U2, Eminem, Lil Jon Bring Late Relief to Retailers
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NEW YORK (Billboard) - Christmas sales came in the nick of  time, saving the holiday selling season for most merchants at  the last minute.
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The nation's consumers, uninspired by this season's fashions and rattled by high gas prices and the weakening home market, shopped gingerly last month, extending the misery of retailers who have struggled with a spending slowdown since February.
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Lately, the company's retail operation has been lagging behind sales of its locations.
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Despite generous discounting and expanded shopping hours earlier in the season, many stores are finding themselves in the same predicament as in recent years: waiting for those last-minute shoppers in the final days before Christmas who seem to be procrastinating even more than a year ago.
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NEW YORK (Billboard) - High-profile albums from rappers  Eminem and Snoop Dogg will be released ahead of schedule  because of piracy concerns, their distributor Interscope Geffen  A&M Records said Thursday.
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NEW YORK -- With a weak back-to-school season behind them, the nation's retailers are focused on the holidays and what steps they need to take to get consumers excited about shopping again. That could mean some quick merchandise changes and more aggressive discounting than they originally planned.
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Economic pressures and online deals might have led consumers to sharply limit their trips to retailers in the week leading up to Christmas, data tracker ShopperTrak RCT said on Thursday.
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Customers will have to wait to use its gift cards.
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The settlement between Sony BMG Music Entertainment and the states of California and Texas also includes free albums for affected consumers. In Listening Post.
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Online and traditional retailers are taking aim at the bane of their holiday sales &#151; procrastinators. You know the type. Last minute lollygaggers who have put off their holiday shopping either to wait for desperation sales by retailers or because they can't stand the crowds.
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NEW YORK -- The nation's retailers, once hopeful for a strong spring selling season, are being forced to ratchet down their expectations after sales stalled amid the chill of February.
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Music fans today clamoured to buy a piece of pop history as the new Band Aid single went on sale. HMV opened its Oxford Street store early, at 8am, so commuters could grab a copy of the revived Do They Know It&#39;s Christmas?
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NEW YORK (Billboard) - Just when it seemed erosion of music sales during the holiday season couldn't get worse, December snowstorms compounded the retail industry's misery.
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Universal Music Group has licensed songs from its stable of artists including U2 and Eminem to a company that has developed technology designed to prevent the unauthorized distribution of audio tracks over online file-sharing networks, a source familiar with the venture said.
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Apple Inc. and four of the biggest record companies have until Wednesday to submit their written response to antitrust charges that they restricted online sales of music in Europe.
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Music fans have purchased and downloaded more than 200 million songs from the iTunes Music Store. The 200 millionth song, part of &#147;The Complete U2,&#148; was purchased by Ryan Alekman from Belchertown, MA. iTunes has made it easy to give the gift of music this holiday season with $15 and $25 iTunes prepaid cards available from retailers including Amazon.com, Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Kroger, RadioShack, 7-Eleven, Target, as well as the Apple online store and Apple retail stores. [Dec 16]
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LONDON (Billboard) - Never mind the hugely anticipated new  releases from U2 and Eminem, the real contest on the U.K. pop  charts during the upcoming holiday season will be among a  multitude of hits packages.