ABKCO Music & Records founder Allen Klein died at the age of 77 on Saturday, July 4. Klein was a controversial figure, involved in the careers of both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Klein broke into the music business as an accountant, then as the manager of Sam Cooke. He renegotiated the Stones' contract in 1965, became their manager for almost five years and ended up acquiring the bands' rights and master recordings to many of their biggest hits. Klein then took aim at the Beatles near the end of the band's time, with John Lennon hiring him to protect his own interests. Klein also made an attempt at one point to acquire the Beatles' music rights. ABKCO still holds recordings by the Stones, The Kinks and many Oldies acts, as well as over 2,000 publishing copyrights. The label is still family-owned, with two of Klein's children working there.

Foo Fighters

Jack White has announced an ambitious subscription plan for his Third Man Records label. "The Vault" offers two pricing tiers, with access to video content, first crack at pre-sales for tickets, exclusive music releases and more surprise content to be rolled out. Third Man is White's new label/all-purpose headquarters for all his bands, as well as other artists for whom he will be producing and releasing music.

Half of the lineup of Panic At The Disco has split from the Pop-Rock group, according to a statement on the band's official website. Guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker have left the Las Vegas group "to embark on a musical excursion of their own." Singer Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith will continue on as Panic At The Disco, with the band slated to open for Blink-182 this summer and release their third record later in 2009.

All day on July 3, Muse gradually unveiled the track list for their upcoming album, The Resistance, via Twitter. Some of the new songs include "Uprising," "Guiding Light" and a three-part suite entitled "Exogenesis." The Resistance will be out September 14 in the U.K. and most likely the following day in the States.

The Killers and MTV will team up to raise awareness of the issue of human trafficking with the premiere of the video for the band's "Goodnight, Travel Well." The clip will air on all MTV platforms next Monday, July 13 as part of MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking). Radiohead's video for "All I Need" in 2008 was the first video as part of the MTV EXIT initiative. The Killers commented, "We are deeply shocked and appalled that women and children are forced into such exploitative situations. We hope that through MTV's efforts and this powerful video that millions of people across the world learn about this tragic form of modern-day slavery."

Aerosmith postponed three shows over the past week in Cincinnati; Hershey, PA and Virginia Beach due to an unspecified injury. Reuters reports that frontman Steven Tyler may have hurt his leg at a concert on June 29. Their next scheduled gig is tomorrow, June 7, which would also include the return of guitarist Brad Whitford, who has been recovering from an injury as well.

Eric De La Cruz, the Nine Inch Nails fan for whom Trent Reznor and Jane's Addiction raised over $800,000 this spring, has passed away at the age of 27. De La Cruz was in need of a heart transplant but denied by insurance providers. Reznor, along with De La Cruz's sister - former CNN anchor Veronica De La Cruz - helped spearhead an online campaign to raise funds by selling off meet-and-greet packages and NIN autographed rarities. However, De La Cruz never regained his health enough to have the transplant and died on July 4.

Jason Mraz has announced a second leg of his Gratitude Cafe Tour, with dates now stretching well into the fall. The tour is now slated to wind up in Hollywood on October 10.