Tidbits of Useful Music Biz Info!
January 11, 2008 From Yahoo News
Florida Music Educators' Association announced that a song written by a Pompano Beach music teacher, Jan Hinton (Ft. Lauderdale) was selected to replace "The Swanee River," Florida's current state song which State Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, and Rep. Ed Homan, R-Tampa, said had racial overtones. The new state song will be "Florida, Where The Sawgrass Meets the Sky," after Lawmakers approve the song.
January 11, 2008 From Reuters
Thanks to breakout roles in Broadway blockbusters "Rent" and "Wicked," Idina Menzel has become one of the biggest stars on the American musical theater scene. Yet long before she was singing show tunes, the 36-year-old Long Island native was belting out the latest Madonna and Whitney Houston hits at weddings and bar mitzvahs in the New York area. And it's that part of her musical persona that she intends to showcase on "I Stand," a 10-track pop disc due January 29 from Warner Bros.
January 11, 2008 From Winnipeg Sun
The Federal Court of Appeal has quashed the so-called “iPod tax,” a proposed levy on digital music players. The Canadian Copyright Board wanted to charge between $5 and $75 on each new device, depending on the number of songs it’s capable of holding to compensate the recording industry for music which is copied. The court struck down the proposed tax, saying the board did not have the right to impose new levies on digital music players. The Retail Council of Canada opposed the tax, arguing the levy implies all iPod owners use them to transfer and listen to pirated music.
January 10, 2008 From Yahoo
James Brown's possessions will be appraised and auctioned, in part to pay taxes his estate owes. Attorney Adele Pope would not say exactly what items would be auctioned or how much they were worth. She also refused to say after a hearing how much the estate owed.
The future of Brown's trust is in turmoil and might include music rights and his 60-acre Beech Island home in western South Carolina. His will called for the items to be divided among the singer's six adult children. But Tomi Rae Hynie, who claims to be Brown's fourth wife and the mother of another of his children, has contested the will.
January 10, 2008 from Fox News
Radiohead's "In Rainbows" is a top-seller. The band's seventh album was No. 1 on the week's music charts with sales of 122,000 copies, according Nielsen SoundScan. The physical, standard priced release sold fairly well despite digital copies being released by Radiohead three months ago with optional pricing.
January 9, 2008 From Yahoo News
Dionne Warwick's posh hotel room was robbed of more than $100,000 in valuables while the five-time Grammy Award winner was preparing for a concert in Rome on Monday. The robbers made off with two rings, a necklace, a Rolex watch and a pair of earrings left on a night table.
January 9, 2008 From AP
A concert marking the 40th anniversary of Johnny Cash's famous Folsom State Prison concert has been scrapped, with the prison and the promoter blaming each other for the cancellation. Prison officials called off the show late Monday, citing problems over filming rights, media access and security concerns. Promoter Jonathan Holiff claims the cancellation was just another broken promise by prison officials. "I was in tears when I found out," Holiff said. The show, which would have been streamed worldwide over the Internet, was to have been underwritten by four nonprofit groups that were to share the venture's profit.
January 9, 2008 From Google News
Ken Nelson, a longtime talent scout at Capitol Records who produced dozens of No. 1 country music hits and helped push Buck Owens and Merle Haggard to country stardom in the 1960s, has died of natural causes Sunday at his home in Somis, CA. He was 96.
January 9, 2008 From TMZ
Eminem is recovering from a bout with pneumonia that sent him to the hospital. "Over the holidays, Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, was under doctor's care at a Detroit-area hospital for complications due to pneumonia," the rapper's publicist, Dennis Dennehy, said Tuesday. "He has since been released and is doing well recovering at home."
January 8, 2008 From VOANews
The Voice of America (VOA) has launched African Music Treasures, its first weblog ("blog") designed especially for African music fans around the world.
Matthew Lavoie, host of VOA's popular Music Time in Africa music show, will moderate the blog featuring music from VOA's extensive and rare African music collection, music commentary, audio clips, bios of interesting musicians, and chats with online participants.
"Our archive is overflowing with rare music from every country in Africa," said Lavoie. "I'm excited to share it with my fellow enthusiasts," he added.
January 8, 2008 From NME
Former Guns N’ Roses/current Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash performed a special guitar duet Sunday (January 6) at the Computer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Delivering a speech at the annual event, Microsoft boss Bill Gates invited Kelly Law-Yone, champion of the computer game Guitar Hero, for which Slash is a patron, to perform the game onstage. Gates also introduced Slash, who performed "Welcome To The Jungle" by his former band on a real guitar.
January 8, 2008 From Reuters
Viacom's MTV Networks Group has signed deals to make videos available on five online video services and Comcast Corp's broadband site, as the company aims to increase its presence on the Web. Dailymotion, GoFish, iMeem, MeeVee and Veoh Networks entered agreements, MTV Networks said on Tuesday at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
January 7, 2008 from Yahoo News
Canadian punk rock singer Bif Naked has gone public after being diagnosed with breast cancer, saying she is facing the fight of her life and urging other women to ensure they regularly check for cancer.
The 36-year-old tattooed singer, who was married three months ago, broke the news in a radio interview on Sunday with her record label Bodog Music issuing a statement on Monday.
"It is a very surreal situation for (my husband) Ian and I at this time," she said.
January 7, 2008 From AP
A Mississippi Blues Trail marker will be placed at the birthplace of Elvis Presley on Tuesday.
The ceremony will honor Presley for his contribution to Mississippi and America's blues heritage.
January 7, 2008 From Google
How about a sip of Kerosene? That's one of the wines being marketed by Miranda Lambert's family that are named for her songs.
The 24-year-old country singer's latest single will be released Jan. 15. That's when two new wines will be available — Gunpowder & Lead and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — also Lambert song titles.
There's also a blush wine called Electric Pink, named for one of her guitars.The Lambert family teamed with LouViney Vineyards of Winnsboro to offer the wines.
January 4, 2008 From PC World
A class-action suit filed against Apple alleges the company unfairly uses technological restrictions with its iPod line and iTunes Music Store to beat out competitors. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, is the latest one to accuse Apple of unfair business practices. Apple is facing similar legal actions and scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe.
The suit was filed Dec. 31 by Stacie Somers, a resident of San Diego County, California, who bought a 30G-byte iPod from Target, a retail store. Others who bought an iPod or content from Apple's iTunes store after Dec. 31, 2003, may join the suit.
The suit calls for Apple to forfeit money it earned from the unfair practices and pay the plaintiffs damages.
January 2, 2008 From VH1 News
Many of DMX's conversations with God have been a matter of public record since his career bloomed to superstar status in 1998. His catalog features nearly as many inspirational ghetto hymns — such as "Lord Give Me a Sign," "A Minute for Your
Son" and "The Prayer" — as it does party anthems and street-corner knockers, and in 2006 he pondered changing his name for "spiritual reasons." But now, the Dog has decided to go in full-throttle with his first-ever gospel-rap album, which he told MTV News will be coming out this year.
January 2, 2008 From VH1 News
A little over a month after he was dropped from R. Kelly's Double Up tour, Ne-Yo is fighting back with a lawsuit asking that
he be paid even though he didn't perform the whole tour. Ne-Yo is blaming an unnamed Kelly rep for allegedly instigating his dismissal in the first place — which Kelly's rep calls "just plain silly."
The R&B singer/songwriter filed suit in Los Angeles on Monday against the promoter of the tour, Rowe Entertainment, claiming breach of contract, violation of the right of publicity and unfair business practices for his termination from the tour after only two performances. Since Ne-Yo spent money preparing for the tour and turned down other touring and performance opportunities, he's asking that he be paid the remainder of the money he says he was guaranteed — in excess of $735,000.
December 28, 2007 From Billboard
Believe it: Jessica Simpson has decamped to Nashville to begin work on her debut country album, due sometime in 2008 via Columbia Nashville.
Simpson declined to name songwriting collaborators, but tells Billboard.com she will most definitely be involved in the creative process. "Writing is a release for me," she says. "It's a way for me to tell my story. That's not to say I wouldn't record a song that I didn't write. It's just that it has been a while since I have opened the book."
But why country, and why now? "I am a country girl," she says. "I grew up in Texas, and country music was what I listened to. I always wanted to make a country album, but I wanted to wait until the time was right."
December 27, 2007 From NME
Madonna’s directorial debut is to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February.
Filth And Wisdom, which stars Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz and Richard E. Grant, will be shown out of competition, say organizers.
It is not yet know if the singer will go to the German capital to promote the short film.
December 27, 2007 from E!
Wedding bells will ring for Josh Duhamel and Fergie. The actor's rep confirms to E! News that Duhamel recently popped the question to the Black Eyed Peas singer.
So far, there's no word on a wedding date. Duhamel, 35, and Fergie, 32 (real name: Stacy Ferguson), have been an item since September 2004. They met when she made a guest appearance on Las Vegas.
December 24, 2007 from VH1 News
Looks like Jay-Z can loosen up his tie a little more. The iconic-rapper-turned-record-exec announced Monday (December 24) that he will step down from his post as president and CEO of Def Jam Records.
According to The Associated Press, Hov said now was the right time for his exit. "It's time for me to take on new challenges," he reportedly said in a statement.
As part of a separate, long-term recording contract, Jay will still remain with Def Jam as an artist, and owes the label one or two more albums, according to The New York Times. In early November, he released his 10th studio album, American Gangster, which was distributed through his own Roc-A-Fella Records via Def Jam.
December 21 from CNET
XM Satellite Radio and Warner Music Group, the world's third largest music company, said on Friday they had settled a lawsuit brought by the music company over XM's portable satellite radio with advanced recording features.
The dispute centered on XM's portable "Inno" device, which can store and record music from satellite radio. Major music labels including Vivendi's Universal, Warner Music Group, EMI Group and Sony BMG sued XM in May 2006, saying the Inno infringes copyrights and transforms a passive radio experience into the equivalent of a digital download service such as Apple's iTunes. XM and Warner Music did not disclose terms of the deal, which is a multiyear agreement that covers current XM radios and future devices.
Decmeber 20, 2007 From Yahoo News
Jamie Lynn Spears pregnancy: Mary J. Blige reacts Britney Spears's sister Jamie Lynn Spears has been congratulated by Mary J. Blige on her pregnancy.
The 16-year-old Spears announced she was pregnant yesterday (December 19).
Mary J. Blige sent Jamie a word of support through MTV, saying: "Stay strong, baby girl. If that's her choice [to keep the baby] then congratulations. Hope she's responsible and I hope she understands what that brings."
"You have to change your lifestyle so [your children] can look at you as an example. It's all about Mommy being an example, Jamie. That's what it's about."
John Legend also told MTV: "My sister had a baby when she was young, so I know what it's like, and…it's going to be difficult, so I hope her family supports her and takes care of her. It's hard for a young mother."
December 20, 2007 from Yahoo News
Jack White has revealed he he is working on three albums.The White Stripes/Raconteurs man explained his current projects while discussing the fallout caused by his first band scrapping their the rest of their 2007 tour dates because drummer Meg White was suffering from acute anxiety.
White would not name what the other projects he was working on, but denied it was the Raconteurs' new album or a long-rumored solo album.
White added that the cancelled dates did not mark the end of the White Stripes, though, declaring: "If it came to a point where Meg said, 'I don't want to be in this band anymore, it doesn't fulfil me in any way,' then it would be a different story. But she's not saying that."
White speculated on how long the band's live break was going to be.
December 20, 2007 from NME
The Eagles have turned down an offer to perform at next year's Super Bowl, saying they'd rather perform at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry.
Frontman Don Henley told the Associated Press that playing at the legendary country music venue "would be an honor," but did not elaborate on his band's decision to turn down the slot at the Super Bowl--the most-watched television event in the U.S.
December 19, 2007 from Google
In between heavy touring schedules, the Smashing Pumpkins have found time to create a four-song acoustic EP, "American Gothic," to be released Jan. 2 exclusively via iTunes in the U.S.
The set includes the tracks "The Rose March," "Pox, "Again, Again, Again (The Crux)" and "Sunkissed," and was produced by frontman Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The band has previously performed "The Rose March" on the road.
"I had written a bunch of material during the residencies in Asheville and San Francisco [earlier this year], and fans kept asking us if we were gonna put any of that stuff out," Corgan says. "iTunes came to us wanting to do something together, so it just felt right.
December 17,2007 From E!
The leader of the band is gone. Easy-rocking singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg, known for such '70s and '80s hits as "Leader of the Band" and "Same Old Lang Syne" died Sunday at his home in Maine, following a battle with prostate cancer. He was 56.
"Dan left us this morning at 6 a.m. He fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side," read a statement posted on the singer's Website. "His strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him."
Fogelberg was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 2004. He underwent hormonal therapy and achieved a partial remission but failed to completely eliminate the disease.
December 14, 2007. From associated press
Daughtery has number 1 album in 2007. The "Idol" finalist's band, Daughtry, sold 3.2 million copies of their self-titled debut, making it the most popular album of the year, according to the trade magazine Billboard.
December 13, 2007. From Maria Ferraro
Anthrax is excited and proud to introduce their new singer, Dan Nelson. Nelson is a virtual unknown, having fronted several local bands in the Long Island/New York area in the past. After a successful reunion tour with former singer Joey Belladonna in 2006, there were rumors of recording a new album with that lineup. However, talks fell through and the band was left, once again, without a singer. Anthrax, featuring Nelson on vocals, guitarists Ian and Rob Caggiano, bassist Frankie Bello, and drummer Benante, is currently working on all-new material. Also, two classic Anthrax records - “Sound of White Noise” and “Stomp 442” - are going to be available on iTunes on December 18. They will be expanded editions with bonus tracks, and it’s the first time the records will be released digitally. The online versions of the albums will also include commentary tracks from the band members themselves!
December 13, 2007 From EURweb
*Musician Ike Turner, the legendary rock-n-roll pioneer whose contributions to the genre were overshadowed by his abuse of ex-wife Tina Turner, has died at age 76.
"Ike Turner passed away this morning. He was at his home," in San Marcos, California, outside San Diego, said Scott Hanover of Thrill Entertainment, said on Wednesday. We were told Turner suffered from emphysema and may have died of a heart attack.
December 12, 2007. From Associated press
The ever-evolving Madonna was announced as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee on Thursday along with John Mellencamp, The Ventures, Leonard Cohen and The Dave Clark Five. The Rock Hall will also honor Little Walter in its sideman category for helping establish the modern blues harmonica on recordings with legends like Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley. Producers Gamble & Huff will be honored in the non-performer category. Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International label, which had artists that included the O'Jays, McFadden & Whitehead, and Lou Rawls, featured powerful rhythm sections with a disco beat.
December 12, 2007 From Billboard
With the holiday season marching on, Josh Groban's "Noel" retains its lead on The Billboard 200 for a third week straight. With an 8% sales increase, the 143/Reprise set moved 581,000 units in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. Groban thus ties Elvis Presley as the record-holder for the most consecutive weeks at No. 1 with a Christmas album.
December 11, 2007. From Associated Press
Maroon 5's sophomore album, "It Won't Be Soon Before Long," was the No. 1 seller on itunes, followed by Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" and Kanye West's "Graduation." Rounding out the top five best-selling albums were "American Idol" alum Chris Daughtry's band's self-titled debut, "Daughtry," and "Coco" by newcomer Colbie Caillat, who has the hit "Bubbly." Fergie came in at first and fifth place in single sales. Her hit "Big Girls Don't Cry" was the top-selling single of the year for iTunes, while "Glamorous" finished in fifth. Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape" came in second place, followed by Plain White T's "Hey There Delilah" and Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend."
December 10, 2007 From Google News
What a short but eclectic trip it's been. At age 30, John Mayer may seem too young for a career retrospective. But his three-hour-plus show Saturday at the Nokia Theatre was just that.
The night explored his musical evolution in the six years since his multi-platinum debut, "Room for Squares," with three equally compelling segments: tunes he wrote as an acoustic singer-songwriter, the classic blues of the John Mayer Trio and the sophisticated pop rock of his 2006 album, "Continuum".
December 8, 2007 From East Wood Advertiser
New Zealand Maoris have given Sir Elton John a specially-made bird feather cloak granted only to people of high rank.
"It's the Maori equivalent to an Academy Award and (also means) the inclusion of Sir Elton John as an honoured member of Ngati Te Whiti" sub-tribe, said its chairman, Peter Love.
The cloak, known by Maori as a korowai, was "gifted as recognition of the enjoyment Sir Elton John's music has given to Maori over the years and his loyal continuance to return to Aotearoa to entertain", he said in a statement.
Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand.Sir Elton played a concert before 15,000 people in the city of New Plymouth, the traditional home of the Ngati Te Whiti people.
The Queen and Prince Charles are two past recipients
December 7, 2007. From Associated Press
Billy Joel has released a new pop single, the anti-war "Christmas in Fallujah." Just don't expect to hear his voice on it. Inspired by letters the Piano Man received from soldiers in Iraq, he gave it to Cass Dillon, a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Long Island. Joel said in a statement on his Web site. "I wanted to help somebody else's career. I've had plenty of hits. I've had plenty of airplay. I've had my time in the sun. I think it's time for somebody else, maybe, to benefit from my own experience."
December 7, 2007 From PRWEB
Held as part of National Enterprise Week in November, the Annual Celebration of Enterprise awards ceremony and gala dinner brought together over 250 key members of Northern Ireland's business and business support community to recognize the achievements of six entrepreneurs whose outstanding achievements demonstrate innovation, a firm commitment and dynamic approach to developing business.
In recognition of Ripfactory and the Ripstation range of fully automated, high speed CD and DVD ripping systems, Ripfactory's Managing Director, Patrick McGrath, was delighted to receive the award for Best Business Entrepreneur 2007.
December 6, 2007. From CNN.com
Kanye West earned eight Grammy nominations Thursday, including album of the year and rap album of the year for his "Graduation," leading the competition. British retro soul singer Amy Winehouse also made out well, earning six nods, including nominations for album of the year ("Back to Black"), song of the year, record of the year and best new artist. The other nominees for best album include the Foo Fighters ("Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace"), Vince Gill (the four-disc set "These Days") and Herbie Hancock ("River: The Joni Letters").
December 5, 2007 From InTheMix
Savour those full-length Klaxons and Snoop Dogg files while you can: Universal Music Group has decided to stop MySpace from streaming entire songs of artists signed to the label.
Under the new conditions, the social networking giant is only permitted to stream 90-second song samples. It’s a double blow for MySpace, who have already been sued by UMG for copyright infringement.
The label has not yet issued a statement, but it’s clear online streaming is still seen a threat, not a tool, by the big boys.
December 5, 2007 From AntMusic
Rapper SPICE 1 is in a critical condition in hospital after he was shot in the chin and chest on Monday morning (03Dec07).
Spice 1 - real name Robert L. Green, Jr. - was shot in Hayward, California in the early hours of Monday, but full details surrounding the shooting remain unclear.
However, the star's manager, Six, has confirmed the reports,and added that Green is expected to make a full recovery, because the bullet had just missed his heart.
December 5, 2007 From LA Times
Leap Wireless International Inc., operator of the Cricket and Jump mobile-phone services, said Tuesday that it planned to bid in a U.S. government auction of airwaves in January to expand its network.
Leap will use a subsidiary to bid in the Federal Communications Commission auction, according to a regulatory filing from the San Diego-based company. Denali Spectrum License, a company in which Leap has a noncontrolling interest, also will bid, the company said.
Leap, which sells pay-as-you-go mobile-phone service to customers who lack the credit to qualify for contracts, worked with Denali to buy 100 licenses for almost $1 billion in a similar auction last year. The 700-megahertz airwaves up for sale in 2008 work over long distances and can be used for services such as mobile music and video.
December 3, 2007 From Yahoo News
South Florida independent music sellers find that to survive in a digital world, they must band together. And stocking up on vinyl doesn't hurt.
Although the invention of the CD in 1982 created a seismic shift in the way consumers approached the buying of music, record stores still had a tangible product to sell. But today's digital music files don't give you anything to carry home. And people who still buy CDs usually shop at big chains such as Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy.
As the pop-music world rapidly embraces the digital age, independent and small-chain record stores are refusing to let it be the end of their world.
'We've survived by offering the quote-unquote `alternative' means of music for people,'' says Mike Ramirez, manager of Radio-Active Records in Fort Lauderdale. ``It'd be foolish to consider ourselves a contender [with the big chains]. We can't. No independent can. So why even bother? Do something completely different.''
Both Radio-Active and Uncle Sam's Music -- a South Beach haven for DJs and clubgoers since 1984 -- have boosted their stock of vinyl, which is rediscovering an audience beyond the faithful DJ market.
''Five years ago, our shop was named the CD Collector -- this was a time when CDs were still selling,'' Ramirez says. ``Around 2003, we noticed that there was a shift in people buying more records, actual vinyl, than CDs.''
December 3, 2007 From Gaurdian Unlimited
Suggs has left Virgin Radio less than a year after he started his early afternoon weekday show, prompting a shakeup of the station's schedule.
The Madness frontman is going on tour with his group and is not contracted to return to Virgin Radio next year. His last show went out on the station on Friday.
Suggs will be replaced in early afternoon weekday slot by Neil Francis, who currently presents Virgin Radio's drivetime show. Drivetime will be taken over by Nick Jackson, currently part of Virgin's weekend schedule.
His departure is the latest change to the schedule since Virgin Radio chief executive Paul Jackson left for GCap Media and the arrival of programme director David Lloyd, previously in charge of LBC.
Lloyd has hired former Radio 1 early breakfast presenters JK and Joel, and LBC talk host Iain Lee. They will both begin on the rock music station in the new year.
December 1, 2007 From IndyStar
The Federal Communications Commission has approved the $1.3 billion sale of 35 television stations owned by Clear Channel Communication Inc. to Newport Television LLC, a private equity group, subject to certain conditions.
Newport is an investment group controlled by Rhode Island-based Providence Equity Partners. The sale will result in a violation of FCC ownership rules in nine markets and will require the divestiture of several stations. The agency announced the decision Thursday night.
The sale was conducted within the context of a much larger plan to take Clear Channel private. The San Antonio, Texas-based company is the nation's largest operator of radio stations. Last month, shareholders approved the $19.5 billion sale of the company to a private equity group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Bain Capital Partners LLC for $39.20 per share.
December 1, 2007 From IndyStar
Imagine the sound of 4- and 5-year-olds playing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" over and over again on newly acquired violins. Fast-forward several years, add seven more kids, two loving parents, a rural Northern Indiana home, and a home-schooled environment.
You have now entered the Mossburg zone.
"We both love music, so this has been pure joy for us to be surrounded by it," said Cindy Mossburg, who along with husband, Byron, is raising a baseball team's worth of violin and viola virtuosos in Uniondale.
Their five oldest children perform across the country as the Mossburg Strings and will give a free concert at 7 p.m. Sunday at Fishers High School.
