Music Notes: Fugazi Releasing Live Archive, Last Call for Amazon's Nov. $5 MP3 Albums, & More

* Fugazi live archive set to launch: Fugazi fans, your wait is almost over. the Washington, D.C. band that has been on hiatus for eight years has been working on making its archive of 800 live shows available for sale, and the recordings are set to start being released on Dec. 1st.
According to the Fugazi website, "Over time each of these recordings will be made available to download for a small fee and will be presented beside available photos, flyers and general show info."

If you already have a Dischord account, you may be able to access the Fugazi Live Series in beta before Dec. 1st.

Fugazi's last album, "The Argument,"was released in 2001.



Fugazi performing "Turnover" live in 1991.

* Amazon.com's $5 MP3 album sale: Amazon.com's $5 MP3 albums for Novemberexpires in a few days; here are some of the titles you can find on sale for the rest of the month:

"A Very She & Him Christmas" by She & Him
"Fallen" by Evanescence
"Thickfreakness" by The Black Keys
"The Best Of Joss Stone 2003 - 2009" by Joss Stone
"Lights" (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version) [+Digital Booklet] by Ellie Goulding
"Wild Flag" by Wild Flag
"The Bends" by Radiohead
"Ten Years Gone The Best Of Everclear 1994-2004" by Everclear
"Seeds We Sow (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version)" by Lindsey Buckingham
"Skying" by The Horrors
"Jeff Bridges" (Amazon Exclusive Version) by Jeff Bridges
"Panic of Girls" by Blondie
"The Knot" by Wye Oak

* Music industry heading for positive year?: The music industry could have its first rise in sales since 2004 if holiday sales are strong, says Billboard. The publication says that heading into Black Friday "year-to-date U.S. album sales were up 3.2%," and it's hoped that the trend will continue with strong late-year releases including "Take Care" by Drake, "Under the Mistletoe" by Justin Bieber, and new albums by Coldplay, Florence and the Machine, Tony Bennett, Jay-Z and Kanye West, and Taylor Swift.

Music Notes: Spotify Signs with Sony; New R.E.M. Single Released; Lineups Out for Coachella, Bonnaroo, SXSW, & Jazz Fest

* R.E.M. on Tuesday released "Mine Smell Like Honey" (video with lyrics above), the first single from its forthcoming album "Collapse Into Now" (which drops March 8th). You can also preorder a deluxe version of the new R.E.M. album here, which includes a video and three bonus tracks (live-in-studio versions of “Discoverer,” “Oh My Heart,” and “Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter").

* The music subscription service Spotify has signed a deal with Sony for U.S. distribution, All Things D writes. Spotify, which is now operating in Europe, will have similar terms stateside that it has across the pond: "A certain number of hours per month of free streaming music, with the ability to pay for an ad-free version, or a more popular one that lets users listen on mobile devices like Apple’s iPhone."

* The Spring festival season is warming up, and a number of big events have recently announced who'll be playing. See the SXSW Music lineup (March 16th - 20th), Coachella lineup (April 15th -17th), Bonnaroo lineup (June 9th -12th: not officially released, but here's a photo of the poster), and Jazz Fest (New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (April 29th - May 8th)

And, what would the week be without some dismal news from the record business:
* Digital music sales are slowing, the industry's trade group says. Revenues were up 6% for 2010 according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, but in 2009 they were up 12% from the year before, and up 25% in 2008.

* Warner Music is keeping busy. The firm, one of the big four music companies, is looking to buy Britain's EMI, but has also hired Goldman Sachs to seek out potential suitors to buy it.

The Weezer Snuggie: Smart Marketing or Nutty Stunt?

Weezer has never been hesitant to tap into pop-culture references (witness its music video for "Buddy Holly," in which the band played in a scene from TV's "Happy Days.") Now the band selling a Weezer-branded item in conjunction with their latest album, "Raditude," and that product is none other than that ubiquitous sleeved blanket, the Snuggie.

Weezer has put together a tongue-in-cheek infomercial to promote the Weezer Snuggie (below), featuring the band members lounging around what looks like a typical middle-American home wearing their soft fleece alt-rocker blankies.



What's more, the band wore its branded Snuggies while playing a song at a recent appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman.

You can buy the Weezer Snuggie in two designs, soothing blue or zebra print ("snugging safari," they call it), both with the Weezer logo. It comes with a copy of "Raditude" (either regular or deluxe versions), and you can purchase directly from the band's Web site, www.weezer.com/raditude. The Snuggie with the regular version of the CD is $29.99.

An article at WFUV's Alternate Side notes that "Raditude" features some interesting guest players, including Lil Wayne, the All-American Rejects, and Jermaine Dupri. And the band's recent AOL Sessions had smooth-jazz sax man Kenny G blowing his horn on one track.

It'll be interesting to see if the Weezer Snuggie campaign boosts the band's sales and visibility, or just gives its current fans a warm, fuzzy feeling.