Industry: Warner IPO, Yahoo Music, Columbia House/BMG, Universal Music, MTV/VH1 Execs, IODA, TriMedia

Warner Music Group's IPO prices at $17 a share, the low end of their adjustment to reality. This pricing puts their initial capitalization at $2.4 billion, far below their lofty dreams based on a valuation of $3.43 billion and below the $2.6 billion paid for the company. This also means that they may have to use cash to pay off their debt and won't have much of anything to put back into the company.

Yesterday, Yahoo announced a digital music subscription service that will include portability and sharply underprices its competitors. I'd hate to be competing with Yahoo, their ability to run massive amounts of advertising within their network by itself is a huge competitive advantage. Billboard PostPlay and PaidContent have more on Yahoo's music service.

BMG's parent company Bertelsmann is buying Columbia House which will be combined with BMG Direct boosting their CD offerings and adding DVD sales.

Glenayre Technologies is buying Universal Music Group's CD and DVD manufacturing and distribution assets via Entertainment Distribution Co. which will become a division of Glenayre upon completion of the deal. EDC will then provide such services to Universal, gradually taking over the additional services that are currently outsourced to other companies.

MTV/VH1's exec shufflings will make VH1 President Christina Norman head of MTV, MTV2 et al and one of the top ranking black execs in television. MTV's Tom Calderone will become VH1's new prez.

Fortune Mag has named San Francisco's Independent Online Distribution Alliance one of 25 breakout companies to watch in 2005. Official site: IODA.

TriMedia Entertainment Group, whose RuffNation Films subsidiary produced Snipes, yesterday announced a multimillion dollar debt for stock swap. Official site: TriMedia.