Company Town

Music: Getting the blues may become easier. Private Music and the House of Blues restaurant are forming a joint venture financed by Bertelsmann Music Group to start House of Blues Music Co. The new label will sign new blues-influenced artists as well as traditional blues singers. BMG recently acquired 7-year-old Private Music. The label plans to renovate Kiva Studios in Memphis, Tenn., and rename it House of Blues Studios by February. The companies said Michael Klenfner, an associate of House of Blues founder Isaac Tigrett, has been retained as the “glue man” for the operation.