Frank Zappa was not only one of the most prolific and idiosyncratic American musicians of the rock era, but also a great discoverer and enabler of other people's talent. In the late 1960s, the guitarist and his then manager, Herb Cohen, set up the Bizarre and Straight labels and issued a raft of records by Alice Cooper, Captain Beefheart and Tim Buckley, three acts who have arguably proved more influential than Zappa himself. This triumvirate rather overshadowed albums by the controversial comedian Lenny Bruce, the groupie ensemble The GTOs – Girls Together Outrageously – and "Wild Man" Fischer, a mentally ill performer whom Zappa had met on Los Angeles' notorious Sunset Strip.

The Overtones, a five-part vocal-harmony boy-band, specialise in vintage pop including doo-wop and Motown. They were discovered by a record-label talent scout last year, while decorating an office in Oxford Street where they sang together in their tea break. A few days later they were in the boardroom at Warner Music being offered a demo deal, which led to a five-album recording contract.

The Ukrainian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik has agreed to buy Warner Music Group for $3.3bn (£2bn), making him one of the industry's most powerful men.

Warner Music Group Corp., the world's third-largest recording company with such artists as Eric Clapton, Michael Buble and Paramore, is being sold for about €3.3 billion (£2bn) as a global decline in CD sales weighs down the industry.

Two parties are battling it out to acquire Warner Music in a deal worth £1.8bn, which could be unveiled in days.

US Outlook : The overlap, in terms of promotional activity for stars, is enormous, which means the cost savings ought to outstrip the other bids on the table

One singing star in the Chris Martin household clearly isn't enough. Now Gwyneth Paltrow is set to release her debut album after impressing critics with her vocal performances. The Oscar-winning actress is reported to be in advanced negotiations with Atlantic Records to release a "country pop" album.

Sales at Warner Music Group fell by more than expected in the three months to 31 December.

The former boss of Warner Bros International Paul-René Albertini is backing an innovative new music company that will officially launch in the UK this week with its first talent showcase. Claiming its model is designed to "fill some of the gaps" left by traditional record labels, My Major Company (MMC) was set up at the end of October and this Wednesday will launch its first 10 artists in London.

The record label that gave us The Doors, Iggy Pop, Love and Tracy Chapman is 60 years old. Stephen Foley meets Elektra's founder in its New York birthplace

A former leading record-label boss has said lowering the prices of albums to £1 could lead to a huge rise in music sales.

Soul singer Solomon Burke, who wrote "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love" and recorded the hit "Cry To Me" used in the movie "Dirty Dancing," has died at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. He was 70.

Books read on holiday often have a greater resonance than those we snatch at when we're busy working. This summer, my favourite book was Fortune's Fool by Fred Goodman, and it tells the story of how Edgar Bronfman, Jr, bought Warner Music and tried – so far, rather successfully – to turn it around.

As Hugh Laurie prepares to record a blues album, Ben Walsh worries that it could be the latest in a long line of turgid offerings from actors-turned-singers