USHER & LEONA LEWIS NAMED AS BEST SELLERS FOR SONY BMG DESPITE MASSIVE LOSS.....

Sony BMG have unveiled their net loss and it stands at a staggering $49m (£24.75m) in its first fiscal quarter of 2008, with sales down $55m (£27.78m) year-on-year at $820m (£414.35m).

Check out this interesting report: The loss compares to a profit of $21m (£190.61m) in the equivalent quarter of 2007, a result that parent company Sony says reflects the decline in the physical market and an increase in re-structuring costs. The company says that its best-selling release in the quarter included Usher's 'Here I Stand' and Leona Lewis's 'Spirit'. Meanwhile, the Nikkei Business Daily today reports that Sony is continuing in talks to buy Bertelsmann's 50% stake in Sony BMG, with the two companies aiming to reach agreement in August. You've got to admit the music economy has been poor as of late, not just because of promotion costs (or lack of) but because music has been sucking real bad. Of course this has resulted in hordes of illegal downloading where folks get a whiff of the wackness and decidedly ask themselves 'Why should they waste their money on crap like this?'. As the last quarter isn't too far away, maybe they can recoup some of that loss when a certain 'Get Me Bodied' singer makes her anticipated debut later this year.