Both Byron and Cindy Mossburg are former teachers in the Carmel Clay school district. They moved to the Fort Wayne area about 10 years ago. Their oldest child, Caleb, 18, participated in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's Side-By-Side program for high school students for four years, and earned a music scholarship to Indiana University, where he's a freshman.
November 30, 2007 From Boston.com
"Mamma Mia!" - the fizzy valentine to disco-era surround-sound featuring the music of '70s popsters ABBA - has landed at the Colonial Theatre.And if you're among the minority who has yet to succumb to the well-deserved worldwide hype, you will want to catch it. (Some 30 million theatre-goers have attended over the past eight years, contributing to an international gross exceeding $2 billion.) Pretty rich pickings for a musical genre that was generally the target of ridicule even in its garish heyday.
November 28, 2007 From ShowBiz Spy
High School Musical star Ashley Tisdale revealed she is a big fan of Jessica Simpson on a US music show.
Tisdale, 22, spoke of her admiration of Simpson on MTV’s TRL. She said: “I was on tour with Jessica and it was amazing. I was a big Newlyweds fan and she was so nice. I got to hang out with her. I told her I love her, and she said congratulations to me for my High School Musical success.”
The star, who has a DVD out this week, ‘The Story of Headstrong,’ also revealed how she gets inspired to write lyrics for her music.
She said: “I get inspired by anything, anywhere. I could be out shopping and something could just pop in to my head.”
November 27, 2007. From CNN.com
Kevin DuBrow, the lead singer of the 1980s heavy metal band Quiet Riot, has died, CNN has confirmed. He was 52. DuBrow died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to TMZ.com. The Clark County coroner's office was examining the body to determine the cause of death, according to TMZ.
November 27, 2007 From KNAC
Ozzy Osbourne fans can get a quick peek at items from this week’s Julien’s Auctions event featuring highlights of more than 500 pieces from Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne’s two California homes. The items are available for viewing at The Gibson Guitar Showroom on Civic Center Drive in Beverly Hills through Thursday, November 29th from 10am – 6pm in advance of the November 30th and December 1st auction.
A portion of the proceeds from the auction will benefit The Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Additionally, Ozzy will donate all of his net profits - inclusive of ticket sales and merchandise - from his headlining Staples Center show in Los Angeles on Friday, November 30th to the charity; fifty cents from every ticket from all the shows on Ozzy’s North American fall tour will also go to the cause. The organization - which was founded by Sharon Osbourne after her own public battle with colon cancer - works to improve the lives of patients and their loved ones by providing at-home help, childcare, transportation, access to support groups and patient care services offered within Cedars-Sinai Medical Center - the hospital where she was treated.
November 26, 2007 From The Miami Herald
Though she's undeniably warm and gregarious, you can hear a bit of irritation creep into Celine Dion's voice when her years away from the pop music world is referred to as ``time off.''
''I don't think it was a break,'' she says politely but firmly. ``I worked for five years.''
Indeed, Dion's A New Day concert extravaganza on the Las Vegas strip may have been more demanding than pop life. The French-Canadian chanteuse performed several days a week in the ambitious, Franco Dragone-directed show, which was heavy on dancing, theatrics and of course Dion's booming voice. The career of Celine Dion the Entertainer was vibrant and thriving.
But for all practical purposes, the career of Celine Dion the Pop Diva was all but dormant where it once had its biggest impact -- the recording industry.
November 24, 2007 From The Futon Critic
BILLY RAY CYRUS: HOME AT LAST - SERIES PREMIERE!
Fifteen years after Achy, Breaky Heart made him an international sensation, Billy Ray Cyrus struggles to balance the obligations of fame and family in BILLY RAY CYRUS: HOME AT LAST, premiering Saturday, November 24 at 9:30-10:00 p.m., ET/PT on CMT. The four-part special follows Cyrus as he navigates Hollywood, a whirlwind tour, and the sensibilities that come with being dad to pop phenom Miley Cyrus, star of the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. As a fulltime dad, singer, songwriter and actor, Cyrus is forced to make some tough decisions along the way, which include spending long stretches of time away from his family.
November 24, 2007 From Calendar Live
It's hard enough to master any one career, but Queen Latifah has already found success in at least three. She began as a teenage rapper in the late '80s, moved into television and movies in the '90s and, most recently, remade herself into a jazz singer. Yet despite these transformations, her relationship to hip-hop -- and hip-hop's to her -- is constant and complex. Hip-hop is the part of Latifah's past that lingers with her, while the music's future awaits her return.
That dynamic ran subtly beneath Latifah's show Wednesday at UCLA's Royce Hall, where she performed songs from her new songbook album, "Trav'lin' Light." For 90 minutes, Latifah moved through showy big-band numbers, bossa nova ballads, funky soul tunes and one surprise from her rap past. The crowd, though filling Royce only half full, was loud and enthusiastic, showering Latifah with shouts of affection that made the cavernous hall feel more personable and intimate. Latifah, dressed smartly in snug black pants and blouse, cooed, "I love you right back."
November 22, 2007 From PR Web
Hard work, dedication and great music continues to elevate TelluRide in their quest to win CMT Loaded's Music City Madness 2 online video contest. It was announced on Tuesday that the band had moved on to the fourth round, where they're joined by just seven other artists and groups from around the country.
The news of their advancement in the contest hit upon returning from two shows in Indiana where they played for high school students near the hometown of band member Cain Hall. The group also helped budding musicians at the schools by teaching clinics in their music classes.
November 20, 2007. From Associated Press
The Red Hot Chili Peppers on Monday sued Showtime Networks over the name of the television series "Californication," which is also the name of the band's 1999 album and a single on it. The lawsuit alleges unfair competition, dilution of the value of the name and unjust enrichment, claiming the title is "inherently distinctive, famous ... and immediately associated in the mind of the consumer" with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The television series stars David Duchovny as a novelist suffering from writers' block and a mid-life crisis. The show features a character named "Dani California," which is also the title of a Red Hot Chili Peppers song released in 2006, the lawsuit noted. The suit seeks a permanent injunction barring Showtime and the other defendants from using the title "Californication" for the show, damages and restitution and disgorgement of all profits derived by the defendants.
November 20, 2007 From Mathaba
AT&T unveiled Monday its first cell phone SLM including Naspter Mobile that allows subscribers to search a catalog of five million songs, preview snippets of songs, and download them wirelessly, media reported Tuesday.
AT&T initially announced its plans to roll out the mobile service with Napster in October. Subscribers interested in using the service have a choice of downloading five tracks a month for 7.49 U.S. dollars with the Napster Mobile Five-Track Pack plan or purchasing songs for 2 dollars each without the plan.
November 20, 2007 From Google News
Some big-name divas, some hip rock-'n'-roll bands, and some concert audio/video treats are newly yours to have and hold on CD and DVD.
IDOL WORSHIP: This year's "American Idol" won the day with her pliant, effortless singing and musical versatility, appealing to multiple age groups. But the producers of her debut album, "Jordin Sparks" (19 Recordings/Jive/Zomba, B-), ain't taking any chances this time, as the label did last year with oddball winner Taylor Hicks. His skewing-old, mixed-bag album proved a marketing dud.
Sparks' album is targeted strictly to young girls with romance on their minds.
November 18, 2007 From Phlidelphia Inquirer
Sure, you've heard U2. Hard to avoid the Irish rockers, a musical force since the 1980s.
But how do you find - let alone decide if you like - some garage band that's cut the killer new track that no one's ever heard of?
In his gleaming white lab at Drexel University, Youngmoo Kim has an answer: raw computing power.
He's an electro-DJ of sorts, part of a new wave that seeks to help consumers sift through the countless downloadable tunes on the Internet. It's a crowded field, with plenty of Web sites already promising consumers "if you like this, then you'll like that."
But most of those sites base their picks largely on what other consumers have purchased - perhaps reinforcing mass-market tastes at the expense of undiscovered gems. Kim and other researchers have embraced a more fundamental approach: using computers to "listen" to the music itself.
The technology is in its infancy, having emerged only in the last few years. And Kim, both an engineer and a trained choral singer, doubts it will fully replace the human ear or the sophisticated instrument attached to it - the brain.
But software can run through thousands of songs at a speed no consumer - or record-company executive - can match.
November 18, 2007 From CalendarLive
JOHN TRAVOLTA remembers the moment in December 1977 when Pauline Kael's rave review of "Saturday Night Fever" came out in the New Yorker magazine.
"I was at the Plaza Hotel," says Travolta. "The New Yorker came out and I saw my manager cry. She was his favorite critic, and the idea that she got what he always felt about me was really moving to him. He was deemed right for choosing me and representing me."
And life, he says, "started again at that time for me. I had so many beginnings in my life, and that became a new beginning -- one I am still in the giant chapter of, really, if you think about it."
Though Travolta was a teen dream thanks to his role on the ABC sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter," "Saturday Night Fever" catapulted the then-23-year-old to superstardom and his first Oscar nomination for best actor.
This Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the film with a reunion screening at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Travolta, who returned to his musical roots this year in the hit "Hairspray," will participate in the panel discussion with other members of the cast, including Donna Pescow, and Newsweek critic David Ansen will moderate.
November 17, 2007 From Herald Net
The 80-gigabyte Zune media player Microsoft Corp. launched Tuesday has sold out across the Web, to the dismay of online shoppers and the delight of the world's largest software maker. Amazon.com announced that its preordered devices for Nov. 13 shipping would not be sent for 10 more days, according to a message board. While Web retailers have 4 GB and 8 GB versions of the second- generation Zunes in stock, the 80 GB music player is not available online through Amazon, Best Buy or Circuit City.
November 16, 2007 From Google News
Jamie Foxx is getting into the reality-TV business with MTV and VH1.
The Oscar-winning actor and his business partners, Jaime Rucker King and Marcus King, are already developing a project under their two-year production deal with the sibling cable channels: "From Gs to Gents," an MTV series in which guys compete to become gentlemen.
Foxx won an Oscar for playing Ray Charles in "Ray." The role also earned him an MTV Movie Award nomination, but he lost to Leonardo DiCaprio for "The Aviator." In 2001, he hosted the channel's flagship Video Music Awards ceremony.
November 16, 2007. From Associated Press
A company that handles royalties and income from commercials and other projects for James Brown's estate has significantly less money than it should, a lawyer for the late soul singer's family said. Much of the money that was supposed to be going to James Brown Enterprises Inc. instead ended up in a company established by a former trustee accused of misappropriating $7 million from the singer, attorney Louis Levenson said Thursday after a court hearing to sort through Brown's finances. The "I Feel Good Trust" established by Brown to help poor children attend school in Georgia and South Carolina has run out of money, said Levenson, the family attorney.
November 15, 2007 From Recordnet
Even in an industry known for rampant substance abuse, Ozzy Osbourne's excesses are notorious.
Behind such legendary incidents as urinating at the Alamo and biting the head off a bat, however, lies a much grimmer tale. It's the story of a performer ensnared by the very abuse he believed was fostering his art.
"I used to believe that it was the drugs and the alcohol that fueled my creativity," Osbourne said.
His very life, however, depended on getting clean and sober. The result has been a very definite trade off between the music and the man.
"I don't have a choice here," Osbourne said. "If I can't do it without drugs or alcohol, then my career is over. So I'm not sure if (the music) is good because doing it sober. It's a completely different feeling. I mean, I'm my own worst critic and my own worst enemy."
November 15, 2007 From Bloomberg
Apple Inc. won dismissal Wednesday of a shareholder lawsuit claiming that company officers including Chief Executive Steve Jobs were overpaid with illegally backdated option awards.
Apple, maker of the iPod and iPhone music-and-video players, said last year that 6,428 stockoption grants issued between 1997 and 2002 were backdated.
The New York City Employees' Retirement System, the lead plaintiff, argued the awards caused Apple to dilute its stock by issuing more than 200 million shares that weren't properly accounted for or disclosed.
But "without a discernible drop in the stock price there is no basis upon which to establish an injury to shareholders," U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose wrote in dismissing the suit.
November 14, 2007 From Wired
Like FIQL before it, Songza lets you access in insane amount of music
available on YouTube. But instead of showing you the video, Songza
strips it out and plays only the audio track. Enter just about any
band, album, or song name into the search box, and you'll most likely
see at least a few songs listed (although Songza did fail the
Quickspace test).
The site's excellent interface lets you decide whether to play, share,
rate, or add a song to a playlist. Who needs to spend time and disk
space downloading music when you can search and create playlists from
all of the audio tracks on YouTube and Google Video?
Well, there are still plenty of reasons to download, especially if you
see something rare online that you don't want to lose track of. But
with the advent tools like FIQL, MP3Tunes' Sideload, SeeqPod, Songbird,
Songza, and even AOL's latest version of Winamp, which allow users to
treat the internet like their own iPod, the music industry's
downloading "problem" could become less of an issue.
November 14, 2007 From Billboard
Hey! Nielsen have launched a
first annual Music Blog Contest and Billboard.com has leant a hand by
helping to nominate a heap of U.S. blogs that serve up reviews,
features, downloads and more. We want you to decide which one is the
best.
Head over to the contest to check out which blogs have been nominated
and to cast your vote. You must be a member to vote on Hey! Nielsen,
but membership is free and fun.
November 12, 2007 From Wired
Simplify Media (free) opens up
iTunes and/or Winamp, so that you and your friends can listen to -- but
not download -- the unprotected AAC, MP3, WMA, and Apple Lossless music
in each others' playlists.
ITunes and Winamp both offer a music streaming feature already, but
each leaves at least one thing to be desired.
Winamp Remote/Orb can stream music to your friends via a web page that
looks like Winamp. Simplify beats this by putting your music directly
into a dedicated shared playlist section of the menu bar within iTunes
and Winamp.
And while iTunes allows sharing with other iTunes users on the same
network, Simplify offers the same feature to users outside of that
network.
November 10, 2007 From Associated Press
Mourners and fans
memorialized singer Robert Goulet with tributes to his music and his
humor.
A Friday funeral service included Goulet's signature song, "If Ever I
Would Leave You," as well as farewell poems Goulet wrote before his
death Oct. 30 at age 73.
"There will be sadness and some tears, but shared memories will evoke
laughter and that will make me happy," one poem said. "They should
discern a chortle from my urn! My epitaph shall read: 'He left them
smiling.'"
The big-voiced baritone died in Los Angeles of pulmonary fibrosis while
awaiting a lung transplant.
November 9, 2007 From ABC News
It is hard to imagine a place
less likely to provide a soothing and relaxing environment than an
operating theatre where people undergo life-threatening procedures.
It is also hard to imagine what soundtrack could possibly suit such a
situation.
But with the knowledge that music can help heal the sick and injured, a
surgeon has been devoting her spare time to produce a piece that fits
the bill.
In the process, she has raised more than $500,000 for pain management
programs and her latest recording has the backing of every children's
hospital in Australia.
Melbourne cancer surgeon Dr Catherine Crock has been treating patients
for nearly three decades.
November 8, 2007 From Wired
Apparently, AT&T doesn't
spend all of its time helping the government spy on Americans. Today,
the company integrated Pandora's music streaming service into 8 of its
phones -- the Samsung SYNC, a717 and a737; the Motorola V3xx and RAZR
2; and the LG trax, CU400 and CU405 -- but not, of course, the iPhone
(Apple is unlikely to allow third-party music apps onto the device, on
purpose anyway).
After a five-day free trial, streaming Pandora to your supported
AT&T phone will cost $9 a month with an unlimited data plan
(AT&T recommends the $20/month Media Max bundle). If you already
have the data plan, adding Pandora for $9 a month is a bargain; if not,
$29/month could be too steep for some users, especially because other
forms of portable music don't come with a monthly fee.
Subscribers will be able to access all of the stations they've created
on the Web (up to 100) by entering their usernames and passwords, and
as with the online version, will be able to rate songs with a 'thumbs
up' or 'thumbs down' from the phones. The Play/Pause, Skip Track, and
Previous Track Info functions are also intact on the phone version.
November 7, 2007 From Red Herring
Music fans have once again
been loud and clear in their message to stodgy record labels—they want
their music for lower prices. Often what they actually mean is for
free.
Take British group Radiohead’s recent offering of the digital version
of In Rainbows, the band’s latest album, for whatever fans would pay.
Sixty two percent of those who downloaded the album kept their wallets
closed, according to a study by comScore.
About 17 percent offered between a penny and $4, far below the $12 and
$15 retail price of the CD. Only 4 percent of fans were generous enough
to pay $12 or more.
Digital tracks on average cost $1.29 to download in April, but
today—just 7 months later—they are averaging 89 cents, according to
Pacific Crest estimates.
That’s some serious price compression that has bruised the music
industry’s earnings. The sector generated revenue of $14.3 billion in
2000, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. This
year, it’s expected to report revenue of $10.3 billion, a 28 percent
decline.
November 5, 2007 From Wall Street Journal
For much of this year, News Corp.'s movie and television studios
refused to use in their productions almost any music controlled by
Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group -- a move that people familiar with
the situation say was retaliation for a Universal Music lawsuit against
News Corp.'s MySpace social-networking site.
The Twentieth Century Fox film and TV studios' ban on using Universal
music was recently lifted. But the move highlights the tense and
convoluted relations between media conglomerates with conflicting
agendas in the digital age. According to numerous people familiar with
the situation, the ban was implemented in February by senior News Corp.
management in reaction to a lawsuit Universal had filed against News
Corp. and MySpace. That suit, filed in November 2006 in U.S. District
Court in Los Angeles, alleged that MySpace contributed to copyright
infringement by allowing users to post unauthorized copies of
Universal's songs and music videos.
The lawsuit hasn't been decided, but the ban was nonetheless lifted
last month, according to the people familiar with the situation.
Ironically, people close to both companies agree that the greatest pain
may have been felt not by Universal, but by producers at News Corp.'s
Twentieth Century Fox studios, who were often frustrated when told by
lawyers and others in the corporate structure that their budgets
couldn't be used to pay Universal for music they wanted in their shows
and movies.
November 2, 2007 From Wall Street Journal
Music influences
the way wine tastes. This seems obvious, and is the reason professional
tastings are done in silence. If food, glassware, ambient temperature,
perfume and the people sitting next to you all influence the taste of
wine, why wouldn't music?
Clark Smith, 56, isn't content without experimentation. His premise is
that different music makes some wines taste better and others taste
worse, and the great majority of tasters will agree with the "right"
and "wrong" pairings regardless of their taste in wine or music.
Moreover, it's not possible to record a generic "music to drink wine
by" CD because a song that might make Pinot Noir taste great can make
Cabernet Sauvignon taste awful. You have to pay attention to individual
music and wine pairings.
He's only getting started, but he already has made some surprising,
counterintuitive discoveries in an area of wine taste-testing that
didn't even exist until he created it.
Smith - an MIT dropout who drifted to California to become R.H.
Phillips' founding winemaker - is never satisfied to accept the status
quo.
October 30, 2007 From Information Week
Social networking site
imeem has struck a deal with EMI Music to provide its users with free
streaming music and video.
The companies announced the deal Monday, saying that EMI's global
digital catalog -- including RadioHead, the Rolling Stones, the Beastie
Boys, and The Beach Boys -- will be available. Earlier this year, imeem
launched full music and video streaming under deals with major
independent record labels. Users can stream video, music, and photos
and create playlists and slideshows for friends.
The EMI deal expands user choices through an ad-supported service.
October 30, 2007 From CNET
Rocker Trent Reznor doesn't
pretend to know the answers to what ails the music industry.
But that hasn't stopped the iconoclastic front man for the band Nine
Inch Nails from marching to the front lines--in lock step with British
band Radiohead--in an assault on the traditional music business.
Reznor, who made news earlier this month when he left his record label,
spoke Tuesday with CNET News.com about the decision. He also bashed the
music industry, detailed how he persuaded performer Saul Williams to
give away his latest album for free, praised Radiohead for distributing
music directly to fans via the Web, and indicated that instead of
fighting the so-called free culture--people who share music online--he
plans to embrace it.
October 30, 2007 From CNN<
MySpace announced today a music merchandise deal with Zazzle, the only
on-demand retail platform to offer billions of retail quality, one-of a
kind products shipped within 24 hours. The distribution partnership
will empower the more than 6 million musicians and bands on MySpace to
sell unlimited music merchandise to the MySpace community instantly.
The announcement also underscores MySpace's commitment to offer tools
and services to the music industry that benefit artists and consumers
alike.
Starting today, musicians and bands on MySpace will be able to create
products and sell merchandise by putting the Zazzle Merch Booth widget
on their MySpace profile. With Zazzle's new "Model Realview"
technology, these artists can display their very own branded
merchandise three dimensionally, on real models in their profile. The
Zazzle Merch Booth widget will also enable placement of the artist's
merchandise in a Zazzle gallery, their own websites, fan sites, blogs
and more. MySpace users can also use Zazzle to create their own custom
items for their favorite musicians and bands.
October 29, 2007 From Google News
Porter Wagoner, the blond
pompadoured, rhinestone-encrusted personification of Nashville
tradition, host of the longest-running country-music variety show in TV
history and mentor to Dolly Parton, died Sunday night of lung cancer.
He was 80.
Wagoner died at a hospice in Nashville, Tenn., according to an
announcement on the Grand Ole Opry's Web site.
October 26, 2007 From Slashdot
"A Pennsylvania mom is
fighting back, suing Universal Music Publishing Group for having a home
movie taken down off of YouTube. The movie, featuring her 18-month old
bouncing to Prince's song, 'Let's Go Crazy,' was cited for removal by
the Group for copyright infringement. Mom Stephanie Lenz was first
afraid they'd come after her — then she got angry. She got YouTube to
put the video back up, she's enlisted the help of the Electronic
Frontier Foundation, and she's filed a civil lawsuit.
October 25, 2007 From Canadian Press
Stevie Wonder's legendary voice broke slightly when he was asked
Thursday about how his deceased mother inspired him to go on his
current tour.
Wonder is obviously still grieving for his mother, Lula Mae Hardaway,
who died May 31, 2006. She had gone into the hospital for "just a
little thing," as he said she put it.
When he saw her the Monday before her death, she told him she would be
out of the hospital that Wednesday.
"Unfortunately, she was gone by then," Wonder told a news conference
before his concert at the Bell Centre.
The music superstar, who has been honoured with 25 Grammy Awards and
has been the voice for some of the best-known pop songs over the past
four decades, wanted to pack it in for a while.
But it turned out his mom wasn't finished with him yet.
"It was like my mother came to me in her voice and spirit and said,
'Boy, you better get your butt on the stage. Go on and do what you do
and spread your love.' "
He decided to go through with a scheduled private concert in Hawaii,
and the current tour, based on his classic hits as well as new
material, grew out of that.
Wonder, who is also a producer as well as a songwriter and musician,
said he wanted to give something back to his fans on behalf of his
mother with the tour.
Hardaway always encouraged her son's music and helped him to write some
of his biggest hits, including "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours."
