Glassnote to UMG

THIS ’NOTE’S FOR UMG: Exactly a year after extending its distribution deal with Sony’s RED, Daniel Glass has decided to move his extremely successful indie Glassnote, signing a worldwide distribution deal with Universal Music; it kicks in on 3/1. Last February, just two weeks before its existing agreement would’ve expired, and after considering offers from other distributors, presumably including UMGD, Glass re-upped with RED, Glassnote’s distributor since its second release, Secondhand Serenade’s Awake, in May 2007. RED has been the leading distribbery in terms of both frontline and TEA share for some time, consistently hitting 6% or better in the former category, but Universal, which controls nearly 40% of the market, has unprecedented clout. We've also learned that the UMG agreement does not involve equity, nor does it include an upstreaming component. More details in lead story. (2/13a)