Music Mastermind has launched the “First Look” version of its flagship property Zya, a music creation and social platform that enables users to legally incorporate and manipulate famous hooks into their own creations. The company was co-founded by Matt Serletic, former Virgin Records chairman and chief executive, and Bo Bazylevsky, former global head of Emerging Markets Corporate Trading at J.P. Morgan.

SoundExchange announced today the appointment of Jonathan C. Bender as chief operating officer, a position formerly held by Barrie Kessler. He previously was senior vice president, operations, IT and digital development at independent label group Concord.

In a development that most industry observers were expecting, digital music resale service ReDigi received a letter from the Recording Industry Association of America demanding among other things that it cease operations, hand over copies of its sales records, and “quarantine” all of its digital music so that it can’t be accessed for any purpose except totting up how much ReDigi owes the record labels.

All smartphones include music options, but Nokia has decided to differentiate itself by including a music service that automatically customizes itself to the preferences of each individual user. Nokia MixRadio is powered by The Echo Nest and will debut on the Nokia Lumia 800 phone in a launch promoted by a live spectacular featuring deadmau5.

Sting is in a retrospective mood at the moment, what with celebrating the 25th anniversary of his solo career and his 60th birthday, and has embraced digital media as one way to express it. The free "Sting 25" multimedia iPad app was created in partnership with FremantleMedia's @radical.media, which has opted to call it an “appumentary.”

New research from music business association NARM and market research company The NPD Group examined the discovery process for music consumers, revisiting a topic the two organizations last studied in 2007, before the mainstreaming of digital music services.

Internet radio and broadcasting pioneer Live365, which against all odds has been operating since 1999, announced Ed Schaffer has been named chief executive officer. He succeeds Mark Lam, who held the position since 2004.

When Americans listen to music, they’re most often doing so in their car. And even with all of the Bluetooth and docking gadgets in the marketplace, they’re still likely to be listening to an AM/FM radio or CD. But that may not be the situation for much longer, according to a new report from The NPD Group.

Finnish startup LiveMusicStage.com will host a live, interactive show featuring a performance by metal band Stratovarius on Nov. 20. The company offers a monetized platform for fans to share a live concert experience without leaving their homes, wherever in the world they happen to be.