October 23, 2007 From CNN
Best Buy has announced that the
Best Buy Digital Music Store, and Sonos(R), Inc., the leading developer
of wireless multi-room music systems for the digital home, have
partnered to provide music lovers with the ultimate wireless jukebox
for every room of the house.
The Sonos Digital Music System and the Best Buy Digital Music Store
enable music lovers to connect directly to millions of songs and
thousands of radio stations without ever installing an application or
turning on a computer. By eliminating the time-consuming hassles of
downloading or ripping a personal music library, Best Buy Digital Music
Store customers can enjoy all the music they want, all over the house,
by simply having a broadband connection.
Best Buy customers can now experience this innovation at the more than
600 Best Buy locations that feature a live multi-zone display of the
Sonos Digital Music System. A music lover can walk into a Best Buy and
with the Sonos Controller, pick a room, search the millions of songs in
the song Best Buy Digital Music Store library for their favorite song,
and play it. The interactive in-store experience represents Best Buy's
commitment to offering a superior music experience for its customers.
October 22, 2007 From USA Today
Along with its library of 2
million songs, Amazon.com is bringing something else to the online
music marketplace: competition.
When it opened Sept. 25, Amazon's MP3 digital download store undercut
iTunes' prices on many albums. Its tracks, most of which sell for 89 to
99 cents, have higher sound quality than standard iTunes tracks and
come without copy restrictions — known as digital rights management —
that make it difficult to move tracks to a variety of portable devices,
including iPods and Windows Media players.
Apple responded last week by reducing iTunes Plus tracks from $1.29 to
99 cents. Those tracks, like Amazon's, are DRM-free and higher quality
than standard iTunes files (in tech terms, 256 kilobits per second vs.
128 kbps).
October 19, 2007 From New York Times
Walking briskly past
Lincoln Center with a violin case in hand and a suitcase in tow, David
Juritz looked like a busy orchestral musician arriving in the city for
professional engagements. But Mr. Juritz, concertmaster of the London
Mozart Players and guest leader of the London Philharmonic and Royal
Philharmonic Orchestras, won’t be wearing concert tails on this visit.
Since leaving London on June 9, Mr. Juritz, 50, has performed not in
gilded concert halls but on gritty streets in cities throughout Europe,
Asia, Australia, Africa, South America and the United States. He is
touring as a busker to raise money for Musequality, the charity he
founded to bring music education to poor children. New York is his
final stop.
“The rule was that I had to earn every penny that I would use,” said
Mr. Juritz, who left London with an empty wallet. His proceeds have
financed transportation and dingy hostels, though he has also enjoyed
offers of impromptu hospitality throughout his trip.
After expenses, he has raised about $50,000 for Musequality, about
$13,000 of it from busking. The rest was generated by often hastily
arranged private concerts and other donations. He hopes to raise
another $500,000 over the next 18 months through more conventional
methods, like corporate sponsorships.
While there are foundations that support existing music programs, Mr.
Juritz said no other charities were dedicated to starting music
education projects in poor areas. “The difficult thing is getting these
programs off the ground,” he said. “After that they become relatively
inexpensive to maintain.”
October 18, 2007 From BBC News
Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has been made a visiting professor
of music at the University of Salford.
Marr, who lent his guitar style to hits such as Panic and Heaven Knows
I'm Miserable Now, will deliver a series of workshops to
undergraduates.
"Salford University is offering some fantastic opportunities to
students in music," said the 43-year-old.
The Smiths split up in 1987. Marr went on to form the group Electronic
and now plays with US indie band Modest Mouse.
The Manchester-born musician will deliver a series of workshops and
masterclasses to students on the BA Popular Music and Recording degree.
October 18, 2007 From The Street.com
Here's 10 ways to build your collection on the cheap:
1. Music downloads: When talking about cheap music, nothing
beats free. The truth is that there are hundreds of thousands of songs
that can be legally downloaded in all music genres. These songs may not
be the latest hits from the top artists, but there should be plenty of
variety to suit any musical taste. You can find a large list of free
places to download music at Digital Alchemy.
2. Wikipedia: This probably isn't your first thought when
it comes to free music, but if your tastes flow toward classical, the
user-generated encyclopedia has a huge list of free classical
downloads. Another place to find plenty of free digital classical music
is ClassicCat.
3. Contests: Contests and promotions that give away free music downloads at Apple's iTunes store have been popular over the last few years.
4. The library: If you haven't visited your local library
recently, you may be surprised at all it has to offer. Many libraries
now feature much more than books and also have extensive music
collections. While most of these won't be the latest hits, there should
be a nice range of top hits from the past. If your library does have a
music section, you'll have the opportunity to borrow a lot of music for
free.
5. Estate sales: This is an often overlooked place to add a
significant amount of music to your collection. While estate sales
featured vinyl album collection in the past, they have been giving way
to collections filled with CDs. In many cases the estate will want to
get rid of the entire collection in a single transaction, instead of
selling hundreds of CDs individually. An offer on the entire music
collection can get you some great music for pennies on the dollar.
6. Charitable stores: Many times when people no longer want
their music and are too lazy to sell it themselves, they will donate it
to their local Goodwill or Salvation Army. The result is that these
stores sometimes have a decent selection of CDs for sale.
7. Flea markets: If you have a local flea market in your
area, this can be a great place to pick up music at a steep discount.
Many people at flea markets will be selling music. The one thing that
you may need to be careful about is to make sure that the music is
genuine and not an illegal copy.
8. Garage and moving sales: While it's probably not worth
your time to go on garage sale excursions for the sole purpose of
finding music, if you happen to drive by one during your normal
routine, it is definitely worth stopping for a minute to see what music
they may have for sale. Since most music being sold at garage sales is
music the people no longer want or need, it can mean getting music for
dirt cheap.
9. Online auctions: Another place where you can find music
offered for well under retail price is on online auctions such as eBay.
Here you should be able to find anything that you might possibly want.
Deals can be especially good if you find someone selling an entire
collection in a music genre that you enjoy, or listing bulk CD
auctions. Just be careful to note the shipping costs before bidding, as
some sellers try to make their profit there.
10. Used CDs: No matter what, you should never pay
full-price for your music, especially if the song or album is more than
a month old. You can get music for a fraction of its retail price by
purchasing it used at sites like SecondSpin, Spun or half.com.
October 17, 2007 From Google News
Isabelle Peretz titled her article in the 3rd August 2007 issue thus:
‘Monkeys have tin ears.’ She was summarising recent research by the
MIT-Harvard duo Josh McDermott and Mark Hausen.
They have concluded that new world monkeys such as the marmoset and the
cotton-top tamarins dislike music, but if they are forced to hear
music, they prefer slow tempos rather than fast ones. Further, when
presented with a choice between slow tempo music (say lullabies) and
silence, they prefer silence. In contrast humans, when similarly
tested, prefer music over silence. This is an interesting, if somewhat
startling, result because the physiological mechanisms for sound and
tempo perception in monkeys, apes and us humans are quite similar.
Thus, these researches have concluded that “The motivational ties to
music are uniquely human.”
October 16, 2007 From Business Week
Relationships in the entertainment world can be famously fraught. And
few are more so these days than the one between Steve Jobs and
Universal Music chief Doug Morris. You may recall that Morris recently
refused to re-up a multi-year contract to put his company's music on
Apple's iTunes Music Store. That's because Jobs wouldn't ease his
stringent terms, which limit how record companies can market their
music.
Now, Morris is going on the offensive. The world's most powerful music
executive aims to join forces with other record companies to launch an
industry-owned subscription service. BusinessWeek has learned that
Morris has already enlisted Sony BMG Music Entertainment as a potential
partner and is talking to Warner Music Group. Together the three would
control about 75% of the music sold in the U.S. Besides competing
head-on with Apple Inc.'s (AAPL ) music store, Morris and his allies
hope to move digital music beyond the iPod-iTunes universe by nurturing
the likes of Microsoft's Zune media player and Sony's PlayStation and
by working with the wireless carriers. The service, which is one of
several initiatives the music majors are considering to help reverse
sliding sales, will be called Total Music. (Morris was unavailable for
comment.)
October 15, 2007 From PC MAG
Just as music formats evolved
from 45s to LPs to CDs to MP3s, music on the Internet has evolved as
well. The first great popular success of Internet music was
characterized by the original Napster peer-to-peer service. Much of the
music available on Napster was illegal, and the record companies soon
sued Napster out of existence, though its legacy survives in services
like BitTorrent. The second big phase was characterized by iTunes and
the iPod, as Apple created a service focused on buying individual songs
in a proprietary format designed for Apple's iPod players. The latest
iPods look great, and the iPod/iTunes combination continues to be a
quite elegant solution, but it looks to be like the time is finally
right for another revolution in Internet Music.
It seems to be there are two basic directions in which this could go:
DRM-free downloads that can work on any player, without the
restrictions that today's sites offer; or the "Jukebox in the Sky," a
subscription service that gives you all the music you want, wherever
you are. Recent events have pushed both concepts, but I'm convinced
that the winner will not only change how we consumer music, but will
impact the music itself.
October 10, 2007 From CNET
These are fearful times for the music industry. As record companies
train their considerable legal might on a Minnesota mother accused of
illegal downloading, their talent is walking out the back door.
No sooner had Nine Inch Nails announced on Monday that it no longer was
under contract to a record label, when word came that Oasis and
Jamiroquai are considering whether to release songs online for free,
according to British publication, The Telegraph.
Should they decide to go the free route, Oasis and Jamiroquai--two
unsigned but very popular bands--would follow Radiohead, the British
group that last week announced it would issue a digital version of its
next album, In Rainbows, for whatever price individual customers are
inclined to pay.
In addition, Radiohead, one of the world's most popular bands, said it
would no longer be represented by a music label. Even the hardiest
music executive is going to struggle to spin this news. There's no
hiding what's occurring here. The music industry is on the threshold of
disintermediation, a fancy word that means the Internet is threatening
to blast a thick layer of the sector's infrastructure into blue
oblivion--just like it has with travel agents, stockbrokers and
newspapers.
Bands don't need huge music conglomerates to give away songs. Legions
of A&R teams are no longer needed to ferret out talent. Music fans
can go online and decide for themselves what gets heard.
October 9, 2007 From SFGate
TiVo is serving up some Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears with your
regular dose of "Grey's Anatomy."
TiVo, the Alviso creator of the digital video recorder, is announcing
today that it is teaming up with RealNetworks to offer songs from the
Rhapsody online music service through its DVRs.
TiVo and Rhapsody subscribers will be able to access their Rhapsody
playlist through their TiVo, piping the music through their television
and home entertainment system.
October 8, 2007 from AP
Paul McCartney and Kylie Minogue were among the honorees Monday at the
Q music awards. McCartney paid tribute to his late wife, Linda, as he
was awarded the title of "Q Icon" at the annual ceremony. He thanked
his children and his former bandmates in The Beatles, but didn't
mention his second wife, Heather Mills. The pair are divorcing.
"I thank Linda for seeing me through some real tough periods,"
McCartney said. McCartney, 65, said he still loves the music
business."I've been doing this since I was just a little bairn and it's
still the same for me now — still the same magic, still the same
emotion, still the same thrill," he said.
Minogue received a "Q Idol" award."Just don't ask me what it means, but
I'm very grateful and honored to be receiving this," the 39-year-old
Australian pop diva told the audience at London's Grosvenor House
Hotel.
October 7, 2007 from Post Chronical
Veteran rocker John
Fogerty has a unique method of deciding if he's happy with his new
music - he listens to it while driving around in his car.
The former Credence Clearwater Revival frontman, whose new album
Revival is out this month, likes to literally road-test his new
material.
He says, "The car is the coolest way to hear music anyway. I was a lot
clearer in my decisions in the car."
October 7, 2007 From Edmonton Journal
A Calgary marketer hopes to add a little rock 'n' roll to the staid
world of board games this winter, with BANDthology, a new concept
targeting music fans of all ages.
"Think Cranium for music lovers," says Sharon Wilson, referring to the
popular board game that has grown into one of the industry's biggest
successes of the decade. Wilson hopes her game, resembling a musician's
road case, will follow the success of Cranium, and maybe even entice
people back to traditional board games.
"It crosses over different age groups, different musical tastes and
genres to make it a game that really anyone could enjoy," she explains.
nvented by Wilson and three partners in Calgary, the barrier-breaking
game leaves players singing, humming and avidly discussing their music
interests. Teens can vie with older players, pitting their encyclopedic
Sum 41 and Plain White Ts knowledge against determined Springsteen or
Beatles buffs.
At BANDthology Live events at pub or corporate functions, competitors
can "band" together, with diverse expertise creating the strongest
teams.
Players compete using a combination of music trivia, multiple choice
options, true or false questions, word unscrambling, Jeopardy!-style
cards and charades-style auditions.
Each game is different depending on the musical taste of its players.
Whether you are into pop, rock, metal, blues, jazz, hip-hop, rap or
country, you can pit your specialization against anyone.
October 6, 2007 From AJC
Online music piracy is rampant, as
new file-sharing technology such as BitTorrent has replaced the Napster
and Kazaa music-sharing services, forced by legal pressure to shut down
and reinvent themselves. Bands such as Radiohead are selling their
songs online for whatever people are willing to pay.
And the same industry that has sued 30,000 customers for illegal
downloading is now experimenting with radical new ideas: selling some
songs on iTunes and Amazon.com without copy protection or offering free
music through SpiralFrog.com to people willing to watch ads.
Thursday's judgment in U.S. District Court against Thomas "is
essentially a non-event," said Gene Munster, a digital music industry
analyst for Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis. "The war against illegal
downloading has long been lost because 85 percent of all downloaded
digital music is still illegal copies."
Besides, Munster added, a person's chances of getting caught pirating
are less than their chances of being struck by lightning.
Legally downloaded music has grown rapidly to become 5 percent of the
music industry's $30 billion in worldwide revenue, while sales of music
CDs continue to drop sharply, Munster said.
October 4, 2007 from AP
The recording industry won a key
fight Thursday against illegal music downloading when a federal jury
found a Minnesota woman shared copyrighted music online and levied
$220,000 in damages against her.
Record companies have filed some 26,000 lawsuits since 2003 over
file-sharing, which has hurt sales because it allows people to get
music for free instead of paying for recordings in stores.
This was the first such case to go to trial. Many other defendants have
settled by paying the companies a few thousand dollars.
The jury ordered Jammie Thomas, 30, to pay the six record companies
that sued her $9,250 for each of 24 songs they focused on in the case.
They had alleged she shared 1,702 songs in all.
The companies accused Thomas, 30, of Brainerd, of offering the songs
online through a Kazaa file-sharing account. She denied wrongdoing and
testified that she didn't have a Kazaa account.
October 3, 2007 From Forbes
The European Commission said it
has cleared for the second time the proposed merger between Japanese
consumer electronics group Sony Corp and German-based international
media company Bertelsmann AG's BMG recorded music units without
conditions.
The news confirms an article, using sources, published by Thomson
Financial News on Sept 24.
The commission said the transaction would 'not create or strengthen a
dominant or collectively dominant position in the music markets' in the
European Economic Area (restricted to the 15 countries who were EU
members before May 1 2004).
EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said: 'This investigation
represents one of the most thorough analyses of complex information
ever undertaken by the commission in a merger procedure. It clearly
shows that the merger would not raise competition concerns in any of
the affected markets.'
October 2, 2007 From Tech Tree
BenQ has just launched its
stylish BenQ-Siemens EF51 mobile phone, which the company claims, is
crafted specially for 'musicaholics'.
A Gen-Next hybrid music phone, the EF51 is styled like a trendy MP3
player, with dedicated MP3 controller keys located on the phone's shiny
EZmusic to make it easy for users to operate their music. The EF51
supports almost all mainstream audio formats, including WMA, MP3, AAC,
and AAC+. It allows users transfer Windows Media Player songs from
their PCs to their phones, and download music from nearly all online
music stores.
The 20 pre-set FM channel function lets users store all their favorite
FM stations. The phone allows users 'record' songs playing on the
radio.
The EF51 features 20 MB built-in memory, with a MiniSD card slot for
expandability. With the unique 'Speech-to-Music' feature, users need to
just call out the song title, and the phone plays the requested song
automatically.
Besides, the phone features 6-Band EQ modes and speakers for 3D
surround stereo sound, and comes with high quality stereo earphones.
October 1, 2077 From LA Times
Between ogling Brad Pitt's sculpted build, guzzling down a watermelon
Slurpee and enduring the artic-like chill of one's local movie theater,
an outing to the movies doesn't typically lend itself to the
appreciation of a film's carefully crafted score. It's no wonder the
recognition of movie music has often been relegated to lowly cult
status.
"The film score is an interesting artform," observes composer Mark
Isham, whose credits include "A River Runs Though It," "The Majestic,"
"October Sky" and "Crash." "Almost by definition, it is accompaniment
-- part of something larger. Sometimes you're scoring for a film that's
really busy and has a lot of dialogue or action going on. One of the
challenges is to make that music strong enough to stand on its own."
That's precisely what it does at XM Satellite Radio, courtesy of
Cinemagic, a channel devoted exclusively to playing movie music.
And not just well-known themes such as "Star Wars," "Gone With the
Wind" or "How the West Was Won." Cinemagic plays long excerpts from the
full underscore -- 8, 10, 12 minutes at a time -- from films as diverse
as "Silverado," "The Princess Bride," "The Shawshank Redemption," "King
Kong," "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" and "Black Hawk Down." Each is
generally introduced and occasionally interrupted by snippets of
dialogue from the movie to help set the scene in the listener's mind.
There are also programs devoted to specific genres of films and a
weekly show called "Reel Time" featuring inter- views with composers
and directors.
September 28, 2007 From Sicience Daily
Researchers have long
debated whether or not language and music depend on common processes in
the mind. Now, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have
found evidence that the processing of music and language do indeed
depend on some of the same brain systems.
Their findings, which are currently available on-line and will be
published later this year in the journal NeuroImage, are the first to
suggest that two different aspects of both music and language depend on
the same two memory systems in the brain.
One brain system, based in the temporal lobes, helps humans memorize
information in both language and music— for example, words and meanings
in language and familiar melodies in music. The other system, based in
the frontal lobes, helps us unconsciously learn and use the rules that
underlie both language and music, such as the rules of syntax in
sentences, and the rules of harmony in music.
“Up until now, researchers had found that the processing of rules
relies on an overlapping set of frontal lobe structures in music and
language. However, in addition to rules, both language and music
crucially require the memorization of arbitrary information such as
words and melodies,” says the study’s principal investigator, Michael
Ullman, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience, psychology, neurology and
linguistics.
“This study not only confirms that one set of brain structures
underlies rules in both language and music, but also suggests, for the
first time, that a different brain system underlies memorized
information in both domains,” Ullman says.
September 27, 2007 From Google News
Some of the biggest names
in music pay homage to Fats Domino on a new album, hoping it will help
drive the recovery of the city's music soul.
Elton John, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Paul McCartney, Lenny Kravitz and
other big-name artists joined dozens of New Orleans musicians in recent
months to record some of Domino's most memorable hits. The result is a
two-disc album of 30 songs originally recorded by the 79-year-old rock
and roll Hall of Fame performer titled "Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats
Domino."
Released this week, the album includes a 1975 recording of "Ain't That
A Shame" by the late John Lennon, "I'm Walkin"' by Tom Petty & The
Heartbreakers, "Blueberry Hill" by John and "I Want to Walk You Home"
by McCartney and New Orleans jazz pianist Allen Toussaint.
"When I saw the lineup for this album, I was honoured to be asked to be
a part of it," said Renard Poche, a New Orleans guitarist who in March
- with Domino looking on - recorded "I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday" with
jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and fellow New Orleans musicians George
Porter Jr. and Zigaboo Modeliste.
"You could tell he was happy to be there, watching us record his
music," Poche said. "He had that glow, that permanent smile on his face
the whole time. I think he's very appreciative that all these big names
are coming together to help out."
September 26, 2007 From AP
Amazon.com Inc. launched its
much-anticipated digital music store Tuesday, a move analysts say
represents the first hint of real competition for Apple Inc.'s
market-leading iTunes.
Amazon MP3, as the new section of the Web retailer's site is called,
currently stocks nearly 2.3 million songs, all without copy-protection
technology. Shoppers can buy and download individual songs or entire
albums. The tracks can be copied to multiple computers, burned onto CDs
and played on most types of PCs and portable devices, including the
iPod and Microsoft Corp.'s Zune.
Songs cost 89 cents to 99 cents each and albums sell for $5.99 to
$9.99.
Major music labels Universal Music Group and EMI Music have signed on
to sell their tracks on Amazon, as have thousands of independent
labels. The company said several labels are selling their artists'
music without copy protection for the first time on the Amazon store,
including Alison Krauss on Rounder Records and Ani Difranco on
Righteous Babe Records.
September 22, 2007 From The Agebr>
Lyle Lovett has recorded gold records, acted in films and travelled the
world playing music. But the lanky Texan says his greatest joy is
rescuing the family homestead from developers.
"Most of the place was sold by the family in 1980 before the bottom
dropped out of the oil market," says 49-year-old Lovett, who shares the
81-hectare property with his mother, his uncle and several head of
cattle in Klein, Texas, about 45 kilometres north of Houston.
"I was able to buy it back from the investment group that bought it.
I've put most of it back together, and for me that's been my greatest
accomplishment," he said.
In many ways, Lovett's music is an extension of his home and his
family. On the new album, It's Not Big It's Large, he sings in South
Texas Girl of cruising the back roads with his parents in a '58
Fairlane: "But now looking back, it seems like it was everything,
singing with mum, just so we could hear ourselves sing."
Like most of his work, the album - which debuted at No.2 on the
Billboard country chart, the best showing of his career - is an
amalgamation of country, folk, rock, gospel, jazz and blues. The title,
It's Not Big It's Large, is a nod to his 17-piece Large Band and their
flirtations with big band jazz.
September 20, 2007 From USA Todaybr>
Thursday's VH1 Save the Music Foundation gala to celebrate 10 years of
promoting music education was hardly ordinary.
Honorees "instrumental to saving the music" included former president
Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, musicians Mariah Carey
and John Sykes, and NAMM: The International Music Products Association.
Only the Bill half of the Clintons was there to accept their award. "I
don't think I'd have been president if I didn't have the gift of school
music when I was a boy," he said. "We cannot let music disappear from
our schools. You don't know if there's a Quincy Jones in school today
if there is no piano, no saxophone — if music is not there."
Jones himself was among the music heavyweights who turned out at
Lincoln Center. Also: James Blunt, Russell Simmons and LA Reid.
September 18, 2007 from Reutersbr>
Warner Music Group Corp will sell a new album by the artist James Blunt
through News Corp's Internet social network MySpace, the Financial
Times reported in its online edition.
U.S. consumers will be able to listen for free beginning on Tuesday to
Blunt's entire album from his MySpace webpage, the report said. They
can purchase a download for $9.99 that will play on Apple Inc's iPod,
and will also receive a compact disc version in the mail, the report
said.
The report said the experiment reflects the music industry's effort to
find new ways to sell music at a time when it is being hit by piracy
and continuing declines in CD sales.
September 17, 2007 From Google Newsbr>
SpiralFrog.com, an ad-supported website that allows visitors to
download music and videos free of charge, was scheduled to launch
Monday in the U.S. and Canada after months of "beta" testing.
The music service, which has arranged to pay record companies a cut of
its advertising revenue, aims to lure music fans who normally flock to
online file-swapping networks to share and download music for free. The
recording industry has sued thousands of computer users for doing so in
recent years.
"We believe it will be a very powerful alternative to the pirate
sites," said Joe Mohen, chairman and founder of New York-based
SpiralFrog Inc. "With SpiralFrog you know what you're getting ...
there's no threat of viruses, adware or spyware."
To deter users from posting copies of songs and videos they get from
SpiralFrog, the service requires that users register and log on to the
site at least once a month. Otherwise, the content locks up and can't
be played.
September 15, 2077. From CNN
br>
Rock fans have rushed to register to see Led Zeppelin's comeback gig
after the legendary group announced plans for their first live
performance in more than two decades. Around 20 million people have
already applied online to buy tickets for the November 26 concert at
London's O2 Arena with the Web site crashing as it struggled to cope
with 80,000 visitors a minute, promoters said. Registration closes on
Monday, following which the £125 ($250) tickets will be allocated by
lottery. The eagerly-awaited reunion will bring together the British
band's three surviving members -- singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy
Page and bass player John Paul Jones -- as part of a tribute concert
honoring Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died last year.
Jason Bonham, the son of the band's original drummer John Bonham, will
also join the band on stage. Bonham died in 1980 after a drinking binge
and the group split shortly afterwards, bringing to an end a
decade-long reign as one of the biggest -- and most notorious -- bands
in the world. Money raised from ticket sales will go to the Ahmet
Ertegun Education Fund, which provides students with annual
scholarships to universities in the U.S., UK and Ertegun's native
Turkey.
September 14,2007 from Google News
SONY (Nachrichten) BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT and Starwood
Hotels&Resorts (Nachrichten) Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) today
announced that they are working together to develop a multi-faceted
partnership that will build unique guest experiences through an array
of branded music and entertainment programming, special products and
exclusive guest opportunities across the Starwood Hotel portfolio
including its Sheraton, W, Westin, Four Points, Le Meridien, St. Regis
and The Luxury Collection brands. The program will encompass online
interactive venues to explore and acquire music, in-room TV offerings,
music programming for public spaces, custom music entertainment
products, special events, and exclusive VIP access opportunities for
one-of-a-kind artist memorabilia, performances and the chance to meet
SONY BMG artists.
September 14, 2007 from Bloomberg
Apple Inc., after cutting the price of the iPhone by $200, started
offering $100 in credit to early buyers and said they can use it to
purchase iTunes gift cards. Apple's Web site says the credit isn't good
for iTunes gift cards but the page is incorrect and is being revised,
spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said. Users can't add the credit directly to
their iTunes accounts.
Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs cut the price of the iPhone last
week by $200 to $399, angering buyers of the combination iPod media
player and phone. Jobs announced the rebate a day later, apologizing to
customers after receiving hundreds of complaints. Apple has sold more
than a million iPhones since the handset's release on June 29.
September 14, 2007 from AP
A fire dispatcher said propane tanks ignited as thousands of music fans
packed Zilker Park, where the famed weekend festival was just getting
underway. Firefighters quickly put out the blaze.
Two workers near food service trailers were critically injured and were
transported to a hospital. One of them suffered from throat burns,
while the other person suffered from third-degree external burns, said
Warren Hassinger, spokesman for the Austin-Travis County Emergency
Medical Services. No other injuries were reported, Hassinger said.
September 14, 2007 DM Europe
Ad-funded mobile social networking service itsmy.com is letting users
choose tracks from more than 2,000 sound clips produced by
international DJs to use as background music on their personal mobile
home page.
This service will let users listen to the tracks while they browse
picture galleries and profiles on their home pages. The background
songs are supported by a range of mobile phones due to their small
KB-size. This service is free of charge for users.
In Q1 2008, itsmy.com will introduce real music formats and MP3s for 3G
flatrate users as well as 'my personal music storage,' a service that
lets users store their music online.
September 13, 2007 from Yahoo News
U.S. pop star Prince plans to sue YouTube and other major Web sites for
unauthorized use of his music in a bid to "reclaim his art on the
Internet."
The man behind hit songs "Purple Rain," "1999" and "When Doves Cry"
said on Thursday that YouTube could not argue it had no control over
which videos users posted on its site.
"YouTube ... are clearly able (to) filter porn and pedophile material
but appear to choose not to filter out the unauthorized music and film
content which is core to their business success," a statement released
on his behalf said.
YouTube responded by saying it was working with artists to help them
manage their music on the site.
September 13, 2007. From Wired
Many iPhone users are learning
to their surprise that they can make ringtones from only a relatively
small number of songs. Apple began selling ringtones via its iTunes
Music Store this week, saying it offers more than 500,000 tracks for
do-it-yourself ringtone creation. But that represents only about 8
percent of the store's more than 6 million songs. So why aren't more
songs available to be made into ringtones? In a word: copyright. While
Apple will likely increase the number of songs available for ringtone
creation, the relatively small number now available reflects an often
slow and grueling process of rights management and licensing. For
consumers, however, it's just another roadblock between them and their
favorite ringtones. And that, for better or for worse, may only drive
more users to applications that let them create their own customized
ringtones -- which generates no revenue at all for Apple or for
musicians and publishers.
September 12, 2007 From Seattle PI
Microsoft Corp. said it was sued by a Chinese user in Beijing who
claimed invasion of privacy by an anti-piracy program in the company's
Windows XP operating software.
The "Windows Genuine Advantage" program helps determine if the
installed Microsoft software is authentic. Lu Feng, a student at Peking
University, is suing Microsoft on claims the program gathered
information about him and his computer, violating his privacy, the
state-owned Xinhua news agency reported Thursday.
A spokesman in Microsoft's China unit said the company couldn't
comment.
September 9, 2007 from USA Today
The music industry wants
Internet service providers and colleges to turn over the identities of
customers or students who download or make available huge amounts of
copyright hits from artists. On Monday, RIAA filed the first round of
about 250 lawsuits against computer users who share a "substantial"
amount of pirated music online — on average about 1,000 songs. However,
industry officials said they would not sue people who voluntarily
identify themselves and promise not to share more free music on the
Web. Computer users hit with lawsuits could face fines of $150,000 and
up to 10 years in jail for each downloaded song. However, the recording
industry this year accepted settlements of less than $20,000 each from
college students accused of trading copyright songs on the Web.
Lawmakers also have introduced bills that would give the music industry
more ammunition to go after illegal music sharing. The entertainment
industry has close ties to Congress, giving lawmakers $47 million in
campaign money in 2002. This made the industry the fifth largest
political contributor last year, the Center for Responsive Politics
said.
September 09, 2007 From Sony
As the recording industry wakes up from its summer slumber and starts
thinking about what will motivate the consumer for the holiday selling
season, the major labels are getting ready to launch the "ringle,"
which combines the mostly defunct single format with ringtones.
Each ringle is expected to contain three songs -- one hit and maybe one
remix and an older track -- and one ringtone, on a CD with a
slip-sleeve cover. The idea is that if consumers in the digital age can
download any tracks they want individually, why not let them buy
singles in the store as well? It also enables stores to get involved in
the ringtone phenomenon. Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which came up
with the ringle idea, and Universal Music Group are going to be the
first out of the box with ringles. The former will unleash 50 titles
during October and November, while UMG will have anywhere from 10 to 20
titles ready.
September 06,2007 From Reuters
Almost 21 years after he released his first album, Lyle Lovett has
scored personal bests on both the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums
charts. "It's Not Big It's Large" entered the Billboard 200 at No. 18
with sales of 25,000 copies in the week ended September 2, according to
Nielsen SoundScan data.
September 5,2007 from MTV news
In a year when holding on for
two weeks is rare, the kids of "High School Musical 2" will pull off a
rare threepeat (the first of the year) next week. The soundtrack to
"HSM 2" tops the Billboard albums chart again with sales of almost
210,000, according to SoundScan. Though Zac Efron and the crew will
likely take a tumble the next go-'round — when Kanye West, 50 Cent and
Kenny Chesney duke it out for the top spot — they can still take pride
in zooming to 1.1 million sold since the soundtrack debuted August 14.
The hoofin' high-schoolers held on despite a 43 percent drop in sales
from the previous week, which was still enough to easily outpace the
surprise #2 debut from Christian "Altar & the Door" album, easily
besting the #9 debut of their 2005 sophomore effort, "Lifesong". The
news wasn't as good for rapper Yung Joc. His sophomore disc,
Hustlenomics, lands at #3 on anemic sales of 69,000, selling about half
as many copies out of the box as his 2006 debut, New Joc City.
September 4, 2007. From wired
Legendary producer and record label executive Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys,
Slayer, Johnny Cash, Run DMC, Jay-Z) told The New York Times that the
future is not iTunes serving á la carte songs to your iPod, but music
labels offering every song on the planet, anywhere, via subscription.
Rubin said, "You'd pay, say, $19.95 a month, and the music will come
anywhere you'd like. In this new world, there will be a virtual library
that will be accessible from your car, from your cellphone, from your
computer, from your television. Anywhere."
August 31, 2007
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) has tentatively set
a mid-September target for the launch of its music service. The store
will offer songs in the MP3 format and give consumers an alternative to
Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iTunes. Amazon had said in the spring that it
would launch a digital music store by the end of the year. Amazon
officials were not immediately available for comment.
August 29,2007 From Yahoo News
Nokia on Wednesday not only
upped the ante against its cell phone rivals, but also took dead aim at
some online services, including Apple's iTunes music store. The
Finland-based company announced that it would launch a Web site to dish
up music, games, maps and photo services, as the No. 1 cell phone maker
seeks to expand its revenue sources. Nokia also unveiled four phones
optimized for the services to be available on its new Web site, called
Ovi, the Finnish word for "door." It plans to open the site in the
fourth quarter.
August 27,2007 from AZ Central
Does yoga give you the itch to
waltz across Texas with your favorite friends in low places?
If so, you may want to check out a seemingly improbable shindig Friday
hosted by At One Yoga Scottsdale. David Romanelli, the maharishi of
improbable yoga stunts, is presenting "Yoga + Country Music," an
evening of flow yoga and live country music by L.A. musician Cynthia
Ford.
A co-founder of At One Yoga, Romanelli previously toured America with
his "Yoga + Chocolate" and "Yoga + Wine" extravaganzas that debuted in
Scottsdale under Romanelli's "Yeah Dave Yoga" banner.
With "Yoga + Country Music," he's probing his eclectic musical tastes.
Romanelli, who lives in Santa Monica and is Yahoo.com's online
mind/body expert, typically soundtracks his yoga classes with tunes
ranging from Diddy to the Grateful Dead and Frank Sinatra.
August 27, 2007 from PC World
The cofounder of a Web site
that offers free streamed music from top artists said he's determined
to operate his service legally despite menacing overtures from
Universal Music Group. The Web site, Deezer.com, based in France, has
been signing up users at a fast pace thanks to its user-friendly
interface and streamed music from thousands of artists including Maroon
5, Rihanna, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The site offers about
200,000 songs and has signed up 300,000 registered users in the past
few months, cofounder Jonathan Benassaya said on Monday. Most of the
users are in France, he said, although the site is available in 16
languages.
August 21, 2007. From Wired
Executives from Rhapsody, MTV,
and Verizon announced the formation of a joint venture between
RealNetworks and Viacom called "Rhapsody America." The company will be
51-percent-owned by RealNetworks and 49-percent-owned by Viacom, with
their partner Verizon having the exclusive right to provide Rhapsody
America subscription content on cellphones as a part of VCast service.
Aside from on-demand music, the service provide ringtones, ringback
tones, album art, screensavers, music videos. Verizon VCast's SongID
identification service will be involved, most likely to enable
subscribers to download songs after identifying them acoustically with
their cellphones.
August 21,2007 from The West
Rock star Pete Doherty will appear in a UK court today charged with
breaching his bail conditions. The 28-year-old singer was held in
custody at an east London police station overnight ahead of his
appearance in West London Magistrates Court. The charge follows his
arrest for suspected drug possession in the Tower Hamlets area, hours
after performing at the V music festival. Doherty took the stage at the
festival in Staffordshire on Sunday night with his band Babyshambles.
One reviewer said Doherty finished the set by demolishing the drum kit
after starting four hours late, at 10pm, because of traffic.
August 21, 2007.
Ever wonder why those twits Opie and Anthony
get to be radio stars? Blame Arbitron. Since the 1960s, the
survey-research company has paid listeners to keep a handwritten log of
every station they tune in to. Arbitron crunches the numbers, releases
the ratings, and — presto! — doofus shock jocks stay on the air. Now,
with the introduction of its Portable People Meter, the company is on
the verge of a radical leap into the present. The BlackBerry-sized
gadget clips to listeners' clothing, eliminating the log. Participating
broadcasts are encoded with an inaudible ID code, which is picked up by
a sensor in the device — whether you're bopping to Kylie Minogue in
your car or swaying to Air Supply in the produce aisle. Eventually
Arbitron will have 70,000 deployed, all but banishing survey bias from
the ratings.
August 20, 2007 from Herald Tribune
Acknowledging that its own proprietary audio format failed to match the
use of MP3s or Windows audio, Sony Corp. on Thursday said it would
close its Connect digital music store and make its new breed of digital
media players open to more formats. The Japanese pioneer of personal
music players unveiled a pair of new digital Walkmans that will can
play a variety of formats, including Windows Media Audio, along with
MP3 and advanced audio coding, or AAC. And like some models put out by
rivals, particularly Apple Inc.'s line of iPods, the new NWZ-A810 and
NWZ-S610 models can also play video and display photographs. They also
include an FM tuner. The Walkman video players store up to 1,850 songs
on the eight gigabyte models, 925 songs on the four gigabyte models,
and 440 songs on the two gigabyte models, for songs an average of four
minutes in length at 128kbps in the MP3 format.
August 13, 2007 From AOL News
Coffee shop chain Starbucks
Corp. said Monday its new Hear Music record label will release a live
album by singer-songwriter James Taylor this holiday season. Taylor's
"One Man Band" will be the third album released by Hear Music, which
was formed by Starbucks and Concord Music Group earlier this year. An
album by folk singer Joni Mitchell will hit stores in September.
August 13, 2007 From MTV NEWS
First, it was on. Then, in a matter of weeks, it was off. Now, after
more than a decade of rumors and misfires, it seems the long-awaited
reunion of Van Halen with founding frontman David Lee Roth is back on.
The group announced the dates for Van Halen's first tour with Roth in
22 years on Monday morning in Los Angeles. Tickets for select dates
will go on sale Saturday.
The date has been set: On September 27 in Charlotte, North Carolina,
the band — Roth, guitarist Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alex Van Halen, and
Eddie's 16-year-old son Wolfgang in the place of founding bassist
Michael Anthony — is scheduled to launch the opening leg of its North
American run. So far, 25 dates have been booked, running through
December 11 in Calgary, Alberta; the tour will make stops in
Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and San Diego.
August 13, 2007 from Music-News
Oasis have announced details of a DVD documentary that will feature a
new Noel Gallagher track.
The film "Lord Don't Slow Me Down" will be released on October 29th,
with the title track being sung over the end credits.
The two-disc set follows Oasis on their last world tour, travelling
through 26 countries and playing before two million fans. It will
feature unique backstage access and interviews with the whole band.
Shot in black and white by director Baillie Walsh, extras will include
a Noel Gallagher fan Q&A from New York, alternative 'directors
commentaries' from the band, and footage of 16 tracks from Oasis'
homecoming show at Manchester City's Eastlands Stadium on July 2, 2005.
Agust 11, 2007 From PressOfAtlanticCity
50 Cent believes his
new album will outsell Kanye West's upcoming disc, and he's betting his
solo career on it. Both 50 Cent and West have albums due out Sept. 11.
50 Cent, who has sold better than West, has been riled by forecasts
that sales of West's "Graduation" could rival those for his "Curtis"
CD.
"Let's raise the stakes," the 31-year-old rapper told hip-hop Web site
SOHH.com in an interview posted Friday. "If Kanye West sells more
records than 50 Cent on September 11, I'll no longer write music. I'll
write music and work with my other artists, but I won't put out anymore
solo albums."
An e-mail sent to West's publicist wasn't immediately returned Friday.
August 11,2007 From Associated Press
An Elvis Presley fan
wants to give Graceland a run for the money by refurbishing the King's
old desert home as a tourist attraction. Reno Fontana and his wife,
Laura, bought the Palm Springs home site unseen in November. The
Spanish-style white stucco home has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms,
with a sunken tub and a pool. Elvis and Priscilla Presley bought the
home in April 1970. The family, including daughter Lisa Marie, lived
there part-time.
After his death, Presley's lawyer took control of the estate. It was
not immediately known whether anyone lived in the house before the
Fontanas bought it. The house is already a bit of a tourist draw.
Fontana says he'll provide a look to anyone who knocks on the door.
Right now, there's not much to see in the unfurnished home.
But Fontana, a lifelong Elvis fan, plans to decorate it in elaborate
Elvis style and build a chapel, banquet hall and recording studio to
attract weddings and recording business.
August 11,2007 From CBMusic
One of the greatest things about early 90s MTV (other than incessant
airplay of Blind Melon’s “No Rain”) was the Unplugged series. According
to Billboard, Legacy and Columbia will join forces to release four
classic unplugged albums on September 18th. Those featured are Alice In
Chains, Mariah Carey, Bob Dylan, and Tony Bennett. Each disc will come
with a special edition DVD, as well as the inclusion of tracks
originally cut from the broadcast.
August 11, 2007. From Associated Press
Tony Wilson, a music
impresario credited with guiding a crop of bands from industrial
England to the international stage, has died. He was 57. Wilson
promoted a host of influential musicians from his native city of
Manchester in northern England, including Joy Division, New Order and
the Happy Mondays. He died Friday evening from complications of kidney
cancer, the city's Christie Hospital said. Wilson's influence on the
city, and on British music, is documented in the 2002 movie "24 Hour
Party People," which charts the rise -- and eventual fall -- of
Wilson's empire, which included Factory Records and the Hacienda
nightclub.
August 10, 2007 AZCentral
Originally due in early 2007 and then bumped to the fall, the new Cure
album will now not see the light of day until next spring, according to
a Geffen spokesperson. Frontman Robert Smith is still recording
material for the planned double-disc set but ran into a time crunch
with an impending North American tour on the books. That outing begins
Sept. 13 in Tampa, Fla. The band is presently in Australia for three
shows, that were to begin Friday night (Aug. 10) in Sydney.
From there, Smith got sidetracked by work on the Cure live DVD
"Festival 2005," but returned to the album material in March. "We've
now reached the point where I've lost track of the number of songs
we've got," he said. "There's an A-list of 30 songs on the wall."
August 10, 2007. From Wired
Universal Music Group, the
world’s largest music label, has announced it will sell a limited
selection of its massive catalog in DRM-free form. Interestingly,
Universal is excluding Apple’s iTunes Store from the offer. The new
program will be available through services from Best Buy, Walmart,
Amazon and others starting in January.
August 9, 2007 From Google News
Pearl Jam fans and Internet watchdogs are up in arms today after it was
revealed that AT&T censored portions of the band's live
Lollapalooza concert cybercast on Sunday.
While performing "Daughter," the band segued into a portion of Pink
Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall," during which frontman Eddie Vedder
sang, "George Bush, leave this world alone" and "George Bush, find
yourself another home." Those lyrics were missing from the broadcast.
Vedder also railed against oil giant BP Amoco during the set, and
later, brought a disabled Iraq War veteran onstage to call for an end
to the conflict. Neither of these segments were edited.
In a statement, AT&T attributed the bleeping to "a mistake by a
Webcast vendor" that was "contrary to our policy. We have policies in
place with respect to editing excessive profanity, but AT&T does
not censor performances. We very much regret that this happened in the
first place."
August 9, 2007 From Boston.com
Luciano Pavarotti has been
hospitalized in stable condition with a fever in his hometown of
Modena, in northern Italy, officials and his manager said Thursday.The
71-year-old tenor, who underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer last
year, was brought to Modena's Polyclinic on Wednesday and was being
kept under observation. Doctors were expected to release him in coming
days, according to separate statements from the hospital and his
manager, Terri Robson
Pavarotti was vacationing at his holiday home in Pesaro, an Adriatic
seaside resort 125 miles southeast of Modena, when his doctor noticed
that he had a fever and decided to admit him to the hospital for tests,
Robson said.
"He remains under observation and his condition is now stable," she
said. "It is expected that the doctors will release him from hospital
in the next few days."
August 9, 2007 From USA Today
Talk about pregnant pauses: An
American Idol contestant's audition was interrupted Monday when she
went into labor, an Idol first. Antoria Gillon, 20, of Dallas, wasn't
due to give birth until today, so she thought it was safe to wait in
line outside Texas Stadium in Irving starting at 2:30 a.m. Monday for
her first shot at the singing competition. Just as she finally had her
chance after waiting for 16 hours, "I felt something over my body when
I was walking," she said in a telephone interview from her hospital bed
Wednesday after giving birth to a healthy boy — her second — Tuesday
morning.
August 7, 2007
Country music star Vince Gill,
singer-songwriter Mel Tillis and TV personality Ralph Emery will be
inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October, an industry
group said on Tuesday.
The three were introduced at a Country Music Association ceremony by
stars Brenda Lee, Barbara Mandrell and others, who celebrated Tillis'
upcoming 75th birthday with a giant cake.
The trio will be inducted during the annual CMA Awards Show in October
August 6, 2007. From Wired
SoundExchange, the music
industry's digital-royalty collection agency, has been on a roll. A
federal appeals court recently rejected a plea from webcasters to
postpone the deadline for a new royalty scheme that sets the stage for
SoundExchange to begin levying billions of dollars from internet radio
stations in the coming decades. It already collects a tidy sum from
satellite radio and now it has set its sights on U.S. terrestrial radio
stations, which currently pay no broadcast performance royalties.
Legislators sought to restrict SoundExchange's ability to spend the
money it collects on behalf of artists and labels. Section 114(g)(3) of
the Copyright Act explicitly limits how the nonprofit can spend the
money it collects. So it came as quite a surprise when a source
familiar with SoundExchange told me on condition of anonymity that the
group is engaged in lobbying and public relations activities, in
apparent violation of the law cited above. A little fact-checking
showed that SoundExchange registered the MusicFirstCoalition.org domain
on May 9, 2007; that it is a member of the organization; and that
SoundExchange supports musicFIRST financially, although it has not
disclosed the extent of its spending. (When asked about it,
SoundExchange spokesperson Richard Ades called that information
"proprietary.") Here's what's not proprietary: The musicFIRST Coalition
(Fairness In Radio Starting Today) is a public relations group that
launched on June 14, 2007 with the sole mission of implementing a sound
recording performance royalty on terrestrial radio stations. Whether or
not SoundExchange's lobbying efforts prove to be illegal, its presence
as an advocate in this debate undercuts its role as neutral
administrator of royalty fees set and approved by the Copyright Royalty
Board.
