The newly dubbed Sony Music Entertainment Inc. will be owned by Sony Corp. of America, while Bertelsmann will control portions of Sony BMG's European music catalog. The split marks the end of a four-year venture made in August 2004.

Seems like those long-standing rumors about Kanye West and fiancee Alexis Phifer splitting up are true, according to "a source close to the couple" who spoke with Usmagazine.com.

The source told the site that "Kanye is possessed by the tour and everything going on and just couldn't keep it going. They are still friends and have broken up and gotten back together before, so it could work out."

A rep for West had no comment, said the site.

Sources close to West had previously told Us that he would tie the knot with Phifer to honor his late mother Donda’s wish that they make their relationship official.

So as those of you under the legal drinking age are well aware, Miley Cyrus and her bud Mandy have posted a response to Madonna's "4 Minutes" video. And not only are the kids talking 'bout it, but it looks as if Madge herself may have been watching.

But something happened on the way to the party: While the Material Dance Queen was having a good time feeling relevant with today's youth, her album leaked. Well, most of it. And she is so going to kill somebody. Lola, get in your room and take the Malawian kid with you! I'm gonna eat a carb!!

Or something like that. Anyway, we're here in New York, faaaaaar away from her 46-bedroom LA cottage, so we're safe -- until her army of publicists finds us. But here at MTV News (well, at least at Newsroom), we can't help but give these tracks a listen. I mean, the ten Madonna fans who still haven't found the leak online (big chunks of all the album's completed songs) need someone to tell them about it. So, here's our free-associative track-by-track, after the jump.

· Candy Shop: The album opener's weirdly R&B-ish, with synth straight out of Snoop's "Sensual Seduction" (you know, that 70's sound?) and Madonna putting a lil Erykah Badu in her vocals. Huh. Not bad, though. Oh, but there are some doozy lyrics. "Come on into my store, I got candy galore" -- for reals?

· 4 Minutes: If you haven't heard it already, you're not even reading this post.

· Give It 2 Me: A combo of LCD Soundsystem-style cowbell and Killers synth drives this tune. Not bad. You can totally picture one of those dance-driven, party videos the girl's known for. Let's call this a radio song.

· Heartbeat: OK, only a couple of songs in, and already the flat-sounding synth is starting to kill us. Just seems too thin and laid on top. Timbaland's pulled this kind of thing before, of course, but often with dudes whose vocals or rhymes are much richer or deeper to offset it. (Justin's a soprano for sure, but he hits some way more dramatic notes than Madonna can.) Gotta wonder if he tailored this enough to Madge's own vocal stylings? Generic tune. Update: Yikes, this track was produced by Pharrell. Thanks for pointing that out, readers. But the timbre of her voice still doesn't seem well-matched with this synth vibe.

· Miles Away: This song starts off with one of Timba's signature beatbox-style openings, and the blips and layers of sound continue throughout. Can't Madonna bust out without all that production underneath her? How about a straight-up pop tune?

· She's Not Me: OK, another radio song! A catchy, dance-y tune about getting jilted for another girl but staying sassy enough to be all like "go for it, you'll never be happy with that ish." (We're getting a little too "Will & Grace" with this.)

· Incredible: OMG, leave Madonna alone! What's up with all the crazy production? That's more electronics than a Yaz record! You almost can't make out the fact that it's Madonna singing at all. I mean, we're exaggerating -- but not by much. The few piano notes underneath are a reminder of the simpler arrangement that could have been. Sigh.

· The Beat Goes On: Pharrell guests on this one, and the personality in his vocals helps to mix it up a bit. That, and the fact that Pharrell's voice actually goes with the whole 70's R&B vibe. Seems like maybe the album concept was 70's R&B-meets-80's dance, but the mix somehow wasn't nearly bold enough.

· Dance Tonight: JT takes this track to town. But why does Madge sound all vocoder-ed? Is that totally intentional? Her vocals are definitely duller on this album than usual.

· Spanish Lesson: A return to "La Isla Bonita," and the awkward Spanish we've come to expect from Madonna. Awesome lyrics include "If you like my style / I can love you for a while." We think she's cleverer than that.

