A Canadian news outlet reports Sony BMG has partnered with music retailer HMV on an unusual promotion to try and secure Bruce Springsteen’s forthcoming Magic a No. 1 spot on the Nielsen SoundScan charts in Canada: “HMV is offering purchasers of the album a free video and ringtone download of Magic’s first single, ‘Radio Nowhere,’ plus a limited-edition lyric booklet.”

But wait! There’s more.

HMV Canada president Humphrey Kadaner is offering a personal money-back guarantee that buyers will love the album. Has elder Springsteen’s stock fallen so far to warrant this kind of stunt? There’s already talk that Sony released Magic early on vinyl just to make the cut-off date for this year’s Grammy Awards.

Gay.

Meanwhile, Billboard and the blogs are ablaze with news that Martin Scorsese is planning a George Harrison documentary. Marty’s no stranger to the discipline, as he’s responsible for The Last Waltz, No Direction Home, Shine a Light, and “Bad.”

Billboard is also reporting that Madonna, The Beastie Boys, Leonard Cohen and John (Cougar) Mellencamp are among the nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2008. Also on the ballot are Afrika Bambaataa, Chic, the Ventures and … the Dave Clark Five.

And from our homicide department comes word that the City of Angels has every intention of re-trying Phil Spector for murder and that an inmate says he fabricated a story that implicated the LAPD in the “wrongful” death of Christopher Wallace (aka the Notorious B.I.G.). Ruh-row!