August 6, 2007. From Wired.
A federal bill that would reset music royalties at a more affordable
rate for thousands of internet radio stations is losing steam in the
House of Representatives, raising new fears for the future of
webcasting. Negotiations are ongoing, but chances of broad legislative
relief in the form of the Internet Radio Equality Act, or IREA, are
fading fast, according to several people familiar with the effort.
Rather, Congress appears resolved to let SoundExchange and the various
strata of webcasters negotiate individual settlements.
Agust 5, 2007 From Fox News
The new Musicians' Village, the inspiration of two New Orleans-born
luminaries _ singer-pianist Harry Connick Jr. and saxophonist Branford
Marsalis _ who decided in the post-Katrina ferment that something was
needed to help musicians stay and play in the city. The village _ a
tidy cluster of about 80 brightly painted homes _ is just a small
glimmer of hope in a scarred city, but it already has given Omar and
others a roof over their heads and a chance to make music once again.
Thousands of volunteers, including faith-based groups, college kids and
music students from across the country, have journeyed to the village
to pound nails, paint and do other work. Professionals handle the
electricity, plumbing and sheetrock. Musicians make up more than 70
percent of the village. But not everyone who wants to can live here.
Only 10 percent of the applicants meet the requirement that residents
have an income of at least $18,620 a year and have good credit or no
credit history. Those rules have upset musicians who've been rejected,
but Habitat officials say they don't want to set up anyone to fail.
Each home has a financial sponsor _ a corporation or family _ donating
$75,000 to build the house. The new owner gets an interest-free loan
and makes monthly mortgage payments of about $550. That money is then
funneled into building other Habitat homes in the area. The centerpiece
of the village will be the $6 million Ellis Marsalis Music Center, that
will include a performance hall and practice rooms. It will also serve
as a place for musicians of different ages and genres to mingle.
http://www.nolamusiciansvillage.org/
Agust 4, 2007 From Topix
Following the last-minute
cancellation of their lavish wedding last weekend, Usher and Tameka
Foster, have finally married. People magazine is reporting that the
couple exchanged vows in his lawyer’s office in Atlanta today.
The simple affair is a far cry from the extravagant wedding originally
planned last Saturday at L.A. Reid’s home in New York. That wedding was
going to be a star-studded event, with a performance by Robin Thicke,
and food prepared by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
The couple are expecting a child in a few months. It is Usher’s first
and Tameka’s fourth child.
August 3, 2007 From MSNBC
Callers to a morning radio show
said they were embarrassed and angry that a female fan groped Tim
McGraw after his concert at the Cajundome last weekend.
The woman grabbed McGraw in the crotch area at the close of his set
Saturday as the 40-year-old country singer walked between the barricade
and the stage to greet fans.
McGraw’s wife, Faith Hill, who also performed on the Soul2Soul tour
stop, berated the woman from the stage, calling her actions
disrespectful. Clips of Hill, 39, singling out the woman were posted on
various Web sites, including YouTube and TMZ. On Monday, female callers
supported Hill’s decision to confront the woman, Clement said.
August 2, 2007 From OpenFanSite
John Mayer, the Dave Matthews Band, Nas and Virginia-born country star
Phil Vassar will perform at Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus on
September 6 at A Concert for Virginia Tech, a demonstration of
solidarity with the school as it begins a new academic year and tries
to move past last April’s horrific shootings. One free ticket will be
available to current students, faculty and staff, as well as spring and
summer 2007 graduates, with corporate sponsorships, the sale of
commemorative items and the possible sale of an additional ticket to
each buyer helping to cover the cost of the event (the artists won’t be
collecting any fees for their performances). No tickets are available
to the public at this time. Last spring, many members of the music
community were quick to react to the tragedy via song. Jin’s “Rain Rain
Go Away” went up on the Web almost immediately, R. Kelly wrote tribute
ballad “Rise Up” and Lil Flip, whose MySpace includes a video for his
Virginia Tech track, sampled Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.”
August 2, 2007. From Reuters
Grammy Award-winning R&B
singer R. Kelly will go on trial September 17 on child pornography
charges, five years after the accusations were first made, prosecutors
said Wednesday. Kelly, 40, whose real name is Robert Kelly, faces up to
15 years in jail if convicted of videotaping himself having sex with an
underage girl. Prosecutors have said the girl could have been as young
as 13, but defense attorneys have disputed her age and whether Kelly is
on the tape. Kelly pleaded not guilty to the charges and in the interim
has released hit songs, gone on tours, and released a DVD set of
"hip-hopera" skits.
August 2, 2007 From MSNBC
Stevie Wonder said Thursday that
he will hold his first U.S. tour in more than a decade, beginning next
month in San Diego. “A Wonder Summer’s Night” will include 13 concerts
from Aug. 23 to Sept. 20 in eight states. Stops in California will
include San Diego, Lake Tahoe, Concord, Santa Barbara, Saratoga and Los
Angeles. Other cities include Portland, Ore.; Woodinville, Wash.;
Chicago; Detroit; Atlanta and Baltimore. The final concert will be in
Boston. Tickets will be available beginning Aug. 11. Ticket prices were
not immediately released.
August 1, 2007 from Rocket Radio
Cher is back and looking
hotter than ever! The perpetual Diva has completed an interview and
photo shoot for Asian magazine, “Chrome Hearts,” to talk about her NEW
album. “The truth is I’ve got this album I’m supposed to be working on.
The truth is the songs are great. I’m totally into this album, the
songs are the hardest songs,” Cher told the magazine. As for the style
and feeling of the pending album, Cher will only say that, ”I picked
the songs song-by-song. It’s not any kind of real music. It’s not a
genre. Just great songs. More with a rock feeling to them, but not
necessarily rock. Just with a great beat and also some of them sound
really country.”
August 1, 2007 from Cool Tech
Apple announced on Tuesday that
it has sold more than three billion songs at its iTunes online store
exclusively paired with its popular iPod MP3-players. According to
statistics from market tracking firm NPD Group, iTunes is the third
largest music shop in the United States, ahead of real-world Target
stores and pioneering internet retailer Amazon.
August 1, 2007 From Yahoo News
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has signed a deal reportedly
worth more than $7 million to write his autobiography, a tome that will
trace his trek from cherubic choirboy to rock 'n' roll survivor. The
memoir will hit stores in the fall of 2010, said New York-based
publisher Little, Brown and Co., which partnered with Britain's
Weidenfeld & Nicolson to secure worldwide English-language rights.
Media reports said on Tuesday a bidding war pushed the price above $7
million, a hefty sum given that music-based books are traditionally not
big sellers. Legendary guitarist Eric Clapton reportedly received a $5
million advance for his upcoming memoir.
Richards, 63, will collaborate on the book with James Fox, author of
the 1982 murder mystery "White Mischief." The Stones guitarist becomes
only the second member of the venerable band to write his memoir,
following former bassist Bill Wyman, who wrote "Stone Alone" in 1990.
Singer Mick Jagger started to write an autobiography, but soon got
bored and abandoned the idea.
August 1, 2007 From New York Sun
It's art versus art at
Carnegie Hall. In May, the venue's leadership announced that the leases
of tenants in the adjoining Studio Towers would not be renewed. Now it
has moved aggressively to empty the more than 50 units situated above
the concert halls, beginning eviction proceedings in July. But the
tenants, many of whom have lived and worked there for decades, are
putting up a legal fight and will air their concerns to local
politicians at a meeting in the studios this evening. The battle is not
the classic New York story of landlord against tenants. Instead, it
pits longtime residents, many of them elderly and still working in the
arts, against a concert hall they love. Carnegie Hall intends to house
its growing education programs in the towers after extensive renovation
to begin in 2009.
July 31, 2007 From RocketRadio
Former Mouseketeer and pop
songstress, Christina Aguilera has been forced to cancel the remainder
of her Australia tour after doctors diagnosed her with a respiratory
infection with a high fever and “abnormal coughing.” Aguilera released
a statement today via her representative to TMZ.com. Included in the
statement, “I have fallen ill with a bad flu virus…” Christina is
married to Jordan Bratman and there was speculation in June that the
couple may be trying to conceive a baby when the pair were spotted
leaving a fertility clinic in New York.
August 1, 2007 From BigOldAmp
Australian rock legends AC/DC,
one of the few big-name bands that, to date, hadn’t released its back
catalog in digital form, has signed a deal with Verizon Wireless that
will bring the group’s albums to users of the mobile company’s V CAST
Music service. The company will offer full-album downloads—as opposed
to single-track sales—of all 18 of the group’s albums via an exclusive
agreement that runs through March of next year, according to a press
release.
July 31, 2007 From NASDAQ
RealNetworks Inc. saw revenue surge
more than 50% for the second quarter while earnings slid from the
year-ago period, which was skewed by a large settlement with Microsoft.
The results beat estimates from Wall Street analysts, thanks mostly to
a boost from the company's acquisition of wireless services provider
Wider Than last year. The Seattle-based digital media company (RNWK)
reported earnings of $1.3 million, or 1 cent per share, for the quarter
ended June 30 compared with earnings of $38.9 million, or 24 cents a
share, for the same period last year. Earnings in the last period were
boosted by a payment stemming from a lawsuit against Microsoft Corp.
RealNetworks said adjusted net income for the recent quarter was $8.9
million, or 5 cents a share, compared with $5.1 million, or 3 cents a
share, for the previous year. Analysts had been expecting earnings to
come in at break-even on a per-share basis.
July 29,2007 From CBC News
“It was announced today that the wedding ceremony for Usher Raymond ...
and Tameka Foster was cancelled. No additional information will be
given regarding the circumstances of the cancellation, but we hope the
privacy of this matter will be respected”
The wedding between Grammy-winning artist Usher and his pregnant
girlfriend, scheduled for Saturday afternoon, has been called off.
July 28, 2007. From Reuters
Paul Stanley, a singer and guitarist with rock band Kiss, was forced to
pull out of a show in California on Friday after his heart started
beating at more than twice the normal level, he said on his Web site.
The apparent tachycardia happened while the band was rehearsing for a
performance at a casino in San Jacinto, California, about 90 miles (145
km) east of Los Angeles. Stanley said he was advised performing would
be risky, and the show went on without him.
July 26, 2007 From Billboard
Blues singer Etta James is in stable condition in a Los Angeles
hospital, suffering from complications following abdominal surgery, her
manager said. The 69-year-old vocalist was admitted to Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center, following the mid-June surgery, Lupe De Leon wrote in
an email to Reuters. James hopes to be well enough by the end of August
to join blues icon B.B. King and soul veteran Al Green on a tour that
began in Florida on Tuesday. "If it had been left solely up to her, she
would have checked herself out of the hospital and started the tour
regardless of her delicate health," De Leon said. "However, her doctor
advised that were she to do so, it would put her at very great risk."
R&B singer Chaka Khan is substituting for James on the tour.
July 25, 2007 From Variety
For the 12th time, the "Now!
That's What I Call Music" compilation series has hit No. 1.
The 25th edition, which includes hits from Avril Lavigne, Fall Out Boy,
T-Pain and others, sold 223,000 copies in the week ended Sunday,
according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Tally is 3,000 higher than the debut of "Vol. 24," which was the
lowest-selling edition of the series since "Vol. 13" opened to sales of
171,000. "Vol. 24" has sold 1 million copies, its predecessor about 2.3
million.
July 25, 2007 From Billboard
After an extended break and the
loss of original member Kevin Richardson, the Backstreet Boys will
return Oct. 30 with their next, as-yet-untitled studio album for Jive
Records. The first single, the piano-heavy rock ballad "Inconsolable,"
will hit U.S. radio outlets Aug. 27.
Richardson, who exited in June 2006, was not replaced in Backstreet
Boys, which also features Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough
and AJ McLean. The group is celebrating its 10th anniversary on Jive
this year.
July 25, 2007 From Artist Direct
First Sir Paul took the
proverbial plunge into a hot cup of joe, and now, Joni Mitchell joins
him in the roster of two as an artist also signed to the Starbucks'
Hear Music label. The record titled Shine (out September 24) will be
the folk legend's first release since 1998. Mitchell revealed that the
record is "as serious a work as I've ever done."
July 23, 2007 from Billboard
Tori Amos is bringing her
"Posse" on the road with her this fall. The tour, which comes in
support of her latest Epic album, "American Doll Posse," kicks off Oct.
9 in Albany, N.Y., and continues through Dec. 17.
The stint includes a pair of performances at New York's Theatre at
Madison Square Garden on Oct. 11-12. A pre-sale for tickets starts
Wednesday (July 25). Additional dates and venues will be announced at a
later date.
July 22, 2007 From BigOldAmp
Matchbox Twenty’s brand new song
‘How Far We’ve Come’ is now playing from their MySpace site.
The new single is 1 of 4 that may be used on their forthcoming Matchbox
Twenty greatest hits cd, due later this year. Matchbox Twenty returned
to the studio with producer Steve Lillywhite to write the new music in
California. ‘How Far We’ve Come’ is an uptempo rocker written by Rob
Thomas, Brian Yale, Paul Doucette and Kyle Cook. It is their first new
music since the 2002 album ‘More Than You Think You Are’ and first new
music as a four piece following the departure of Adam Gaynor. Steve
Lillywhite is also the first person to produce Matchbox Twenty outside
of the inner circle of Matt Serletic. Lillywhite’s stable of
productions includes working with U2, Rolling Stones, Morrissey, Simple
Minds, Peter Gabriel and Ultravox.
July 17,2007 From OpenFanSite
At the first of 11 sold-out
shows at San Francisco’s Fillmore, the Smashing Pumpkins lived up to
leader Billy Corgan’s reputation for excess. The ‘90s alt-rock icons
hadn’t played the historic San Francisco venue since April 1994, when
it was a big deal to have such an ascendant act (then exploding in
popularity in the wake of 1993’s breakthrough Siamese Dream) host the
nightclub’s reopening following 1989’s Loma Prieta earthquake and the
1991 death of legendary promoter Bill Graham. And so the band returned
with appropriate largess to play a three-hour show that ended shortly
after 1 AM.
July 14, 2007 From Music-News
Debbie Rowe, the former Mrs.
Michael Jackson, has sued the pop singer, claiming he has failed to pay
her what he promised when the two divorced in 1999.
In the lawsuit, filed July 3 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Rowe seeks
an immediate payment of $195,000 for attorney fees and $50,000 in
living expenses so that she can continue pursuing her child-custody
case against him.
The next court hearing on the matter is slated for July 26.
July 10, 2007 From Holly Wood Reporter
In a nod to the
ever-evolving world of Web 2.0, MTV is turning to a new source for
cutting-edge music videos -- fans.
The company in June quietly introduced its free Video Remixer service,
which enables users to create their own version of select videos using
clips from the original video, archived MTV footage, photos and other
media. MTV then airs the top-rated submissions.
The first video available was Kelly Clarkson's "Never Again" on June 5,
followed shortly by Nelly Furtado's "All Good Things (Come to an End)"
June 29. Additional artists are being lined up for the coming weeks.
MTV joins a growing cadre of video services that give users increased
creative control over an artist's vision, among them Eyespot, Gotuit
and, soon, Sony Music Box. These are not to be confused with services
that simply add background music to photo slide shows.
Their goal is twofold: Provide labels and artists with a new
promotional tool and increase revenue potential for ad-supported online
music videos. The strategy for both relies on raising the value of
videos online.
July 9, 2007 Press of Atlantic City
Two people injured when
pyrotechnics went awry at Beyonce Knowles' concert in St. Louis
received a surprise emergency room visit from the singer. The accident
happened Sunday night, just as the R&B star's concert began. A
spokeswoman for Scottrade Center didn't return phone calls seeking
comment, but broadcast reports said pyrotechnics meant for the stage
accidentally spilled into the front row.
Two concertgoers were taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Spokeswoman
Kathy Holleman wouldn't release their names but said the injuries were
minor. Both were expected to make a full recovery. Soon after the
concert, Knowles arrived at the hospital, said head nurse Darryl
Williams. "She was just very concerned about the people injured in the
audience," Williams said. "It was unannounced and we kept it very
low-key so that she could spend time with them."
Knowles, 25, met with the fans for about 45 minutes. "I just thought it
was a great thing for someone of her stature to do," Williams said.
July 6, 2007 From Wired
As MP3 players grow in capacity
and/or become wirelessly connected to the internet, it's becoming
possible to carry around a preposterous amount of music with you
wherever you go. However, the Shuffle All function that works so well
on smaller players gets a little ridiculous when applied to such a
large quantity of music.
Sites such as Pandora have shown that it's possible to create a
compelling radio station from a massive catalog using one artist as a
starting point, but as far as applying the same concept to the
gigabytes of music you're carrying in your pocket, the market has been
underserved. Most manufacturers still use a random shuffle.
Aside from the Rio Riot, the only player that has gone beyond Shuffle
is Disney's Mix Max, released last fall. It harnesses MusicIP's MyDJ
technology to auto-generate portable playlists in two ways:
1) You select a song and MusicIP's AI DJ generates a list around it.
2) The player previews randomly-selected songs from your MP3 player in
four-second clips -- sort of like the Scan function on FM radios. When
you hear a song that matches your mood, you click the button again, and
the player generates the playlist from that song.
There's a video demo of MusicIP's technology in action on the Disney
players, and MusicIP tells me other manufacturers have seen it and are
getting excited. For instance, a high-capacity model from Memorex with
MusicIP's My DJ technology is in the works (expect a review somewhat
soon-ish).
Until then, MusicIP's software also works conjunction with iTunes,
Winamp, and other programs (Mac, Linux, and Windows versions are
available). You can also try it through a web interface.
July 6, 2007 From 411Mania
Rockers the Foo Fighters have
announced that their sixth full length, Echoes, Silence, Patience &
Grace, will be released on RCA on September 25th. Frontman Dave Grohl
has hinted that this record will be the band cutting loose creatively,
going in several different directions. Says Grohl, "It has always been
my dream to mix Steely Dan with No Means No...If anybody is going to do
it, I'd love to be that guy."
Grohl says that the album will no doubt throw the band's broad fanbase
for a loop, citing elements including "four-piece rock band
sh*t...middle sections that turn into this mass orchestrated swarm and
ridiculous time signatures...and uptempo song, with a little bit of
Chuck Berry in it" and festival ground stompers.
July 3, 2007 From Business Week
Universal Music Group has
seen the future of digital music, and it's one where Apple's domination
is diminished.
The music label is balking at renewing a deal that gives Apple (AAPL)
unfettered access to Universal's massive music catalog and limits
Universal's ability to strike exclusive distribution deals with
competing download services. Apple hopes the two companies can still
hash out a new agreement. "It's just not true that they have refused to
re-sign," says Apple spokeswoman Katie Cotton. "We're still in
negotiations, and their music is still on iTunes."
June 30, 2007 From CNN Money
A growing number of major and independent labels are going digital when
it comes to sending promotional music to press.
Rather than mail an advance CD, some record companies are instead
e-mailing links to download or stream prerelease content.
EMI's Capitol Music Group began embracing the practice regularly at the
start of this year with press promos for acts like Joss Stone, the
Stooges and Mims. Depending on the release, CMG is servicing music as
either an on-demand stream or a watermarked MP3.
Also going all in on digital servicing as of this year is indie Beggars
Group/Matador, which has provided advances from acts like New
Pornographers, the National, and Voxtrot as watermarked digital
downloads.
Meanwhile, other labels are experimenting with the idea. Warner Music
Group (NYSE:WMG) , Sony (NYSE:SNE) BMG and Universal Music Group, as
well as Vice Recordings have digitally serviced select releases,
including the Cribs, Mark Ronson, the Bravery, and Black Lips,
respectively.
June 29, 2007 From FT.com
Investigators from the British
Phonographic Industry have for the first time raided a business in
pursuit of illegal music file-sharing.
The probe centres on a factory owned by US conglomerate Honeywell, in
Motherwell, Scotland.
Strathclyde police officers and investigators raided the plant on
Thursday morning and made copies of the contents of computers for
forensic analysis.
Honeywell said it was co-operating fully with both the police and the
BPI.
Previous raids have concentrated on domestic file-sharing, which
remains the music industry’s main concern.
It is illegal to copy and distribute songs on an internal computer
network but no company has been prosecuted. Strathclyde police said a
number of employees were assisting with inquiries and a report would be
submitted to the local procurator-fiscal, who decides whether cases
should be pursued.
June 26, 2007 From Google
To most music lovers, the higher
the volume the better. Loud music lovers, I have bad news for you, “the
human ear is not built for listening to loud music!” Dr. Aderemi
Adeosun, an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) consultant at the University
College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, explained that listening to music via
the ear piece of walkman etc can damage the hearing organ called
cochlea. Once the cochlea becomes too or highly vibrated, unstable, it
affects the semi-circular canal, the organ responsible for the balance
of the body.
A study by Cory Portnuff, a doctoral researcher in CU-Boulder's speech
language and hearing sciences department indicates that a typical
person can safely listen to an iPod for four to six hours per day at 70
per cent volume using stock earpieces. Portnuff, who undertook the
study with Brian Fligor, director of audiology at Children's Hospital
-- the teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, -said the study
quantifies both safe and hazardous music listening levels for typical
person. The researchers found, for example, that listening to music at
full volume through an iPod for more than five minutes a day using
stock headsets can increase the risk of hearing loss in a typical
person. But they also concluded that individuals can safely listen to
iPods for 90 minutes a day with the supplied earpieces if the volume is
at 80 per cent of maximum levels without greatly increasing the risk of
hearing loss.
June 25, 2007 From Boston.com
A swath of the Internet is set
to go silent tomorrow, as online music broadcasters shut down to
protest a plan that will sharply increase the royalties they pay to
recording companies and musicians.
Five Boston radio stations owned by Greater Media Inc. in Braintree and
others who stream music over the Internet hope their "day of silence"
will prompt listeners to lobby Congress in support of pending
legislation to overturn the royalty hike.
The protest could have a sizable effect on millions of Internet
listeners. In addition to Greater Media, Internet giant Yahoo Inc. will
shut down about 200 channels of free Internet music , as will Live365,
which carries about 10,000 channels. In addition, a host of smaller
online broadcasters are set to participate. Listeners who visit a
favorite online broadcaster will be directed to Web pages listing
contact information for members of Congress. Instead of their favorite
tunes, they'll hear an announcement urging them to fight the royalty
increase.
