• The King Loves to Love You Baby: DVD set for Aug. 25 release
• Backstreet Boys Back on Oct. 6
• Crash Parallel Sophomore Set Due Oct. 3
• Death Row Countdown: Vault Opens Sept. 1
• Grammy Salute To Vince Gill Draw Star Line-Up
• Yangaroo Wins Accolade From Canadian Business mag
• Virgin’s Rob Daniels Leaves For KISS Toronto
• Astral Repping Znaimer AM
• RIP: CJOB’s Randy Shipman, aged 41
• EMarketing Budgets On the Rise
• Social Marketing: Who’s On Where?
• Music Magazines Hit Wrong Notes

TALENT

MORE ELVIS SLICED & DICED: Elvis Presley was known as the undisputed King of Rock and Roll, but his true stealth weapon was his arsenal of love songs, atleast that’s the skinny from EMI which plans to land a new doc on store shelves on Aug. 25. Ashley Judd narrates Love Me Tender – The Love Songs of Elvis. This 21 performance “in-depth” DVD looks at the love songs recorded by the iconic American singer.

“After living with this project for six months,” said executive producer Bill Carter. “I clearly understand why Elvis had such appeal to women worldwide. The focus on love songs reveals the sensitivity and tenderness of his personality and the passion he expressed in the delivery of these songs came straight from the heart.”

NEW BACKSTREET BOYS: With more than 76 million albums worldwide, and more than a dozen Top 10 hits in more countries than you can count, is it any wonder the Backstreet Boys have decided to regroup and make another album? ‘This Is It’ is announced for an Oct. 6 release on Jive Records. BB plans to mount a full scale N/A tour with detail TBA. Link to here the lead single and more about the tour and album at backstreetboys.com

CRASH PARALLEL’s second album, set for release Oct. 3, is titled Sunset In Reverse. The album was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Matt Wallace. pristine production. The band’s impressive creative evolution has been hastened by their extensive touring (over 160 dates) in support of World We Know. Highlights included a cross-country tour with David Usher, opening for Plain White T’s in front of 7,000 people as part of Festival d’Eté de Québec, and inclusion in the star-studded lineup of the ‘Me To We’ event in Toronto, a concert that demonstrated Crash Parallel’s genuinely strong social conscience. The band has worked effectively to increase awareness of environmental issues and they teamed up with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) to spread information on the serious subject of mental illness. For upcoming tour dates, check out www.crashparallel.com

DEATH ROW COUNTDOWN: September 1, Wideawake Death Row Ent. will open its vault and launch a Special Collectors Edition of music, video, interview and promotional material entitled The Chronic Re Lit & From The Vault. Dr. Dre revolutionized West Coast Rap music with the original Death Row crew of artists and producers, creating The Chronic. This package includes the 16 original Chronic songs digitally re-mastered, plus a DVD collection entitled From The Vault. ThE DVD is packed with Chronic videos, promotional pieces, and a previously unreleased 30 minute in studio interview Dre discussing the future of hip hop, along with seven unreleased and rare release songs from Snoop Doggy Dogg, soulstress Jewell, CPO, and Kurupt. More info by linking to deathrowmusic.com

GRAMMY SALURES VINCE GILL: As part of its ongoing tradition of celebrating musical excellence throughout the year, The Recording Academy® will host its first-ever GRAMMY Salute To Country Music honoring Vince Gill. The event will be held on Sept. 9, at The Loveless Barn in Nashville, Tenn. The star-studded tribute will feature Amy Grant, Alison Krauss, Steve Martin, Michael McDonald and Brad Paisley

BUSINESS

YANGAROO, the industry’s leading secure digital media distribution company, has been included on Canadian Business’ The Tech 100 – 2009 list, an annual list ranking Canada’s 100 leading technology companies. The prestigious ranking is metted out to companies that meet varied criteria covering R&D, solid capitalization, strong business models and ROI. Company president John Heaven said in making the announcement: “We are thrilled to have been recognized…(and) inn the coming year we expect further growth and will continue to strive for innovations that contribute to (the) technology industry.”

RADIO

ROB DANIELS has signed up to join the KISS 92.5 on-air team, joining the Rogers team in Toronto from Virgin Montreal.Here’s what Rob says about his new gig: ‘I am thrilled to be coming to KiSS to work on the air…I can’t wait! I wrote my story by going across the country and cutting my teeth in radio at several stations including both HOT AC/CHR formats. There’s nothing like being on the air in your home town and I’ve always had a passion for CHR radio…to me KiSS has always been the true CHR station in Toronto…I’m so looking forward to being a part of the team!

ASTRAL SIGNS AM740: Astral Media Radio Sales is pleased to announce that effective immediately the company begins exclusive national sales representation of The New AM 740 (CFZM) in Toronto. The New AM 740 AC format station is owned by Moses Znaimer’s MZ Media Inc. The station targets the lucrative Adult 45+ demographic or Zoomers, otherwise known as baby boomers with zip, the largest and most influential consumer group in the world today. This agreement further strengthens the relationship between the two companies. “We are particularly pleased to extend our successful relationship with Astral Media Radio Sales, to now include both our radio stations,” said George Grant, President and CEO of MZ Media Inc.

JAMIE PATERSON, afternoon drive host and KOOL FM Halifax have parted ways. Contact: beatlejamie@eastlink.ca.

RIP: CJOB Winnipeg salesman Randy Shipam, July 24, aged 41. Randy is survived by his wife Roberta and his two sons Sam and Max .

MARKETING

EMARKETING INCREASES: According to the June “2009 Marketing Trends Survey” by StrongMail Systems, even in the midst of the current recession, 42% of nearly 1,000 global business leaders polled plan to increase marketing budgets in 2009, and an additional 43% plan to maintain current levels. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=110484

WHO’S ON WHERE: Marketers that are frustrated with targeting specific age groups or demographics in Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn could glean insight from a recent study by Anderson Analytics.The study suggests that Twitter has become more popular than LinkedIn, more than half of U.S. consumers who tap social networks belong to more than one, and that those who belong to a social net are four times more vocal about products and services than those who don’t.Anderson Analytics CEO Tom Anderson says the biggest surprise from the study reveals that Twitter has become more popular than LinkedIn among social network users in the United States. MediaPost

MUSIC MAGS FOLDING: (Slate magazine, by Jonah Weiner) Late last month, Vibe magazine announced that it was ceasing publication. The next day, word arrived that Spin was laying off a half-dozen staffers. In late March, Blender folded outright, and a few months before that, Rolling Stone trimmed its masthead. (Blender hired me out of college in 2002, and I worked there until its demise.) For this strange moment, at least, many onetime professional music nerds share a common experience with many onetime investment bankers: whiplash.

Some of the problems that have beset music magazines are familiar from discussions about the publishing industry’s woes in general: Readership’s down, advertising’s down, the old guard has been slow in adapting to the Internet. But like newspapers and shelter titles, music magazines have proven especially vulnerable. Full story here: