BERLIN (AP) — At the neoclassical Concert House in Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt, busts of German composers Beethoven, Bach and Handel looked on as the 65 musicians took their seats for a sold-out weekend concert.

(Reuters) – Pandora Media Inc said on Tuesday it had signed direct licensing deals with a number of music labels, including heavyweights Sony Music and Universal Music Group, beefing up its music collection to compete with Spotify and Apple Music. The deal with more than 30 independent labels and distributors grants Pandora rights to their U.S. catalog and allows it to offer a new version of its streaming service, the company said. Pandora, which already has license deals with ASCAP, BMI and more than 2,700 publishers, said the latest deals also give it new advertising opportunities.

TOKYO (AP) — Sony Corp.'s video game division is readying not just games but also music, movies and other kinds of entertainment for its Virtual Reality headgear, set to go on sale next month.

Despite having played and enjoyed a bunch of games in the Kingdom Hearts series, I couldn't begin to tell you what's happening in the latest trailer for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. The trailer was introduced during Sony's Tokyo Game Show press conference this evening and features a great remix of "Simple and Clean," the J-pop song popularized in the first Kingdom Hearts way back in 2002. According to a press release from Square Enix, it also features never-before scenes from Kingdom Hearts χ [chi] Back Cover, an origin movie that will be included in the compilation.

Chuck Pratt replaces Charles Murray on the series, which is slated to bow midseason.

Neymar posted a tweet saying that “Neymusico” is coming on Wednesday. Fox Sports translated this to say “This Wednesday I begin my music career and I’m going to release my first song on Facebook. Who knows, maybe Neymar’s music career will be so good that he retires from soccer.

The tyranny of the temp track Most of us can’t name or hum a single piece of music from a Marvel superhero film. But why is that? How can a series become so ubiquitous while featuring such bland, forgettable music?This explanation by Every Frame a Painting makes a lot of sense, even while being a bit on the depressing side. …

A new organization is in the works with three Swedish songwriters at the helm, who hope to educate musicians around the globe about their rights, reports Billboard. Swedish record producer Max Martin, ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and songwriter Niclas Molinder have created Music Rights Awareness to offer a grassroots approach to advocacy. With their first project — Music Rights in Africa — the trio aims to educate songwriters in Tanzania, Malawi and Rwanda.

Our guide to this week's (and last week's) album releases also features the week's top new music videos from artists like The White Stripes, Pixies, and Sia, plus brand new streaming music from Grandaddy, Green Day, Against Me, Kings of Leon, and more. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at Metacritic

Apple is celebrating 10 years of movies being available to rent or purchase on iTunes by offering a couple of different bundled deals. The deals are broken down by studio, including Lionsgate, Warner Bros., Sony, Universal and Paramount. Films like Magic Mike, The Hunger Games and Pacific Rim are just some of the titles that have been discounted for the month.

“I don’t have any plans to play or sing,” he said.

Photo by Toby Canham/Getty ImagesThis week’s best food-focused reads weren’t all long, but they are all full of delicious words and passages. They’re best enjoyed on a leisurely afternoon with a cup of coffee or tea. Wonder how one of America’s premiere chefs felt about getting panned in a review? Read Gabe Ulla’s profile of Thomas Keller. Curious about what’s behind Guy Fieri’s spiky blond facade? Check out Esquire’s piece on one of America’s most notorious television personalities. …