June 23, 2007 From Courier Post OnLine
In 1982, ABBA
disbanded. Public Enemy formed and Ozzy Osbourne bit off a bat's head.
In the 25 years since, music has undergone cataclysmic changes.
Here are the 25 top milestones:
1. Napster (1999)
Shawn Fanning's file-sharing service, the first significant
peer-to-peer music trading system, sparked a firestorm, prompting
lawsuits from Metallica, Dr. Dre and major labels before a court order
shut it down in 2001. Napster, later rebranded as a pay service, went
belly up.
2. Live Aid (1985)
The enormous benefit concert, staged in London and Philadelphia for an
estimated 1.5 billion TV viewers, raised $245 million for famine relief
in Ethiopia, canonized organizer Bob Geldof and unleashed a glittery
rock revue starring Paul McCartney, Queen, Madonna, U2 and scores more.
3. Michael Jackson on MTV (1983)
The R&B wunderkind broke the color barrier at the nascent music
channel and blazed the trail for video innovation when "Beat It," a nod
to "West Side Story," premiered in March. The epic zombie-themed
"Thriller" followed in December.
More of the top 25 can be found Here
June 23, 2007 From Google News
The White House celebrated
Black Music Month with an afternoon concert that included jazz, rhythm
and blues (R&B) and classical-rap fusion music. At one point, the
220 guests, many of them prominent persons in Washington, stood up from
gold-painted chairs to clap, tap and even dance.
President Bush called it his "chance to listen to some good music,"
emphasizing the word good, which caused laughter.
June 23, 2007 From The Wall Street Journal
The children's-music landscape has changed in recent years, with
successful albums for kids by acts like They Might Be Giants and Lisa
Loeb. A range of blogs dedicated to the topic of parent-friendly kids'
music has emerged, offering MP3s, reviews and tips on coming albums and
tours. Below, three notable children's-music blogs for adults.
* * *
The Lovely Mrs. Davis Tells You What to Think
thelovelymrsdavis.com
This popular blog from Amy Davis, a mother in Ohio, includes
recommendations like "20 Kids Albums for Parents Who Can't Stand Kids
Music." Suggested artists include Candy Band, which, she says, "covers
familiar kids' music themes ... but in a Detroit-glam-garage-band kind
of way."
* * *
(Sm)all Ages
smallages.blogspot.com
"Because no one should have to listen to the Wiggles. Ever," is the
motto of this blog, run by Clea Hantman, a California mother and
fiction writer. Like many music blogs, this links to free MP3s of
recommended songs. It not only covers kids' music but also adult music
that children are likely to enjoy, from bands like Wilco and the Hold
Steady.
* * *
Zooglobble
zooglobble.com
Run by Stefan Shepherd, a father of two in Phoenix, this blog has
extensive archives by band name, so it's easy to find out which acts
have new releases or tours in the works. Users can also search for
music by the age of the intended listener, from "0-1" to "Double
Digits."
June 22, 2007 From Reuters
It's almost as familiar as the
Weather Channel's man-on-the-beach, Jim Cantore: the music that plays
in the background six times per hour during the network's signature
"Local on the 8s."
This fall, two packages of that music will be available to consumers
when Nashville-based Midas Records releases "The Weather Channel
Presents: Best of Smooth Jazz" and "Best of Instrumental Classic Rock."
While licensing details and track listings are still being worked out,
music played on the channel includes such acts as Pink Floyd, Eric
Clapton, Nancy Wilson and Trey Anastasio.
The CDs, tentatively scheduled for mid-September release, will be sold
through traditional retailers as well as through some nontraditional
outlets.
June 22, 2007 From Reuters
Apple Inc.'s digital music store
iTunes is now the third-largest music retailer in the United States
with 10 percent market share, overtaking Amazon.com in the first
quarter, according to a survey released on Friday.
The NPD Group report highlights the growing strength of digital music
in the U.S. market as physical sales of compact discs continue to
slide.
Apple's iTunes is third behind market leader Wal-Mart Stores Inc. with
a 15.8 percent share, and Best Buy Co Inc. with a 13.8 percent share,
according to the survey of 40,000 people aged 13 and older.
Both of those retailers mostly sell music in the CD format. Online
store bestbuy.com has a 1.1 percent market share with sales of both CDs
and digital music..
Amazon.com Inc. dropped to fourth with a 6.7 percent share. Its sales
increased but not as fast as rivals.
Amazon also sells music mainly in the CD format, but last month it
started selling digital music but without copy protection software such
as that used by iTunes.
NPD said the iTunes digital music store had benefited from sales of
Apple's iPod digital music player during the holiday season. The vast
majority of digital songs and albums bought on iTunes will only play on
iPods, as well as the iTunes PC application.
iTunes last month rolled out a new service called iTunes Plus which
sells higher quality digital songs without copy protection at a premium
price.
June 21,2007 from Slashdot
"'The initial results of DRM-free
music are good' says Lauren Berkowitz, a senior vice president of EMI,
at a music industry conference in New York. Berkowitz went on to say
that the early results from iTunes indicate that DRM-free offerings may
boost revenue from digital albums as well as individual songs."
June 20, 2007 From USA Today
Former President Clinton and his
wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, will join Mariah Carey and others as
honorees at the VH1 Save The Music Foundation's 10th-anniversary gala
in September.
The Clintons have been active in past Save The Music campaigns. In
1998, then-President Clinton donated his saxophone to the foundation;
the instrument went to a student musician.
The event is set for Sept. 20 at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Performers will include Roger Waters, Jon Bon Jovi and John Mayer.
Honorees also include the organization's founder, John Sykes, and NAMM,
The International Music Products Association.
June 19, 207 From Business Week
Internet music retailer Sony
Connect Inc. is eliminating some positions as part of a restructuring
plan to shift resources to other online services, but it intends to
continue operating, the company said Tuesday.
The company denied a report that suggested the job cuts are a prelude
to shutting down its music service in a matter of weeks.
Sony Connect is shifting emphasis to other network services,
specifically one for users of the PlayStation game console, the company
said.
Sony Connect, a unit of Sony Corp. of America, did not disclose the
scope of the job cuts, but a person at the company familiar with the
restructuring told The Associated Press about 20 of the 90 positions
will be eliminated. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because
the company has not made details on the layoffs public.
In addition to selling music downloads, Sony Connect also operates an
e-book download store called Sony Reader that launched last year.
June 19, 2007 From International Herald Tribune
A 5,000-pound
(2,268-kilogram) bronze chandelier hanging from the high, golden
ceiling of the Philadelphia Academy of Music is being shipped off to
France to be restored to its original splendor.
For 150 years, the chandelier served as the gilded centerpiece of the
2,900-seat auditorium. But its original splendor has been tainted over
the past century as it deteriorated and became modernized.
The 25-foot 25 (7.6-meter) tall chandelier was the largest in
Philadelphia when it was built by Cornelius and Baker, who created many
of the light fixtures found in state capital buildings across the
country. Over the years, it lost some of its luster as designers added
black scoop lights, steel cups, hanging crystals and a large hanging
metal ball.
As many as 40 percent of the chandelier's 8,000 crystals were cracked,
broken or replaced (sometimes with fakes), according to senior project
director John Trosino. The French firm handling the renovation, Mathieu
Lustrerie, plans to replace those crystals and remove the anachronistic
additions.
June 16, 2007 From The Independent
Universal Music, the
world's largest music company, has moved to lessen its dependence on CD
sales after acquiring the struggling UK music company Sanctuary Group,
which derives most of its sales from merchandising, artist management
and organising live music.
Universal will pay £45m and take on £60m of debt to purchase Sanctuary.
Universal will add artists including Morrissey and Dolly Parton to its
roster, as well as a sizeable back catalogue business that includes
Kiss and some Bob Marley material.
However, the deal has been driven by Sanctuary's artist management
business with acts such as Sir Elton John and James Blunt on its books,
as well as the company's lucrative music merchandise business.
Sanctuary sells t-shirts and other products for bands including Iron
Maiden, Led Zeppelin and Oasis. The British company also organises live
concerts for artists including Amy Winehouse and the Kaiser Chiefs.
With CD sales steadily declining due to the impact of online piracy and
digital downloading, music majors are exploring different ways to make
money from high-profile acts on their rosters, including live music and
merchandising.
June 15, 2007 From PC Mag
A new music service that allows
consumers to directly download an unlimited number of tracks to their
cell phones for a small weekly fee from wherever they are will launch
in Europe on Thursday.
British firm Omnifone said it had signed content deals with the four
biggest music groups in the industry and had agreements with 30 mobile
operators in a bid to steal the thunder of the much-hyped iPhone made
by iPod maker Apple.
The service called MusicStation will be suitable for 75 percent of
mobile handsets already available in the market and will launch first
in Sweden on Thursday with Scandinavian operator Telenor.
It will then roll out across Europe, the Asia-Pacific and Africa in the
coming days and weeks. Omnifone is targeting 100 million phones in a
year and can offer over 1 million songs.
June 13, 2007 From associated press.
The Memphis sound created at Stax Records has found its own special
place in the history of American music. Some of pop's most cherished
recordings came out of the Stax studio, including Sam & Dave's
"Soul Man," Otis Redding's "(Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay," and
Isaac Hayes' Oscar-winning "Theme from Shaft." Fifty years later, the
Stax label is trying to make a comeback.
Roger Smith of the Concord Music Group, the label's current owner, came
out in March with "A 50th Anniversary Celebration," a two-CD anthology
of Stax recordings. More original Stax releases are in the works, and
Concord is signing new artists for the label, such as soul singers
Angie Stone and Lalah Hathaway. Musician and singer Isaac Hayes, who
along with David Porter was a leading Stax songwriter, is expected to
return to the label.
June 13, 2007 From Yahoo Music
Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz was allegedly involved in a club brawl in the
early hours of June 12.
Fall Out Boy were due to perform a brief acoustic set at the rock club
Schuba's following their gig at Charter One Pavilion in Chicago.
However, the gig did not go as planned. According to an unnamed
Schuba's patron, in between songs during Fall Out Boy's set "A guy
started calling Pete a sell out, asking him: 'Where's [alleged
girlfriend] Ashlee [Simpson]?' and making fun of his hoodie."
Despite Wentz initially laughing the comments off, when Fall Out Boy
exited the club's stage, things apparently got more serious. However,
Wentz claimed he was just defending himself.
He said: "The truth is on the way out the door I had to pass directly
next to the guy and I knew it, so I kept my head down and walked out.
As I did, the guy reached out and grabbed me and said something I
couldn't really hear--it was a glorious use of the English language,
though. As he grabbed me, I punched him."
June 13, 2007 From Sudnay Herald
"AND WHAT kind of music do you like?" said the radio DJ to the fan on
the end of the phone. "Harry Potter" came the response from the girl of
approximately nine years old. And so the storming, peaky strings of
Harry's Wondrous World by John Williams blared from Classic FM, the
sometime toffs-only station for the middle-aged-at-youngest. Harry
Potter and Lord Of The Rings are reasons cited for its new-found
half-a-million listeners under 15 years of age. It's also boosted by
shows with teen-pop peddlar Simon Cowell - perhaps looking for an
appraisal of some sacred Beethoven concerto as "appalling".
One of the station's catchphrases, "more relaxing music", is also
appealing to the jangling nerves of our hyper-stressed modern students,
no longer splattering their blood up their bedroom walls to the sound
of Nine Inch Nails as they surely did in the Nineties, but cocooned in
concentration amid the soporific strings. Or so they're saying: it's
either that or they're star-fish unconscious on a bean-bag cube with a
nine-inch Camberwell Carrot.
Over in rock 'n' roll, classical is also everywhere, from the operatic
yodellings of Rufus Wainwright and the dramatic flutings of Arcade
Fire, to the walk-on music for uber-cool US indie hunks Kings Of Leon
(playing T in the Park this summer), who float their way stagewards to
the formidable choral holiness of Mozart's Requiem.
June 12, 2007 From Calendar Live
Playboy's free community concert Sunday at Warner Park in Woodland
Hills was a well-planned program of first-rate jazz, performed in a
delightfully green and sylvan setting. It was a breakthrough of sorts
as the festival's first such event for jazz fans in the San Fernando
Valley, after similar offerings in years past in Beverly Hills,
Pasadena and Marina del Rey.
By late afternoon, more than 8,000 people had arrived. And, although no
official attendance figures were forthcoming, the closing set by the
Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band was greeted by many more listeners.
June 12, 2007 from Mecury News
Tennessee's Bonnaroo Music Festival is becoming a fixture on the
national music scene, but it remains unlike any other festival.
While the event has been shaking its "jam-band festival" image since
the first Bonnaroo in 2002, Stewart Copeland of the Police, one of the
2007 headliners, says there's still a vibe that encourages artists to
experiment.
"I think it's going to be a completely different Police show from any
of the other shows on the tour." he says. Copeland has played Bonnaroo
before with the group Oysterhead. The festival, which runs Thursday
through Sunday, takes place on a 500-plus-acre farm in tiny Manchester,
between Nashville and Chattanooga. The event draws 80,000 fans to the
city and, according to Billboard magazine, it has become the
highest-grossing music festival in the world ($14.7 million in 2006).
June 11, 2007 from Yahoo News
Unsigned singers from around
the world can now upload original music videos at
http://www.algeka.com.
On June 15, fans will begin casting their votes. The video with the
most votes by Aug. 15, 2007 will be awarded US $10,000. Music fans
worldwide will cast their votes by downloading original works of their
favorite unsigned artists: videos for US$1.99 and DRM-free MP3 audio
for 99 cents. Thirty second previews are free.
The conclusion of the US$10,000 international contest isn't the end of
Algeka. Algeka combines TV singing competitions, online music stores
and Internet video sites.
"Algeka is a worldwide community focused on promotion and exposure of
unsigned singer songwriters -- we think this can be a huge opportunity
for people in all countries with talent," said founder Norm Yerke.
"Singers and music buyers from Asia, Europe, Australia, the Americas
and Africa are showing great interest in the site."
June 7, 2007 from PR Newswire
SIRIUS Satellite Radio will honor Black Music Month with exclusive
programming on three of its channels throughout the month of June. Join
guest hosts Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J, Kelly Rowland, Isaac Hays, Lionel
Richie, Ashford & Simpson, Charlie Wilson, Heather Headley and
Anthony Hamilton as they spotlight and celebrate some of the great
artists, songs and personalities that have influenced African-American
music culture and made it so rich and diverse. Tune in to SIRIUS
Satellite Radio's Heart & Soul channel 51, Soul Town channel 53,
and Backspin channel 43 all month to celebrate the music and artists
that have shaped American music.
June 6, 2007 From Google News
Major labels have fought
several legal battles to try to keep fans from listening to music
without paying for it. Now one label, the Warner Music Group, has made
a deal with an Internet startup, Lala.com, that will allow anyone to
listen to its music free, with the idea that doing so will drive music
sales.
Lala.com was expected to announce yesterday that it would make the vast
majority of albums in the Warner Music catalog available at its site as
audio "streams," which can be heard online but not downloaded. Although
listening to those streams will be free for consumers, Lala.com will
pay Warner a royalty each time a user listens to a song.
Lala.com, which is now a site where music fans can trade used CDs for a
fee, is hoping to make money by selling music, both in CD format and as
digital files that it will send to iPods without using Apple's iTunes
software.
The site does not yet have similar deals with other labels, but the
company's founder and chief executive, Bill Nguyen, said it was in
talks with several.
For Warner, the deal with Lala.com has limited risk, because the label
will make money from streaming royalties. But its priority is
increasing sales of music, which have declined further this year.
"The evidence we've seen is that a lot of people want to own music,"
said Alex Zubillaga, Warner's executive vice president for digital
strategy and business development. "And their mandate is to sell
music."
Zubillaga added that Lala.com was giving Warner Music a good deal of
flexibility in determining how to price and bundle music. Apple, the
dominant player in the market with its iTunes music store, does not
give music labels those options, much to their chagrin. Unlike iTunes,
Lala.com will concentrate on selling albums, which it will offer for a
variety of prices based on the behavior of individual consumers.
June 4, 2007 from Top 40 Charts
The search to find KFC's
'Hitmaker' is on with the launch of the company's Pride 360 theme song
contest. During Black Music Month, KFC invites aspiring artists and
musicians to join the competition and submit their best music for what
could become KFC's new theme song for its Pride 360 program. The
winning artist, who creatively incorporates the key words Individual,
Family, Community, Heritage and KFC into the song, will receive a
recording opportunity worth $5,000 and an appearance on BET's 'Rap
City.'
June 2, 2007 from MacNN
Apple has declined to comment on why it stores users' names and emails
in its DRM-free music offered through iTunes. Earlier this week, the
company officially launched its higher quality, DRM-free music with the
release of iTunes 7.2, which brought a few growing pains. EMI's
historic agreement with Apple removes any copyright protection on
music, allowing users to playback music on virtually any device if they
purchase the the more expensive DRM-free version of the song. However,
now privacy advocates are beginning to question Apple's move to include
the information with each song. Unlike competing services such as
eMusic which offer DRM-free music without any strings attached, several
sites reported that Apple embedded personal information such as a
user's name and email.
While Apple's has drawn criticism for the watermarking itself, privacy
advocates argue that the information should be encrypted to protect
individuals.
"There's absolutely no reason that it had to be embedded, unencrypted
and in the clear," said Fred von Lohmann, a senior intellectual
property attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation told Wired.
"Some of the privacy problems, in light of this, is that anyone who
steals an iPod that includes purchased iTunes music will now have the
name and e-mail address of its rightful owner."
von Lohmann suggests that Apple encrypt the information to protect
privacy without compromising the forensic value and also expected to
see tools to automatically "anonymize" music with Apple's CEO name and
email.
June 1, 2007 from Wired.com
Recently a geek friend turned me
on to a Springwise article about The Pokey Pup, an online store
featuring music and other media for kids that, to put it plainly,
doesn't suck. Bryan Townsend, founder... feels their pain: “Let's face
it, parents end up listening to this music and watching the DVDs as
much as their kids do, and after a while, that can be downright
excruciating on everyone's ears.“ ... "The best children's music can be
music that parents enjoy as much as their children,” says Townsend.
That got me thinking about my own choices in music, both as a geek and
a dad. I tend to listen to geek artists like Jonathan Coulton as often
as radio hits, so it's always made sense for me to share that kind of
music with the Geeklet. (Mr. Fancy Pants gets stuck in his head, too.)
It takes some thoughtful listening to choose songs that are
age-appropriate (man, that kid can pick out the raciest lyrics in
seconds flat), but the result is a playlist we can all rock out to.
I love finding collections like Dan Zanes' Rocket Ship Beach. The New
York Times Magazine said it well: “Zanes’ kids music works because it
is not kids' music; it’s just music -- music that’s unsanitized,
unpasteurized, that’s organic even.” In this case the music itself
isn't geeky; songs like Erie Canal aren't exactly space science. It's
more the feel of the music, the sheer joy and passion that shines
through when really good musicians play simple songs.
TMBG No! Joy and passion also describe They Might Be Giants, a classic
geek band. Although their album No! is specifically geared toward kids
with songs like Robot Parade and John Lee Supertaster, many of their
other songs are kid-friendly while retaining their geekiness.And how
can you argue with something like that?
May 31, 2007 from Calendar Live
Pakistan's Supreme Court has
ordered a pop singer to change his lyrics after a college girl
complained that male students teased her by singing the song when she
passed by.
The court summoned the singer, Abrar-ul-Haq, last week after a girl
named Parveen wrote to a newspaper saying she had stopped attending
college in the city of Lahore because of the harassment.
"The court has asked Abrar-ul-Haq to omit the name of the girl and some
other objectionable words in his lyrics," a court official said. Haq
said he would abide by the court decision.
May 30, 2007 From The Star
Viacom Inc. said on Wednesday it
will sell its Famous Music publishing unit to Sony/ATV Music
Publishing, the song-music catalogue co-owned by pop star Michael
Jackson.
The deal is estimated to be worth $370 million (U.S.) in cash,
according to sources familiar with the talks.
Famous Music's catalogue of more than 125,000 songs and sound cues
includes music by Eminem and Shakira as well as movie soundtracks from
The Godfather and Mission Impossible. Famous was founded as a unit to
publish songs from movies.
The deal is the first major move by recently appointed Sony/ATV Chief
Executive Martin Bandier, the former head of EMI Music Publishing, who
left EMI earlier this year.
As part of the deal, Sony/ATV will be entering the production music
business through the Famous Extreme division.
Sony/ATV is jointly owned by Sony Corp. and Jackson. Its catalogue
includes songs by The Beatles, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan and Jimi
Hendrix, making it the fourth-largest music publisher.
May 30, 2007 From Calendar Live
CBS is expected to announce
today that it has acquired London-based Last.fm for $280 million, which
claims more than 15 million monthly users, including more than 4
million in the U.S.
The initial payout is well beneath that paid by rivals in the last two
years for video-sharing site YouTube Inc., now owned by Google Inc.,
and for MySpace, the top social destination on the Web, bought by News
Corp. The final price for closely held Last.fm could rise substantially
if performance targets are met.
May 27, 2007 From Everything Alabama
The Birmingham Art
Music Alliance has always been ambitious. Lately, the consortium of
local composers is realizing one of its main ambitions - placing new
music by Birmingham-area composers into high-profile venues across the
country.
Since the group's inception more than a decade ago, BAMA has grown from
a consortium of local composers operating mainly in Birmingham, to an
increasingly national and international phenomenon. Besides its
reputation for solid artistry - BAMA concerts earn consistent critical
acclaim and the group's members receive lots of outside validation -
the group's success owes in part to a conscious strategy for expanding
its reputation. Next month, the BAMA strategy will take locally
composed music to Chicago, to be performed by the Chicago Composers
Forum. On June 2, CCF will perform Hindman's music, along with pieces
by BAMA colleagues Charles Norman Mason and William Price. On June 3,
BAMA will present a similar concert in Birmingham, using a local roster
of players. Four works by composers based in Chicago will also be
performed on both concerts. The Chicago collaboration is the second
such project for BAMA. In 2003, BAMA initiated a collaboration with Vox
Novus, which resulted in BAMA pieces traveling to New York City.
Mason was selected to travel to Chicago to supervise the performance of
his work "Entanglements" for violin, cello and recorded sounds. Still,
the Rome Prize-winning composer seems equally excited about what the
exchange brings to Birmingham.
"It's great, one of the best things that BAMA does; not only does the
exchange get our music out there, but it brings in music from the
outside."
Indeed, composers from outside of Birmingham, even those from much
larger cities like Chicago and New York, are enticed by the opportunity
to network with performers and composers from Birmingham.
"To me this kind of experience is very important because I can get to
know different artists in different cities, make connections," says
Kyong Mee Choi, one of the Chicago composers represented in the
exchange.
May 26, 2007 From Boston Globe
Stung by the backlash against increased royalties charged to Internet
broadcasters, the music industry this week offered to give small online
broadcasters a break. But the plan has been dismissed by the
broadcasters, who favor legislation in Congress that would reduce
Internet music royalties.
