Canada’s privacy commissioners are concerned about plans to introduce high-tech drivers licences across Canada.The enhanced licences are expected to be available as an alternative to a passport and make it possible for governments to track people and access personal information stored on the licences.The commissioners have told a news conference that the personal information of Canadians’ drivers should stay in Canada if the enhanced driver’s licence program proceeds on a permanent basis.They say there must be meaningful and independent oversight into how U.S. officials receive and use Canadians’ personal information.B.C. and the federal government reached an agreement last month to start issuing the enhanced licences on a trial basis

Pulse 87.7 FM, the rhythmic top 40 station will be launched by Mega Media Group (OTC Bulletin Board: MMDA) (www.megamediagroup.com), on February 11th at 6am, the station will feature the Highly popular Star & Buc Wild Morning Show which will debut on February 18th weekdays from 6 to 10am and today’s top music hits. Joel Salkowitz will become the station’s program director.

Industry Veteran Joel Salkowitz To Lead Station

Salkowitz is a veteran major market programming and operations executive, who recently served as Vice President of Music Programming and Content at Sirius Satellite Radio. Prior to joining Sirius, Salkowitz was with Clear Channel Communications as a Format Director and Brand Manager overseeing the launch and programming for 10 major market stations, as well as serving as Program Director for JAMMIN 105 — New York (WTJM-FM). His past experience also includes management, production and programming positions at Fox Television, E.M.I. Records, Westwood One, ABC Radio, NBC Radio and Emmis Communications. As Regional VP of Programming at Emmis’ HOT97 (WQHT) in New York, he helped develop the Rhythm Top 40 format that dominated contemporary radio during the late 1980s and early 1990s and was also responsible for overseeing programming at Emmis’ WAVA (Washington DC) and WLOL (Minneapolis).

Commenting on the announcement, Mega Media Group CEO, Alex Shvarts stated “I am pleased that Joel is leading our radio team. His wealth of experience with building stations and managing major market radio personnel will prove invaluable to the launch of Pulse 87.”

Also commenting on the announcement, Salkowitz said, “I am excited to be a part of a new, independent radio business that I can help to grow from its very inception. It will be especially gratifying to work with Star who is one of the top morning talents in the country and who was able to have such a huge impact on not one, but two radio stations in New York. He’s a one-of-a-kind personality and together with a unique music format, we’re going to give New York something to get excited about on the radio again.”

Safe Harbor Statement: This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Mega Media Group’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. All information provided in this press release is as of November 15, 2007, and Mega Media Group undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

SOURCE Mega Media Group

http://www.megamediagroup.com

Warner Music Group Corp., the record company of Led Zeppelin, reported a first-quarter loss on costs to close a business it acquired nine months ago. The shares posted a record drop. The net loss of $16 million, or 11 cents a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, compares with net income of $18 million, or 12 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Excluding the costs to close the acquired unit, earnings of 1 cent a share missed the 12-cent average of seven analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Warner Music, facing an industrywide decline in compact disc sales, bought concert company Bulldog Entertainment in May to try to boost revenue. It shut down the unit at a cost of $18 million. Revenue rose 6.6 percent to $989 million, driven by Josh Groban’s album “Noel” and currency changes. Excluding the changes, sales rose 1 percent, the first increase in six quarters.

“The write-off shows they were entering a business they arguably shouldn’t have gotten into in the first place,” said Chris White, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles who recommends holding the shares and doesn’t own them. “Revenue growth is still decent but supported by acquisitions that are questionable.”

Warner Music, the world’s third largest record company, tumbled $1.59, or 18 percent, to $7.15 at 10:32 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading after dropping as much as 19 percent, the most since the company went public in May 2005. The shares had declined 58 percent in the past 12 months before today on concern gains in digital sales won’t make up for the decline in higher-priced CDs.

Not `Standing Still’

Chief Executive Officer Edgar Bronfman is also trying to increase sales by adding merchandising and management services. Warner Music invested $50 million in a joint venture with Frank Sinatra’s family last year to market his music and videos as well as his name and likeness. It also paid about $110 million for a stake in artist management company Front Line Management.

Investments and acquisitions are likely to be smaller this year than in 2007, Chief Financial Officer Michael Fleisher said today on a conference call.

“While we were obviously disappointed with” Bulldog Entertainment, Bronfman said on the call, “we continue to believe that taking prudent risks to expand and enlarge our revenue opportunities is a far better strategy than standing still.”

(The company held a conference call to discuss the results at 8:30 a.m. New York time. For a replay, dial +1-888-566-0618 or +1-203-369-3076.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Don Jeffrey in New York at djeffrey1@bloomberg.net

Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE: WMG) today announced an extension of its environmental program to include a “zero landfill waste” and “carbon-neutral” post-Grammy event. The WMG event will be held immediately following the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 10, 2008.”Zero waste” entails the elimination of waste in all of its forms (solid waste, emissions, hazardous waste, etc.) through the efficient use of resources and use of environmentally friendly resources.California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “California has consistently led the nation in environmental protection and we have learned that we can help our environment while at the same time protecting the economy and our lifestyles. I am very pleased that Warner Music Group, working with city, state and local leaders, has taken this issue to heart and is turning consumption into conservation on the important pop culture stage at this ‘zero waste’ event.”The event will achieve “zero waste” through a variety of green efforts, including: carbon-offsetting the event’s energy usage; use of energy efficient lighting and bio-diesel generators; recycled paper products; use of local farmers’ markets and vendors; eco-friendly soaps and detergents; invitations printed on 100% recycled paper and manufactured with wind power; and composting of paper and food waste, among other efforts.California’s Integrated Waste Management Board, the City of Los Angeles’ Bureau of Sanitation and Athens Services and several local companies and sponsors will partner with WMG.Lyor Cohen, Chairman and CEO of U.S. Recorded Music, Warner Music Group, said, “On an evening when we have so many industry luminaries celebrating our artists’ achievements over the past year, we felt it was equally important to turn the spotlight on the environment and remind others in the industry how they, too, can help promote a more environmentally friendly music business. I also want to thank the City of Los Angeles and all our sponsors who have helped underwrite the event and share our vision for environmental awareness.”Cynthia Ruiz, City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works President, said, “The Department of Public Works is grateful to companies, like Warner Music Group, that do their part in helping the City of Los Angeles become a zero waste city. We hope that everyone — businesses and residents — will join in and help us to achieve this very important goal.”Today’s announcement represents an extension of Warner Music Group’s industry-leading environmental campaign working with key environmental advocacy organizations around the country such as the NRDC and NativeEnergy.In the program’s first phase, WMG converted all CD/DVD products to use 30 percent post-consumer paper packaging; saving nearly 4.7 tons of wood per year. Post-consumer recycled paper is made from wastepaper disposed of by consumers. WMG has also implemented ecologically responsible and efficient paper practices across all of its labels and business units in the United States, including enhanced recycled paper procurement, paper reduction, wastepaper recycling efforts and the conversion of a significant portion of its materials to electronic format, rather than paper. Launched in February 2007, the program was expanded across each of the company’s business units later last year.As part of the program’s second phase, the company undertook a comprehensive review of its greenhouse gas emissions with the goal of developing a program to reduce or offset its “carbon footprint.” Over the past year, the company’s extensive nationwide waste reduction and recycling program has helped save nearly 2,000,000 pounds of solid waste. Together with a number of environmental organizations, WMG is working on carbon dioxide emission reduction as well as the development of an offset program encompassing the company’s complete activities — from new album releases to employees’ daily commuting habits.This marks the second consecutive year that WMG has celebrated this event with an environmentally conscious after-party.About WMGWarner Music Group became the only stand-alone music company to be publicly traded in the United States in May 2005. With its broad roster of new stars and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry including Asylum, Atlantic, Bad Boy, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Lava, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Bros. and Word. Warner Music International, a leading company in national and international repertoire, operates through numerous international affiliates and licensees in more than 50 countries. Warner Music Group also includes Warner/Chappell Music, one of the world’s leading music publishers, with a catalog of more than one million copyrights worldwide.

Contacts: Amanda Collins 212/275-2213 Email Contact Josh Cramer-Montes 212/275-1375 Email Contact

Teenagers listen to an average of nearly 2.5 hours of music per day. Guess what they’re hearing about?

One in three popular songs contains explicit references to drug or alcohol use, according to a new report in The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. That means kids are receiving about 35 references to substance abuse for every hour of music they listen to, the authors determined.

While songs about drugs and excess are nothing new, the issue is getting more attention because so many children now have regular access to music out of the earshot of parents. Nearly 9 out of 10 adolescents and teens have an MP3 player or a compact disc player in their bedrooms.

Studies have long shown that media messages have a pronounced impact on childhood risk behaviors. Exposure to images of smoking in movies influences a child’s risk for picking up the habit. Alcohol use in movies and promotions is also linked to actual alcohol use.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine studied the 279 most popular songs from 2005, based on reports from Billboard magazine, which tracks popular music. Whether a song contained a reference to drugs or alcohol varied by genre. Only 9 percent of pop songs had lyrics relating to drugs or alcohol. The number jumped to 14 percent for rock songs, 20 percent for R&B and hip-hop songs, 36 percent for country songs and 77 percent for rap songs.

Notably, smoking references aren’t that common in music today, with only 3 percent of the songs portraying tobacco use. About 14 percent of songs spoke of marijuana use, 24 percent depicted alcohol use, and another 12 percent included reference to other substances. About 4 percent of the songs contained “anti” drug and alcohol messages.

The study authors noted that music represents a pervasive source of exposure to positive images of substance use. The average adolescent is exposed to approximately 84 references to explicit substance use per day and 591 references per week, or 30,732 references per year. The average adolescent listening only to pop would be exposed to 5 references per day, whereas the average adolescent who listens just to rap would be exposed to 251 references per day.

Whether any of this matters remains an open question. While the impact of exposure to images of smoking and alcohol in film has been well documented, less is known about the effect of music on childhood risk behaviors.

Although music lacks the visual element of film, adolescent exposure to music is much more frequent, accounting for an average of 16 hours each week for music compared with about 6 hours each week for movie images, according to the study authors. But frequency of exposure is not the only factor. Unlike visual media, music is a powerful social force that also taps into an individual’s personal identity, memories and mood.

“Music is well-known to connect deeply with adolescents and to influence identity development, perhaps more than any other entertainment medium,’’ said the study authors.