Billboard: The latest news and information from Billboard.biz

Van Halen's 2012 reunion has hit a snag -- the final three months and 31 dates of the group's North American reunion run have been abruptly postponed. Although the band has yet to release an official statement or explanation for the postponement, a rep for the group confirms the unexpected touring news.

The proposed acquisition of EMI's recorded music division by Universal Music Group is expected to see a rocky road ahead, though not everybody is lining up against the merger. Elsewhere, Pandora continues to be lumped in with social media companies despite facing very different operating challenges.

After a banner 2011 with record TV ratings, the Billboard Music Awards are back this Sunday, May 20th live on ABC at 8/7c. This year, social media will play an even greater role with on-air integration, free downloads, celebrity tweets (hashtag #BBMA - not just for the famous), ticket giveaways, and much more.

MTV Tr3s is looking for the next big music act in the "Dame Un Break" competition which will give aspiring Latino artists a chance to compete in an online battle of the bands campaign on Ourstage.com, network officials announced.

A long-running dispute over whether Live Nation and former parent Clear Channel engaged in anticompetitive conduct in the promotion and pricing of live music concerts could be headed for some resolution as lawyers for the company and a class of nationwide plaintiffs told a California federal court that they were finalizing a global settlement agreement that would lead to the dismissal of various claims that span back a decade.

Composer Rolfe Kent composed a poem with the help of his staff for his acceptance speech for the Richard Kirk Award at the BMI Film/TV Awards, where execs from Clear Channel, Lionsgate, AIM Broadcasting, and the Disney Channel among others were on hand to dish out awards.

Adele took home three awards, Lana del Rey won Best Contemporary Song, and PJ Harvey was handed the Album Award for "Let England Shake" at the 57th Ivor Novello Awards, which are organized jointly by BASCA, the British songwriters and composers’ association, and collecting society PRS for Music.

Music subscription service Spotify is reportedly raising money at a $4 billion valuation with Goldman Sachs set to invest $100 million and the round fetching as much as $220 million. A $4 billion valuation would put Spotify in the upper echelon of music companies valued higher than WMG, Pandora and Live Nation.

The bluegrass, folk and country rock worlds are in mourning today with the death of banjo player Doug Dillard at the age of 75. A spokesman told AOL's country blog, The Boot, that Dillard died Wednesday in Nashville following a lengthy illness.

Herbert Breslin, the hard-driving manager who helped propel Luciano Pavarotti to international fame during the 36 years they worked together, has died, his wife said Thursday. He was 87.

Donna Summer may have been referred to as the Queen of Disco, but her Billboard chart hits weren't confined to the so-called "disco era" of the late 1970s. While she earned a string of smash singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the '70s -- many produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte -- she continued to chart hits on into '80s, '90s, '00s and '10s.

Donna Summer died this morning after a battle with cancer at the age of 63. Her fantastic success as the 'Queen of Disco' saw her hit the Billboard Hot 100 32 times, including 14 No. 1 hits. Tributes have been coming in from the music community, and we've compiled a few below.

Donna Summer, the 'Queen of Disco,' died today of cancer. She was 63.

Brooklyn-based independent label Fool's Gold announced today it is launching a premium digital subscription service called The Goldmine. The new service will provide access to new Fool's Gold music as high quality 320 mp3 / WAV downloads, plus extras, including: back catalog selections, exclusive content (remixes, a cappella tracks, DJ sets), merch discounts, priority access to events, and “other surprises the Fool's Gold braintrust decides to cook up.”

Boberg replaces Vincent Freda as chairman of the board of Isolation Network, as Freda was appointed Chief Operating Officer in April.

Jason Aldean claims his seventh leader on Country Songs -- his first in almost a year -- as “Fly Over States” (Broken Bow) stacks 37.9 million impressions (up 2.4 million) and steps 2-1 on the audience-ranked chart.

Google is introducing a new tool, designed to make its search engine smarter. The new feature debuted Wednesday draws from a Google-built database of more than 500 million people, places and commonly requested things to provide a summary of vital information alongside the main search results.

Three members of the children's music quartet The Wiggles will be hanging up their colorful outfits and leaving the Australian band this year, with the Blue Wiggle the lone original member left dancing. The band has sold more than 23 million DVDs and 7 million CDs worldwide, and its TV shows are broadcast in more than 100 countries, according to The Wiggles' website.

Responding to extraordinary demand, Facebook said Wednesday that it would sell more stock in the company's initial public offering. But ahead of the IPO, a debate emerged between two of the nation's largest automakers: Does it pay to advertise on the social network? General Motors and Ford have a different take on the social media site's  marketing effectiveness.

Joe Brauner has joined WME as an agent in the music department, bringing with him longtime clients Norah Jones and Amos Lee. Brauner was previously a music agent at CAA.