In March, a three-judge panel created by Congress to set digital music
royalty rates decided on a big increase, retroactive to 2006.
Broadcasters will have to pay 5 percent more in music royalties for
this year and last. Then they'll face additional royalty hikes of more
than 20 percent per year for the next three years. The new rates are
supposed to take effect by mid-July.
Internet broadcasting executives like Mark Lam, chief executive of
Live365 Inc., say the new rates mean the end of online music. He's part
of a coalition of Internet broadcasters, SaveNetRadio.org, which has
lobbied Congress for legislation for lower royalty rates.
May 25, 2007 From Earthtimes.org
On May 28th, 2007, Elise
Estrada and the RockSTAR Team are embarking on a 2 week Cross Canada
Radio Promo tour. Elise and RockSTAR will be doing a number of on air
interviews, promo tags and will schedule Radio Station sponsored
personal summer and back-to-school appearances.
May 25, 2007 from Top 40 Charts
- The largest seller of independent music on the web, CD Baby, has
partnered with the specialist mobile content trading site voeveo.com to
distribute its material globally to rising numbers of wireless device
users.
Founder and president of CD Baby, Derek Sivers, said the selection of
voeveo as a mobile content sales outlet signalled a new and exciting
direction for the growth of digital music downloads. He said the voeveo
model had the big advantage of being an open community market for
transacting music formatted to individual mobile users' requirements.
"This device matching, coupled with digital rights control options,
gives us the confidence to supply voeveo as one of our outlets with
substantial number of sound tracks."
The chief executive of voeveo.com, Maurice Stilwell, says an initial
batch of 50,000 tracks from CD Baby is being uploaded to voeveo this
month, with more to follow in ensuing weeks.
May 22, 2007 From Palybill Arts
EMI Music has agreed to a $4.7 billion takeover by a private equity
group. The deal reportedly raises the prospect of a bidding war for the
struggling music company.
EMI's board of directors has recommended the acceptance of an offer of
£2.65 pence per share (currently US$5.23) from Terra Firma Capital
Partners, according to a statement issued by the company, though the
deal must still be approved by the firm's shareholders.
Terra Firma's bid was reportedly the best among a number of proposals
EMI received, though Warner Music could still make a higher offer,
according to the Associated Press. EMI recently rejected a takeover bid
from the rival record company.
The proposal caused EMI's stock price to rise by almost 9% yesterday.
May 22, 2007 from Time
EU regulators gave Universal Music
Group clearance Tuesday to buy BMG Music Publishing for about for about
$2.09 billion in a deal that will create the world's largest music
publishing company. The EU warned, however, that its "serious doubts"
about the deal's effect on online music were soothed only by the
companies' plan to sell the rights to some hits from the '80s and '90s
by artists such as Justin Timberlake, Iron Maiden and R. Kelly.
Combining the world's No. 3 and No. 4 music publishing catalogs will
give Universal the publishing rights to artists as diverse as Mariah
Carey, U2, 50 Cent, Elton John and Leonard Bernstein. With a 22 percent
market share, it will scrape ahead of current market leader EMI Group
PLC. EU approval was the last hurdle for the deal, which Universal said
would close shortly. It is separate from the merger of the Sony-BMG
music units more than two years ago that the EU is now re-examining.
May 21, 2007 PR Newswire
Have you ever been somewhere, heard a song and wondered who the artist
is or the song's name? With Verizon Wireless' exclusive new V CAST Song
ID, you can now hear a song, hold the phone toward the music, watch it
capture a sample of what you're listening to and within seconds V CAST
Song ID will identify the music, and allow you to purchase a matching
full-track song, Ringtone or Ringback tone -- all right over-the-air
from your phone.
Customers only need a V CAST Music-enabled phone to start identifying
recorded music playing on the radio, in a club, on the street or from
virtually any music source, then purchase and download the
corresponding true- tone Ringtone, Ringback tone and full-track song
from V CAST Music.
Unlike other wireless service providers, Verizon Wireless gives
customers a choice on how to buy their mobile music: from the PC or
over-the-air, directly to their phone. Lanman noted that nearly 95
percent of all full songs bought by V CAST Music customers have been
over-the-air. V CAST Song ID can identify more than four million songs.
And whatever your music tastes include, V CAST Song ID will identify
songs from every genre, from the latest chart toppers to '80s rock
classics. When you place the phone near a music source like a stereo
speaker or car radio, and record a 10-second clip, V CAST Song ID names
the artist, song and album title. After successful recognition, the
application will determine if the song is available as a full-track
song, Ringtone or Ringback tone and directly launch the Verizon
Wireless' V CAST Music store where you have the option to purchase and
download the track.
May 18, 2007 From Music Room
Microsoft Xbox are offering the
chance for computer games lovers to record the soundtrack for
forthcoming games trailers, as part of a nationwide competition to find
the UK's best new music talent.
Launched by Enter Shikari - who have recorded their own trailer
soundtrack for the games company - 'Soundtracks' offers the winner the
chance to spend time in a state-of-the-art record studio, where they
will put together a professional demo.
To enter the competition bands can download games trailers from the
Xbox music website that they can then produce their own soundtrack to.
Speaking about his bands song for the computer game Blue Dragon, Enter
Shikari's lead singer Roughton Reynolds, said: "I'm excited by the
results - the visuals work so well with the music and fit our sound
really well. Hopefully, other musicians out there will feel inspired by
games too and want to get involved."
May 17, 2007 From Google News
Amazon.com is getting into the
digital music market, taking on Apple's iTunes Music Store. But the
move may end up helping Apple instead, analysts say.
That's because Amazon may expand the market for digital music
downloads. That in turn could increase the market for digital music
players, particularly for Apple's iPods, which dominate the market.
Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will launch its long-rumored
digital music store later this year. The company's entrance into the
market is important because the online retail giant has long been a
leader in selling music - in this case, CDs - online.
iTunes and its rivals have generally sold music encoded with digital
rights management software, which limits the number and types of
devices the music can play on. But Amazon will only offer music in
DRM-free MP3 format, which just about any music player can play.
That means the company can sell music to essentially any consumer, no
matter whether they own an iPod, a Microsoft Zune or another player.
May 15, 2007 From Canada.com
A beaming Sarah McLachlan said Monday she'll gladly accept half a
million dollars from the B.C. government for a music education project
in her name.
Premier Gordon Campbell made the announcement before taking a tour of
the Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach facility with the songstress in tow.
More than 200 school children from six Vancouver schools study at the
facility, learning everything from guitar to percussion to voice.
The duo sat in on a djembe drum class, a piano lesson and a guitar
seminar, where both the premier and McLachlan joined in for some
strumming.
May 15, 2007 from Biz Report
On May 22, McCartney's solo music, along with tunes from the Wings,
will be sold by MusicNet, a New York digital music company that has
worked with MTV and Yahoo Music.
The deal could be a sign that the recordings of the iconic Beatles may
soon by available online, according to a report in the Wall Street
Journal.
McCartney said, a deal "is virtually settled" to bring the Beatles
music catalog online, according to the trade publication Billboard.
One sticking point is the desire by companies representing the former
group to offer the music widely through several online retailers,
rather than a single outlet, as Apple would prefer.
Although predicting when an agreement is reached can be akin to reading
tea leaves, comments from the parties lend credence to the thinking a
deal is not distant.
May 13, 2007 from The West.com
The Edge, the guitarist for the rock supergroup U2, urged students on
Saturday to work with other talented musicians rather than going it
alone.
He told 800 graduating students at the Berklee College of Music
graduation ceremony that ensembles can make music that will "shine as
you could never shine on your own."
Gloria Estefan also delivered a commencement address and performed an
impromptu version of her song "Coming Out of the Dark" with a student
backup band and large choir.
May 10, 2007 From Top 40 Charts
USA Network and Yahoo!
Music today announced that they have entered into an agreement to
discover and promote new music and emerging artists through a
non-traditional marketing model. The collaboration, the first of its
kind for television, seeks to move beyond the boundaries of traditional
marketing by enhancing USA Network's slate of innovative programming
and promotional content through relevant and breakthrough music.
May 10, 2007 from Google News
Jon Bon Jovi and Mariah Carey
will join in celebrating the VH1 Save The Music Foundation's 10th
Anniversary Gala on September 20th at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Jon Bon Jovi will perform as part of a special tribute to VH1 Save The
Music founder John Sykes during a ceremony that will also honor Mariah
Carey for her unyielding support of The Foundation's mission.
May 8, 2007 From Top 40 Charts
For all those who thought
homemade music on the computer was lifeless and synthetic-sounding,
prepare to be amazed by the new MAGIX Music Maker 12 deluxe. Why is
that? Because of the new virtual acoustic instruments included in the
software that sound just as if you were playing them. Not only that,
they're even easier to play than their real counterparts since you
don't have to learn any sheet music or even practice! With these and
many more new features, version 12 deluxe of the award-winning MAGIX
Music Maker software is setting new benchmarks in quality and
continuing to build upon the pioneering vision of previous versions:
Creating professional sounding music is easy and no longer requires
musical training or prior technical knowledge. MAGIX Music Maker 12
deluxe is available for purchase at top retail stores for $59.99 as
well as on the MAGIX company website at www.magix.com
May 8, 2007 PR News Wire
Harmonix, developer of the
blockbuster Guitar Hero(TM) franchise, MTV: Music Television, a
division of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom, and Electronic Arts today
announced that Fender Musical Instruments Corporation will have their
instruments exclusively featured in the upcoming videogame Rock
Band(TM), an all-new platform for music fans and gamers to experience
and connect with music. In addition, Roland Corporation and BOSS have
agreed to have their brands featured within Rock Band.
To deliver the ultimate interactive music experience in Rock Band,
Harmonix and MTV have secured an agreement with Fender Musical
Instruments Corporation, the world's most respected manufacturer of
electric guitars and amplifiers, that will allow the Rock Band game
controller peripheral to be modeled after the legendary Fender
Stratocaster, one of the most enduring and iconic models of electric
guitar in the world. In addition, Fender guitars, basses and amps will
be exclusively featured in the game.
May 7, 2007 from The Star Online
It is never too late to own
your first Barbie Doll but if you think you may be too old for one, why
not opt for a Barbie MP3 Player instead. No, you can't play dress up
but you can store your favourite music (up to 512MB of it) onto the
device. If that isn't enough, the Barbie MP3 player, which measures
114mm, has an expandable miniSD slot that lets you add in up to 2GB
more of your favourite music.
May 6, 2007 Hot Ipod
Music always has been an important part
of Destiny Martin's life. It made sense to bring her first child into
the world with song. She even had the perfect one selected: the
Beatles' "In My Life."
The mix CD she prepared for her delivery had a similar sampling of
peaceful music, from "Seasons of Love" from the Rent soundtrack to
"What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong.
So three years later, Martin, 29, still finds it funny that baby Jolie
entered the world not to Paul McCartney but to Metallica.
Martin had put the song "Nothing Else Matters" on the CD as a nod to
her metal-loving husband, and that's what happened to be playing when
their daughter was born. Martin said she finds the song's message
appropriate. Martin's efforts to usher her child into the world with
music, down to having the song selected, are yet another way mothers
are customizing their labor and delivery environment. And hospitals are
doing their part to accommodate the trend, from piping in music to
providing CD players or allowing parents to bring iPod docks and
laptops.
Childbirth experts say couples are increasingly making music a part of
their births, and the emergence of MP3 players allow them to draw from
a wide variety of songs and to even put together playlists for
different stages of birth.
May 5, 2007 From Voice of America
There are still large parts
of New Orleans that are all but uninhabited and less than half the
people who once called the city home have returned. In the months
following Katrina, there was concern that the cultural heritage of New
Orleans might have been irreparably damaged. But many musicians have
returned, including 21-year-old Troy Andrews, who is known here and
around the world as Trombone Shorty. Jazz Fest organizer Don Marshall
says music and musicians are playing an important role in the recovery
of New Orleans. Marshall says Jazz Fest nurtures talents like Trombone
Shorty, who began playing in his Treme neighborhood, near the French
Quarter, when he was only four years old. When he played at Jazz Fest,
it brought him to a wider audience. Marshall says proceeds from Jazz
Fest are supporting a number of local projects that will help musicians
stay here. These include a school program for aspiring musicians and a
housing project, called Musicians' Village.
May 4, 2007 From The Rock Radio
Singer-guitarist Joey Molland
of Badfinger is working to get rock music officially recognized at the
government level. Molland is in talks with his local elected officials
in Minnesota to have rock-and-roll thought of in the same light as the
other arts, and to have the rock scene get some of the funding that
normally gets distributed to painters, ballet dancers, and acting
troupes, among others.
Molland told us he's never understood why rock music hasn't gotten its
due from those in power: "(I'm) trying to get the government to get
behind the music scene the way they get behind the art scene, and the
way they get behind the classical scene, and the way they get behind
all these other scenes, but the rock music doesn't get anything. They
spend $40 million on a museum, but they... what do they spend on rock
music, which is probably the cultural icon or influence of this age we
live in -- to me anyway. Maybe because I'm a rock musician, I feel like
that, but it astounds me."
May 3, 2007 from Top 40 Charts
Christina Norman, President,
MTV, announced today that MTV is bringing The 2007 MTV Video Music
Awards to the city of Las Vegas to take over every available nook and
cranny of the infamous celebrity stomping ground, The Palms Casino
Resort.
Demolishing the constraints of a traditional four walled venue,
performances will be staged throughout The Palms Casino Resort from
their intimate posh hotel suites to the mind blowing scenic rooftop.
Nothing will be off-limits as for the first time ever MTV will program
a whole VMA weekend featuring not-to-be-missed events, appearances and
sizzling performances culminating with the star- studded music
extravaganza. In an unprecedented move for the network, the show will
air only once in its original form - so what happens in Vegas really
will stay in Vegas.
May 1, 2007 from Wired News
Don’t hold your breath for music subscriptions from Apple's iTunes
music store -- Steve Jobs will never offer them. Renting music flies in
the face of consumer behavior. Consumers want to buy music, not rent
it, and a big part of Steve Jobs' genius is his firm, intuitive grasp
of how consumers behave, and tailoring Apple's technology to
accommodate it -- not the other way around.Some speculate that the
labels will force Jobs to offer monthly music rentals as part of new
licensing terms, the same way they forced him to add DRM copy
protection to music in iTunes' early days. Jobs may have been hinting
at this scenario last week, when he told Reuters:
"Never say never, but customers don't seem to be interested in it,"
Jobs said. "The subscription model has failed so far."
Jobs is right. There's no mainstream demand for music subscriptions.
The music business isn't built on long-term rentals; it's built on one
hit after another. It's confectionary. Tunes are addictive for a while
and then discarded. It's like the drug business: Users are always
looking for the next hit.
April 27, 2007 from Star Pulse
Andrew Lloyd-Webber has overtaken Paul McCartney in the wealth stakes,
after he was named the second richest music man in Britain, worth an
estimated $1.5 billion.
The music impresario is worth 50 million more than the former Beatle
after gaining major profits in his hit British TV talent search "How Do
You Solve A Problem Like Maria?", which asked the public to vote for
who they wanted as the leading lady in London musical "The Sound Of
Music".
As a result of the show and the subsequent musical's popularity,
Lloyd-Webber's earnings rose by $100 million - up from $1.4 billion in
2006 in The Sunday Times Rich List of Music Millionaires in Britain in
2007.
The Hey Jude star slipped to third position with $1.45 billion, partly
due to a predicted $200 million divorce settlement experts believe he
will pay to estranged wife, Heather Mills.
Simon Fuller, the brains behind TV program American Idol, is in joint
fourth place with $900 million, while Madonna and director husband Guy
Ritchie remain in sixth place for the second year running with a
combined fortune $550 million.
Elton John came seventh with $450 million, while Rolling Stones rockers
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are in eighth and 10th place
respectively, with fortunes of $430 million and $380 million each.
But no one could beat former record label head Clive Calder - the man
behind the careers of Britney Spears and 'N Sync - whose personal
fortune is estimated $2.6 billion.
April 27, 2007 from Star Pulse
EMI CMG Label Group's Sparrow
label announced today that they have signed a world-wide, long term
deal with Amy Grant, which will include Grant's extensive 30 year
catalog of recordings, which has sold more than 30 million units, as
well as new catalog products. EMI will also have the option of working
with Grant to issue new recordings in the future.
Initially, 17 titles of Amy Grant's catalog will be re-mastered and
re-released in both physical and all digital formats on August 14. EMI
CMG Label Group and EMI Music Catalog Marketing will also partner with
Grant to create a new Greatest Hits package with bonus material
spanning her entire career scheduled for October release.
April 25, 2007 From Music Industry Newswire
Yahoo! Music and
Gracenote today announced a new licensing deal allowing Yahoo! Music to
offer the largest catalog of legal, licensed song lyrics from Gracenote
to Yahoo! Music’s consumers. Beginning today, song lyrics for hundreds
of thousands of songs from all five major publishers will be
incorporated into Yahoo! Music through Gracenote’s growing database.
The agreement with Gracenote makes Yahoo! Music the first mass-market
Web service to make licensed song lyrics available to consumers.
Through the agreement, consumers can search for song lyrics from the
Yahoo! Music Search bar, simply by entering even a partial lyric from
the song. Consumers will have viewing access to lyrics from nearly 100
music publishers, including the top five: BMG Music Publishing, EMI
Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing
Group, Warner/Chappell Music, and dozens of prominent independent
publishers.
April 23, 2007 From The Globe and Mai
One of the main tourist
attractions in the Upper Canada of more than a century-and-a-half ago
is turning to music as it makes a bid to recover past glories.
The Sharon Temple, built by the Children of Peace, a breakaway sect
from the Quakers, is planning a five-concert series of classical
chamber music concerts in an attempt to draw people to the historic
building northeast of Newmarket, its board has announced.
Once upon a time, no news release would have been necessary.
Historians and architects still know the Sharon Temple, but its current
board hopes to appeal to a wider variety of visitors, he said.
And music is seen as the way to draw attention to the temple, which,
for a decade from 1981 to 1990, was also the venue for a concert series
called Music at Sharon.
Using the three-storey frame building for concerts "makes a lot of
sense," said Stephen Cera, hired as artistic director late last fall.
"It has a very special acoustical environment, as well as an
architectural environment. It is hard even to define. People find it a
kind of magical ambience to hear music in there. ... It is all the
resonances of the architecture," Mr. Cera said.
After it was finished in 1831, the temple figured prominently in travel
books and accounts of people travelling in what is now Ontario.
April 22, 2007 From Yahoo News
Building on the combination
of strong offerings of both music CDs and MP3 players, Circuit City
Stores, Inc. today announced that it is joining with Napster to offer a
new digital music service, Circuit City + Napster, for consumers to
explore and enjoy music.
The new service will be powered by Napster's award-winning digital
music subscription service and will include all the same great music
discovery and community features such as personalized recommendations,
message boards, and the ability to browse other members' collections
and share music and play lists. In addition, all customers at Circuit
City + Napster will enjoy continuing access to exclusive songs and new
releases on a weekly basis.
Starting April 29, 2007, consumers can sign up for Circuit City +
Napster at http://www.circuitcity.com/napster and gain unlimited access
to millions of songs on their PCs and compatible digital music devices
for $14.95 per month. New subscribers will receive the first month of
access free of charge, along with five free song downloads. Consumers
will also find information about Circuit City + Napster and the
introductory offer at Circuit City stores nationwide and on
Circuitcity.com.
April 20th, 2007 Music Video Wire
CD music sales continued to
drop throughout 2006, accelerating to a rate of nearly 13 percent as
the sale of digital songs rose by 60 percent. According to figures
published by the Recording Industry Association of America, the
increasing popularity of music downloads is still not enough to make up
for the CD sales shortfall.
Though sales of music in digital formats such as downloads and mobile
ringtones more than doubled in some cases during the year, digital
sales did not grow fast enough to cover the revenue gap caused by the
downturn in CD sales. Consequently overall music sales were down by 6.2
percent to $11.51 billion.
April 18,2007 Fromm Google News
Nightclubs throughout Seattle
plan to hype their political message by putting music and booze on hold
Thursday night.
The publicity stunt is meant to build opposition to Mayor Greg Nickels'
proposed package of regulations for bars and other venues, which is
being considered by the City Council.
Most of the more than four dozen participating clubs will cut their
music and beverage service for about five minutes at the stroke of
midnight, said Tim Hatley, a lobbyist for a Seattle night-life industry
group. Some of the venues are planning their protests for earlier
Thursday, when they're more crowded.
April 17,2007 From BreatheCast
Christian music superstar Michael W. Smith will join an elite group of
music industry figures this weekend when he is inducted into the Music
City Walk of Fame.The induction ceremony takes place at the Hall of
Fame Park in downtown Nashville on Apr. 22. The 2007 class of inductees
for the Music City Walk of Fame also includes country legend Emmylou
Harris, Americana mainstay John Hiatt, country powerhouse Wynonna Judd,
seminal rock ‘n’ roll combo The Crickets, and long-time BMI
president/CEO Frances Preston.
April 16,2007 From SoadFans
It's not easy to convince rockers System of a Down to allow for their
music to be used in films.
They had never agreed to license any tracks from their library of music
before director D.J. Caruso approached them about using a song in the
teen thriller "Disturbia," out in theatres Friday.
Their criteria? They had to like the movie.
"I had to show them the movie one day at a private screening," Caruso
told andPOP this week. "They saw it, loved it, saw the place for the
song and they OK'd it."
While filming "Disturbia," Caruso saw a sequence where he said that
their Grammy-nominated song "Lonely Day" would be appropriate.
April 16, 2007 From CMT
Carrie Underwood's music video for "Before He Cheats" won in three
categories Monday night (April 16) to finish as the frontrunner at the
2007 CMT Music Awards. Other winners at the fan-voted awards show
included Kenny Chesney, Jack Ingram, Rascal
Flatts, Taylor Swift and Sugarland.
April 15, 2007 From Australia Radio
The music industry has approached internet service providers to
penalise people who illegally download music.
Under the plan, record labels would identify internet customers who are
illegally downloading.
Service providers would then give them three warnings before cutting
off their phone and internet connections.
Sabein Heindl, from the industry's piracy investigation unit, says the
crack down is needed because Australians illegally download about a
billion songs every year. [Siren's note: This is absurd. Since when do
service providers serve as henchmen to the RIAA?]
April 14, 2007. From Associated Press
Legendary crooner Don
Ho, who entertained tourists for decades wearing raspberry-tinted
sunglasses and singing the catchy signature tune "Tiny Bubbles," has
died. He was 76. He died Saturday morning of heart failure, publicist
Donna Jung said. Ho had suffered with heart problems for the past
several years and had a pacemaker installed last fall. In 2005, he
underwent an experimental stem cell procedure on his ailing heart in
Thailand.