· The Devil Wouldn't Recognize You: Oooh, finally, a ballad! Right on! This track makes it even clearer that there must have been some kind of disconnect between Timbaworld and Planet Madge -- I mean, why wasn't there more of this material? She may not be the greatest singer of her generation (um, understatement), but if you give her room to breathe, Madonna can put attitude to tape. And that's what's absent from most of these recordings.

· Voices: The track opens with a Depeche Mode-style S&M-philosophical question: "Who is the master, and who is the slave?" Some Middle Eastern-y flourishes on this one, and more minor-chord in tone. Not one of the album highlights, but at least something a little more diverse.

Have you heard the tracks? Do you agree -- or are we totally off-base?

Viva los emos!!

After weeks of harassment and violence, Mexican emo kids can rest a little easier -- their heroes have come to the rescue.

When My Chemical Romance took the stage in Mexico City (this past Saturday at Zero Fest), Gerard Way spoke to the crowd:

“I want to say something today before we continue. Recently we’ve been hearing a lot of stuff about some violence here in your country having to do with kids who want to wear black t-shirts...or some kind of bulls--- stuff like that. We don’t want to see any f---ing violence! We came here for one reason, and that’s to be at the f---ing rock show!”

MTV News was on the scene reporting on the recent rash of emo bashings. Our producer's experience talking to local emo kids after the jump. Plus, more pics of MCR at ZeroFest...

This in from MTV News' Elena Torres:

So I went back home this weekend, but instead of awkward meetings with people from high school or resting up in the room I grew up in, I brought an MTV News crew to my hometown of Mexico City and we went on a search for some emo kids. That’s right, those 13- to 17-year-old angst-filled, black-skinny-jean-wearing, eyeliner-sporting, 1985-comb-over-sportin' teens who are getting attacked South of the Border.

MTV wanted to find out: who exactly are these kids that have other cliques in Mexico ticked off to the point of such intense violence? Of course, since this just happened to be my turf, it was up to me to find out. Not as easy as it sounds. Turns out since the kids are constantly getting beaten up, they’ve pretty much gone into hiding. But after a long string of phone calls, I found three places where emos were known to hang out: a local mall, a local bar, and a small subway station called Glorieta de Insurgentes.

The first two locations were complete failures: the bar wouldn’t let us anywhere near it for fear of negative press, and the only kids we found at the mall were wearing Lacoste shirts and Catholic school uniforms.

Finally we all piled in the car and headed toward Glorieta de Insurgentes. Once we got there, the tunnel leading to the station was lined with armed police men: clearly something was up with this place. Then, as we started to come out the other side, we found a small plaza taken over by “los emos.” Skinny jeans and emotions were all over the place. Kids were sitting on the floor moping, friends were holding hands, couples flirting, and one girl was even crying (talk about living up to the rep). The vibe was almost more Discovery Channel -- “emos” in their natural habitat! -- than MTV. And believe me, the kids had plenty to say...

Look for our continuing coverage of emo bashing in Mexico at MTVNews.com later this week.

WOW.

We were getting crazy text messages last night from an eyewitness at the N.E.R.D. video shoot for their single, "Everyone Nose," saying that all hell had broken loose on the set.

The video, which was being shot in New York's Flatiron District, apparently got shut down at around 9pm when two people were rushed to the hospital after being slashed on their arms. It's unclear who slashed whom - and with what - but our eyewitness says that two extras got into an altercation on the set, which resulted in the two injuries.

The video not only featured the three primary guys in N.E.R.D. - Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes, and their childhood friend, Shay - but also Lindsay Lohan, who, we were told (again, via txt), left as soon as the dust-up occurred. Oh and since the song alludes to a certain narcotic typically ingested via one's nostrils, there was also a guy in a giant nose costume with a big white smear hanging out on set.

So good to see Lindsay staying out of trouble.

We'll certainly have more on this story as soon as we get more details...

[UPDATE: Turns out production went on, but with a scaled-down crew. Pictures of the coke nose, designed by famed artist, KAWS, can be found here at the BBC blog.]

[UPDATE 2: More info up now at mtvnews.com]