16 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - New music industry data show the number of U.S. albums sold last year tumbled 9.5 percent from 2006, even as the number of digital tracks sold soared by 45 percent.

The Nielsen SoundScan figures released Thursday signal ongoing recording industry woes amid a multiyear decline sales of CDs — the industry’s chief music format.

The firm says about 500.5 million albums in CDs, cassettes, LPs and other formats were sold last year, down 15 percent from 2006’s total.

Including digital track downloads, 584.9 million albums were sold, a decline of 9.5 percent from 2006.

The number of digital tracks sold totaled 844.2 million, up 45 percent from 588.2 million in 2006.

Overall music purchases — including albums, singles, digital tracks and music videos — hit 1.35 billion units, up 14 percent from 2006’s total.

13 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears’ lawyers in her custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline are quitting.

The law firm Trope and Trope asked a court Wednesday to be relieved as Spears’ attorneys. The firm says there’s been a “breakdown” in communication with the pop princess that makes representing her “impossible,” according the filing, obtained by CelebTV.com.

A message left with a publicist for Spears’ record label was not immediately returned.

Spears and Federline have been wrangling for months over custody of their sons, 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James.

Federline has temporary custody because Spears, who has limited visitation rights, has defied court orders. The two were married in October 2004 and finalized their divorce in July.

On a separate legal front, an attorney for Spears wants the city attorney’s office to prove that the pop star is a permanent California resident and is subject to state laws that require her to have a valid California driver’s license.

Spears faces up to a year of probation if convicted in a misdemeanor case of driving without a valid license, a charge to which she has pleaded not guilty. The case stems from a videotaped fender-bender in a parking lot in August. A hit-and-run charge has been dismissed.

Spears attorney J. Michael Flanagan earlier Wednesday requested that prosecutors be required to demonstrate that Spears, who owns homes in Louisiana and Florida, intends to make Los Angeles her permanent legal home.

“If they can establish that Britney is domiciled here in California, that she permanently intends to stay here, then she does have a requirement to get a license,” Flanagan said in an interview. “Basically, it’s a fix-it ticket.”

Flanagan said Spears had a valid Louisiana license at the time of the incident and got a California license six days after the complaint was filed.

A call seeking comment from the city attorney’s office was not immediately returned. The next court date is Jan. 25.

20 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Start spreading the news: Liza Minnelli will sing again.

Almost three weeks after collapsing during a show in Sweden, the 61-year-old entertainer was doing fine and preparing for her next gig, Minnelli’s lawyer, Allen Arrow, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

“Not to worry,” said Arrow. He would not elaborate on Minnelli’s health scare.

Arrow said Minnelli was going back into rehearsals at the end of the week, and will resume her touring schedule on Jan. 12 in Providence, R.I.

The singer was performing in a Christmas show Dec. 12 in Goteborg, Sweden’s second-largest city, when she collapsed while walking offstage. She flew to the United States the next day on the advice of doctors there.

“She was that sick,” Arrow said. “You wonder why she had the courage to get on the stage when she shouldn’t have.”

Minnelli, the daughter of Judy Garland, won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in the 1972 film “Cabaret.” She won an Emmy for the 1972 TV special “Liza with a Z,” and Tony Awards in 1974 and 1978.