There were mixed reactions to the announcement of the AOL $850 million in cash purchase of Bebo. Thrilled at the news Bebo's wife Roshare Norman exclaimed, "Woohoooooooo." General Manager of BEC, Tyson Paoletti's reaction was quite different according to employees who heard him talking to himself in his office, "This is going to make things pretty difficult this year," he stated. "If Bebo has that much money, he probably isn't going to want to make records anymore, but on the other hand we'd sell him for that much money if offered."

However, it was soon clarified that Bebo Norman had not been sold, but that AOL had purchased the BEBO Social Network, the top social network in Britain (No. 3 in the United States after MySpace and Facebook).

On a completely unrelated note, Bebo (Norman…not the social network) will be entering into the studio this coming week to begin his first full-length studio project on BEC Recordings (not affiliated with AOL), which will release in the fall 2008. This release will follow the Dove Award nominated Christmas project, Christmas... From The Realms of Glory.

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