Apple mum on iPod news at developer conference

Given Microsoft's confirmation of its would-be iPod killer and recent reports of a cooling iPod market, many digital music fans were hoping that Apple chief Steve Jobs was going to use his keynote speech at today's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco as a chance to unveil his company's latest digital media innovation.

Would it be an iPhone? New Nanos? A Wi-Fi iPod? A full-screen video iPod?

None of the above.

Jobs had plenty to say at today's conference, but given an audience of developers, he focused primarily on Leopard, Apple's new operating system, and made no digital music-related announcements. The OS will be released next spring, Jobs said.

Tower Records reportedly being cut off by labels

One of the biggest names in music retail is reportedly on the brink of disaster. Tower Records, long embattled financially, up for sale again, and with a just-announced interim CEO, has been cut off from new music shipments by the four major record labels, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times today.

The iconic music retailer reportedly told the record companies that it would not pay its bills until its financial situation could be sorted out. New interim CEO Joseph D'Amico, a turnaround specialist based in Chicago, was brought in last week to sell the company, which was founded in 1960 by Russ Solomon.

The Times cited sources at three of the four major record companies, Universal Music, Warner Music, and EMI Group. The fourth major company, Sony BMG, has also cut off Tower, the report said.

Tower went though Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004, but the move hasn't improved the company's financial outlook. Tower has 89 US stores and launched its digital store in late June.

Mashboxx CEO bolts for college music-download startup

Just a week after his company uttered its first public words in more than a year, Mashboxx CEO Michael Bebel is jumping ship. Ruckus, a startup focused on creating legal digital media download stores for college campuses, said today that it has hired Bebel as its CEO. Bebel had been at the helm of Mashboxx, the P2P service that announced intention to morph into a legal P2P download service to much fanfare in June 2005. But little had been heard from the company until its July 28 announcement that it cut a licensing deal with EMI. Bebel had also served as a top exec at Napster and Universal Music Group.

Ruckus also said today that it raised $13.7 million in venture capital funds, bring its total financial backing to $23 million. The company said it will use the money to develop services and partnerships focused on college-age users. It has deals with 70 universities and colleges, including University of California Berkeley, Georgia Tech, and the University of Oklahoma.

Chamillionaire's "Ridin'" surpasses 3M ringtones

There's a whole lot "Ridin'" and "Hustlin'" coming out of America's cell phones. "Ridin'," the chart-topping single from Houston rapper Chamillionaire, has become the first song to sell more than 3 million ringtones. The track, with its catchy, "Tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty" chorus, also became the fastest-selling ringtone of all time by surpassing the 2 million mark just four months after its release. Meanwhile, the ringtone for Rick Ross' "Hustlin'" last week became the first song to pass the 1 million mark before the album containing the song has even hit stores.