut “Hart” Ostrowski is only 3 days in (U.S time) as the new CEO of German media giant Bertelsmann AG –AKA- Bertie, and surely he is combing through everything to see where the company needs to be focused. We know for sure that for Bertie, books are huge. However music may be something they need to get out of. Sure they confused us when they announced that they wanted to get back into the music publishing business after selling off their music publishing arm to Universal. But under Ostrowski, will Bertie be in the music business for long? The current state of the business can’t be looking good to Ostrowski at all. Sales are in the toilet and digital piracy continues to be at an all time high. So is Hart looking at this and is considering getting out of the business once and for all? We sure hope so. Earlier last year rumors were running wild that Bertie was seeking to sell its 50% stake in Sony-BMG, either back to their Japanese partners at Sony, or to an outside buyer. Maybe Bertie was thinking about selling at that point and floated the story themselves to see if any potential buyers would emerge, but apparently none did. Ostrowki’s focus is on internet, books and the education sector, which itself falls under books. Bertie isn’t exactly the digital player that former CEO Thomas Midelhoff was working hard to transform it into, so we can see why this would be one of his main focuses. Bertie should sell off their 50% in Sony BMG and use that money to ramp up these areas since these are strong areas for them. None of their counterparts currently have a hand in the music business, at least not a whole hand, maybe a finger tip. Big media owning record companies are so 1990s and in a way, Bertie may be stuck in that era. -SDH

Britney probably leaked it to Perez Hilton herself

Another day another lawsuit for fellow blogger Perez Hilton. In addition to the the publicity seeking lawsuit filed by DJ Samantha Ronson, the chubby gossip queen is now being sued by SonyBMG's Zomba Records Group. Apparently Perez has been posting music from Britney's upcoming flop without permission. You know it really kills us when an artist in Britney's current situation gets unreleased tracks posted on a huge site like Perez Hilton's and the only thing her label can think of is suing. Welcome the fucking promotion dicks, and incorporate it into helping one of your biggest selling artist get her shit stained career back up and running. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles yesterday, accused the Web site and its proprietor, Mario Lavandeira, of illegally obtaining and posting at least 10 completed songs and unfinished demos from Spears' upcoming album "Blackout" during the past three months, Zomba said in a statement. ZOMBA SUES PEREZHILTON [NYP]

The De-urbanization of Sony BMG

Heads are about to roll at Sony BMG's Sony Music Label Group under new head and brother of the boss Rob Stringer. All eyes however are on Sony Urban boss lady Lisa Ellis who was only handed the top job a year ago. Sources appeared divided on what the folding of Sony Urban means for division president Lisa Ellis, who was installed a year ago. While some said Ellis' close relationship with Ienner and Anthony could hurt her, others said she is well-regarded with a promotional acumen that's a highly prized asset for a label whose year-to-date market share in the rap genre is a paltry 13 percent. LAYOFFS SET FOR SONYBMG'S URBAN MUSIC UNIT [NYP]