April 14, 2007 from Google News
Four years ago when Apple launched the iTunes Music Store, the company
preached the good news of an easy-to-understand pricing structure for
consumers: all tracks at 99 cents, most albums for $9.99.
Since then, the notion of simple low price has been a mantra for
digital music retail. Even those in the subscription business pursued a
similar tack, with many offering their services for about the price of
a CD per month.
But suddenly, many of the offers aren't as cheap, or sometimes as
simple, as they used to be.
Leading the trend are Apple and EMI, which in May will debut a new
premium-priced digital rights management-free tier of near CD-quality
downloads featuring music from the likes of the Good, the Bad & the
Queen, the new band whose lineup includes Damon Albarn of Blur and Paul
Simonon of the Clash.
April 13, 2007 From WBIR
The Recording Industry Association
of America is suing 14 people at the University of Tennessee, claiming
they illegally traded music over the university's computer network.
In late February, the RIAA sent out hundreds of warning letters to
suspected offenders at the Knoxville campus and 13 other universities
nationwide that it claimed had the most illegal music traffic.
The industry group told "The Tennessean" in Nashville it sent letters
offering settlements to 28 people at UT and 14 of them accepted it.
RIAA has filed "John Doe" lawsuits against the other 14 people at UT.
It's not immediately known how many of those are students, faculty of
staff.
UT student Chelsea Conn of Murfreesboro said last month that she chose
to pay a settlement of $3,000 instead of taking her chances in a
lawsuit over 1,000 songs the RIAA claimed she shared illegally.
April 12, 2007 from Mi2N
You've heard about how OZZFEST is
boldly redefining the concert industry this year by making all the
tickets to the summer's premiere touring concert festival entirely free
for fans.
Well, Ozzfest fans have a number of ways to score a pair of tickets to
"FreeFest"--which will rock mightily with festival's namesake OZZY
OSBOURNE and Lamb of God, Hatebreed, Lordi, Behemoth, Mondo Generator,
Nile, Ankla, Circus Diablo, The Showdown, 3 Inches of Blood, Daath,
Chthonic and In This Moment.
Ticket codes will be distributed through sponsor websites beginning May
12. Details on these programs are available on ozzfest.com,
livenation.com, monsterenergy.com, jagermusic.com and fye.com. In the
meantime, various sponsors will have offline initiatives, details of
which will also be available via their respective websites. These codes
can be redeemed for tickets beginning June 12--exactly one month before
the first OZZFEST 2007 show in Seattle. Fans will return to the site
where they registered or www.livenation.com/ozzfest, enter their code
and download two tickets to the show of their choice. Note: To ensure
that everyone gets the chance for free tickets, there is a limit of two
tickets per customer.
April 11, 2007 From EFF
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a brief with a New
York district court, urging a judge to allow the target of a recording
industry lawsuit to fight back with counterclaims of his own.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has already moved
to dismiss copyright infringement claims against Rolando Amurao.
However, Amurao alleges that the RIAA's case is meritless and intended
to harass him, so he has countersued for a declaration of
non-infringement and a finding of RIAA copyright misuse. In its amicus
brief, EFF argues that giving Amurao his day in court increases RIAA
accountability in the industry's broad lawsuit campaign against
file-sharing.
April 10, 2007 From Mi2N
Music-products maker Peavey
Electronics has challenged the stars of TLC's hit reality show
"American Chopper" to a custom-shop duel to celebrate the launch of its
new online guitar custom shop, www.PeaveyCustomShop.com.
The "Battle of the Builders" that pits Hartley Peavey and his designers
against Team Teutul -- Paul Sr., Paulie and Mikey Teutul and the Orange
County Choppers crew -- will unfold during two episodes of "American
Chopper," April 12 and 19. The shows will chronicle the design process
behind the Peavey Custom Shop OCC guitar and a Peavey-themed chopper
that incorporates a working amplifier that really cranks.
April 10, 2007. From Associated Press
Apple Corps, guardian of the Beatles' commercial interests, said
Tuesday its chief executive, a longtime friend of the Fab Four, has
quit. Neil Aspinall, a school friend of Sir Paul McCartney and George
Harrison, was the band's first road manager and would drive them
between gigs in his van. He later became their personal assistant and
in 1968 was given a management role at Apple Records, the band's own
record label. Aspinall, now 64, was executive producer on the
top-selling "Beatles Anthology" album and was behind other successes,
including the "Beatles 1" album. The company said in a statement that
Jeff Jones, a former executive vice president at Sony BMG, has been
appointed as Aspinall's replacement. There was no explanation for why
Aspinall decided to quit.
April 9, 2007. From billboard
Former Kiss guitarist Mark St.
John died Thursday from an apparent brain hemorrhage. He was 51. Born
Mark Norton in Hollywood, St. John was Kiss' third official guitarist,
having replaced Vinnie Vincent -- the substitute for Ace Frehley -- in
1984. The lone Kiss album on which St. John appeared, "Animalize,"
re-established the group as one of the world's top arena metal bands.
The album spawned the popular MTV video, "Heaven's on Fire" (the only
Kiss video to feature St. John).
April 8, 2007 From KansasCity.com
From the power chords of
Aerosmith to the jazz beats of Roy Haynes and the funky dance rhythms
of the Tavares, New England has been home to a diverse and vibrant
music scene for decades.
Until recently, however, there has never been a single repository for
that musical history.
A few men with deep roots in the region's music scene have set up a Web
site to celebrate some of the area's greatest artists. Their goal is to
one day open a bricks and mortar museum.
"We want to preserve all of this rich musical history," said Harry
Sandler, one of the founders of the Music Museum of New England and
drummer for the 1960s band Orpheus. "We're doing it for the love of
music."
Sandler, now the vice president of a speakers' booking agency who's
still performing with some original members of Orpheus, has been a part
of Boston's music scene for more than four decades. His first band
opened for the Rolling Stones when they played the Manning Bowl in Lynn
in 1966. Orpheus played with Cream, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin and The
Who, among others.
He's known Steve Nelson since the '60s when Nelson was manager of the
legendary Boston Tea Party concert venue.
Sandler and Nelson, along with friends Michael Fondo and Gary Sohmers -
an expert on pop culture collectibles - came up with the idea for the
museum.
April 6, 2007 From Slashdot
"It's not like it hasn't been said many times before, but it's nice to see the NY Times running an opinion piece
about the RIAA from a pair of record store owners which basically
points out how at every opportunity, the RIAA has made the wrong move
and made things worse: 'The major labels wanted to kill the single.
Instead they killed the album. The association wanted to kill Napster.
Instead it killed the compact disc. And today it's not just record
stores that are in trouble, but the labels themselves, now belatedly
embracing the Internet revolution without having quite figured out how
to make it pay.' It's not every day that you see a NY Times piece use
the word 'boneheadedness' to describe the strategy of an organization."
April 6, 2007 From CNET
It was President Herbert Hoover who
campaigned on the promise of prosperity under his administration when
he vowed "a chicken in every pot, a car in every garage."
Michigan state Democrats want to do him one better: an iPod for every
child. An unsigned editorial in The Detroit News is, to put it mildly,
not a fan. "An iPod for every kid? Are they !#$!ing idiots?" the
headline screams.
The state is apparently facing a budget crisis--to the tune of $1
billion. On Thursday, House Democrats delivered a spending bill that
includes the idea of putting $38 million worth of public funds toward
outfitting every student with a digital music player. The plan also
included measures to tax soda and satellite TV services, among other
things, to raise funds.
Seems like an interesting idea because iPods could easily be used as
educational devices--to transport or store digital documents and
projects, or to listen to lectures. It's also not a new idea--Duke
University famously gave iPods to all incoming freshmen. But, The
Detroit News' editorial makes an astute point wondering "how
financially strained Michigan residents will feel about paying higher
taxes to buy someone else's kid an iPod."
April 4, 2007 From Mi2N
Jazz at Lincoln Center announced today its 6th Annual Spring Gala,
themed Spring Swing!, to be held on Monday, May 14, 2007. The evening
will include a 7:30pm benefit concert in Rose Theater at Frederick P.
Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The concert will be followed
by a gala dinner dance at 9pm. For tickets at $1,000 and up, call Jazz
at Lincoln Center Special Events office at (212) 258-9961. The Spring
Gala will feature some of the greatest talents in music today,
performing in collaboration with the Wynton Marsalis Septet, including
Jimmy Buffett, Lenny Kravitz and Derek Trucks. Kermit Ruffins and the
Barbecue Swingers will perform at the post concert dinner dance.
The proceeds of the evening will benefit Jazz at Lincoln Center, the
not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to inspiring and growing
audiences for jazz through performance and education of the highest
standard – producing nearly 1,000 education and performance events each
year.
April 3, 2007 From All About Jazz
Music group EMI yesterday
scrapped copy protection on all its digital tracks in a move that was
immediately hailed by Apple chief executive Steve Jobs as “the next big
step forward in the digital music revolution”.
For the first time, downloads by artists including Robbie Williams,
Coldplay and Joss Stone purchased from any online music store will be
playable on any digital music player, including the market-leading
iPod, with no restrictions on their use.
April 3, 2007. From Associated Press
Police have issued
arrest warrants for country singer Billy Joe Shaver after he shot and
wounded a man outside a Texas bar, the entertainer's attorney said.
After Shaver left a bar in Lorena on Saturday night, a drunk,
aggressive stranger with a knife followed him into the parking lot,
said attorney Joseph A. Turner of Austin. Shaver shot him in
self-defense, he said.
March 30, 2007 From Billboard
Trent Reznor could have just given a few interviews to explain Nine
Inch Nails' new album, "Year Zero." But instead, he's utilizing a
multifaceted Internet scavenger hunt, and in some cases, his own rabid
fans, to help gradually build the story of the project, due April 17
via Nothing/Interscope.
Dystopian, apocalyptic themes are pervasive on the album, echoing
topics the group has explored since 1989's classic "Pretty Hate
Machine." Neither Reznor, his manager nor Interscope reps would speak
to Billboard about the campaign, which has encompassed everything from
cryptic phrases on T-shirts to Orwellian Web sites to MP3s found on USB
drives in bathrooms at NIN concerts. But a source with knowledge of the
project says Reznor may very well perceive it all not as a marketing
campaign, but as "a new entertainment form."
Indeed, the source says the campaign forms the body of the "Year Zero"
experience: "It is the CD booklet come to life. It precedes the concept
album and the tour. And it will continue for the next 18 months, with
peaks and valleys. No one has assembled the full story yet. The new
media is creating the story as it goes."
March 30, 2007 From Mi2N
It was announced today that
Twentieth Century Fox has asked Skope for permission to use the Mar/Apr
07' issue in their upcoming film, Alvin & The Chipmunks. Permission
from Skope has been granted and copies of the issue are en route to Los
Angeles from Boston.
Skope's CEO & Publisher, Michael Friedman, said, "We are very
excited and honored to be chosen to be part of Alvin & The
Chipmunks' new movie. This is a great example that Skope is truly being
embraced by music enthusiasts far & wide. That is what we intended
to do so I am thrilled."
The magazine would be used as general set dressing in a scene that
takes place in the office of a record label executive.
April 29, 2007. From Associated Press
Scott Weiland's wife
said an imbalance of medications for bipolar disorder caused rowdy
behavior that left hotel rooms trashed and led to her arrest for
allegedly torching the Velvet Revolver rocker's clothes. "Reports that
we were fighting at the Graciela Hotel are untrue," she said. "Scott
was simply trying to help me calm down. I want to make it very clear
that he did not hurt me in any way."
March 27, 2007 From PR Indider
Universal Music Group (UMG),
the world's leading music company, and Alliance TRACE Media (TRACE)
announced today that UMG will become a global strategic investor in
TRACE. UMG will receive a board seat and minority equity stake in
TRACE. This agreement further expands UMG's growing portfolio of
strategic media investments while increasing commercial opportunities
for its market-leading video catalogue and roster of artists. Universal
will provide TRACE with global music/video
rights, a weekly slot on IMF -- the International Music Feed (UMG's
global pop brand with a 24-hour cable/satellite TV channel) -- and
cross promotion and marketing support, including the first ever urban
music partnership to sell mobile content in China.
March 24, 2007 From KNAC
Researchers say they've found a
clear link between hard rock music and intelligence. The claim came
after a study of the musical tastes of 1000 brainy youngsters found
they preferred the likes of Ozzy Osbourne to Mozart.
The survey was carried out by a team at the National Academy for Gifted
and Talented Youth at Warwick University in the UK, And they've even
come up with an explanation.
The researchers believe many bright children often feel isolated
because of their high IQs - so they tend to seek comfort in loud music.
They believe lyrics dealing with alienation and hate can be a form of
escape for brain boxes.
March 21, 2007. From Associated Press.
The Bay City Rollers, a popular Scottish pop group that topped music
charts in the 1970s, accused Arista Records in a lawsuit Tuesday of
failing to pass along millions of dollars in royalties over the past 25
years. The federal lawsuit seeks unspecified damages on behalf of six
band members, including bassist Alan Longmuir and drummer Derek
Longmuir, the brothers who started the group in Edinburgh in 1967. The
band says in the lawsuit that Arista owes it royalties on millions of
dollars. That was money generated by selling albums, compact discs,
multimedia licenses and merchandise, along with rights to commercials,
movies and even telephone ring tones. The band says in the lawsuit that
Arista has taken the position that it has held royalties from the band
members until it receives clear instructions from them as to how the
money should be distributed. The lawsuit says a payment of $254,392 in
September 1997 was the only one made to the band, well short of the
millions of dollars the band believes it is owed.
March 21, 2007
Luther Ingram, the R&B singer and songwriter best known for the hit
"If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want to Be Right)," has died. He was
69. Ingram died Monday at a Belleville, Illinois, hospital of heart
failure, friend and journalist Bernie Hayes said Tuesday. He had
suffered for years from diabetes, kidney disease and partial blindness,
his wife, Jacqui Ingram, said.
March 20 , 2007 From NewsDay
Save the Music, the VH1 foundation dedicated to promoting music
education in the nation's public schools, is celebrating its 10th
anniversary with a concert featuring John Mayer _ and 50 of the
students the organization has helped over the past decade.
The concert, scheduled for Sept. 20 at Lincoln Center, will also
include Tim Gunn of "Project Runway" as the host of a live auction.
According to the foundation, Save the Music has provided more than $34
million worth of instruments and helped hundreds of music programs in
schools around the country.
March 20, 2007 From Top 40 Charts
The rise from mixtape king
to Grammy-winning artist is a dream for aspiring musicians. It became
reality for one Houston rapper who celebrates a recent Grammy win for
Best Rap Performance of "Ridin'" just one year after releasing his
first major label album, "The Sound of Revenge". Chamillionaire, now
prepping for the release of his encore album "Ultimate Victory" this
summer, teams with the Energizer Bunny to find the next new talent.
The "Energizer e2 Titanium Technology Freestylin' Music Contest"
rewards rising talent again this year after hundreds of hip-hop
hopefuls entered their freestylin' submission in 2006 to get the ear of
rapper Slim Thug. This year, Energizer enlists the help of celebrity
judge, Chamillionaire. The winner will meet Chamillionaire and perform
live at the DUB Magazine's 2007 Custom Auto Show and Concert in
Atlanta, Ga., on May 20, 2007. The longest lasting alkaline battery in
high-tech music devices wants to spotlight the talents of life's music
listeners.
March 17, 2007 From BreathCast
Gospel Music Channel, the nation’s first 24-hour music television
channel dedicated to all styles of gospel music, is being cut from
numerous city networks under DirecTV, the nation's leading satellite
television service provider.
As of Mar. 14, DirecTV discontinued ten city markets carrying the
Atlanta-based Gospel Music Channel including Austin, Dallas, Denver,
Jacksonville, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Orlando, Paducah, Philadelphia
and San Antonio for business-related reasons..
Christians in the areas are discouraged by the situation, because it
removes content that is safe to watch with the family. Christian Grammy
award-winner Kirk Franklin even wrote an email in response to the
predicament after he saw a message on the bottom of a program he was
watching announcing the closures.
March 17, 2007 from USA Today
A waltz. A tango. A piece of
jazz. But they weren't composed in Vienna, Buenos Aires or New Orleans.
Scribbled on diaries, loose pages or even toilet paper, these are the
notes left behind by people who lived and died in the prisons and
concentration camps of World War II.
Italian researchers hope thousands of nearly forgotten works will find
new life as they assemble a library of music composed or played in
those dark places between 1933 and 1945.
"We are trying to right a great wrong: These musicians were hoping for
a musical life for themselves, and they would have had it if their
destiny had been different," said Italian musician Francesco Lotoro.
He has been collecting originals, copies and recordings of everything
from operas composed in the depth of the Nazi death machine to jazz
pieces written in Japanese POW camps in Asian jungles.
The library, set to open in September at Rome's Third University, will
offer scholars a repertoire of 4,000 papers and 13,000 microfiches
including music sheets, letters, drawings and photos.
For more than 15 years, working largely alone, Lotoro has been
crisscrossing the globe, usually at his own expense, hunting down
musical works from museums, archives and antique shops, as well as from
survivors or their families.
March 16, 2007.
Brad Delp, the lead singer for the band
Boston who killed himself last week, left behind a note in which he
called himself "a lonely soul," according to police reports released
Thursday. The note was paper-clipped to the neck of Delp's shirt when
police found his body at his Atkinson home, on the bathroom floor, his
head on a pillow. He had sealed himself inside with two charcoal
grills; toxicology tests showed he had committed suicide by carbon
monoxide poisoning.
March 14, 2007 From Moco News
Slacker, based in San Diego, certainly has big ambitions, judging by
its new website and service plans it announced. And it has some
veterans of the industry behind it: Dennis Mudd, former CEO of
MusicMatch--which was sold to Yahoo in 2004 for $160 million--along
with Jonathan Sasse (formerly of iRiver), and Jim Cady (formerly of
Rio). Their radio service went live in beta today, and a separate
Wi-Fi-enabled pocketable gadget that will be able to play the
personalized selections will be available in the early summer. A car
kit that will deliver the music via satellite signals will be available
later in the year. The basic Slacker radio service is ad-supported and
free. A premium level of service that is set to launch in the second
quarter will cost $7.50 per month, eliminate advertising and give users
more flexibility and features. The Slacker Personal Radio Player, which
is about the size of a deck of cards, sports a 4-inch color screen and
can also store and play back digital music and videos that a user owns.
March 14, 2007 From Marketing Daily
Starbucks is taking its brand further into the entertainment field with
the creation of a new music record label, Hear Music, in a deal with
Concord Music Group and based on its Hear Music brand. Unconfirmed
reports had Paul McCartney on the verge of signing on with Hear Music.
The news is seen as a strong possibility, given McCartney's fit with
Starbucks demographic. The former Beatle is also a free agent.
The coffee giant is going beyond branding music by artists such as Ray
Charles and Sergio Mendes, each of whom won Grammy Awards in
collaboration with Starbucks Entertainment and Concord. Now, it will
create its own music, although the company says the deal isn't intended
to monopolize the result. It will sell records through its own stores
as well as through other retailers.
Starbucks' moves in recent years--to books, a movie, hybrid Hear Music
coffeehouses and a branded page at Apple's iTunes store--have industry
observers questioning its brand strategy. Indeed, its own chairman,
Howard Schultz, has lamented the "watering down of the Starbucks
experience, and what some might call the commoditization of our brand."
A statement by Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, that
Hear Music "will seek out unique and compelling artists from a broad
range of genres to help them reach the widest audience possible"
sounded to some like an "American Idol" for musicians could be in the
works. The company had no comment.
March 9, 2007 from All Hip Hop
Grammy Award winning songwriter and producer Jermaine Dupri will be
receiving top honors this year at the 21st Annual Soul Train Music
Awards and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
(ASCAP) Awards.
Dupri will be recognized with the Quincy Jones Lifetime Achievement
Award at the 2007 Soul Train Awards, which will be held Mar. 10 in
Pasadena, CA.
ASCAP will honor JD by awarding him with his sixth achievement as
Songwriter of the Year during the 24th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards,
which takes place April 18 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.
Dupri will share his Pop Songwriter of the Year honors with his protégé
singer/songwriter, Johnta Austin.
March 9, 2007 From PR News Wire
Universal Music Group (UMG),
and Bolt Inc. jointly announced today that they have reached an
out-of-court settlement resolving the lawsuit brought by UMG against
Bolt last year. UMG had sued Bolt for copyright infringement in
connection with the unauthorized use of UMG's video and music content
on the Bolt website. Recently, Bolt announced it would be acquired by
GoFish which has been a licensed partner of UMG for the past two years.
Under the terms of the agreement, Bolt has agreed to provide UMG with a
multi-million dollar payment for damages for past infringement, against
a percentage of the value of the company. In addition, Bolt has also
agreed to introduce filtering technologies within the next 60 days
ensuring that its users can no longer exploit the music and videos of
UMG artists and songwriters without appropriate payment and consent.
March 6, 2007 from Music Industry Newswire
Sdoia-Satz Music
Institute (The Husky Gang School), the prestigious, private music
school in Miami with a reputation for outstanding musical excellence,
is celebrating its 50th anniversary and is offering a $100 discount on
its $250 two hour comprehensive aptitude test, available only until
March 15, 2007. This test evaluates the untrained sense of pitch,
rhythm, strengths and weakness of personality and natural musicianship,
helps determine choice of instrument and instructor best suited to fit
the candidate’s needs.
The assessment includes a mini-lesson utilizing the high-energy
teaching style of the school. The teaching methods of the Husky Gang
School are so unusual and innovative that the school is sponsored by
Comcast, Sam Ash and the Village of El Portal, Florida. CNN and
Eyewitness News have called them “unique.”
Sdoia-Satz Music Institute (The Husky Gang School) has already been
immortalized in the book series entitled, “The Husky Gang Teaches
Piano” (ISBN-10: 0757978894), and “The Husky Gang Tales,” written and
composed by Phyllis Sdoia-Satz and published by Warner Brothers. The
series is about the adventures of Sam, an Alaskan malamute, Stormy,
Sheba, and Sabrina, 3 Siberian huskies, and Sharon, an “honorary” husky
(She’s really a cat), five “music teachers” in the fictional Husky Gang
Music School.
The real animals, of the same names, are actually mascots of the real
Husky Gang School. They have all been featured in a myriad of
newspaper, magazine articles as well as TV and radio interviews, along
with the Director of the school, Phyllis Sdoia-Satz.
March 5, 2007 From Associated Press
Jose Jimenez scanned the rows of CDs, whose covers mainly pictured men
dressed in cowboy hats and Western-style shirts open at the collar.
Jimenez, who is from Mexico, was in a Latin record shop in the New York
City borough of Queens. He was searching for the latest from a Mexican
band whose specialty is accordion- and polka-based music that relates
sometimes-true stories about drug trafficking and its social ills. He
had recently seen the band play on a Spanish-language television show.
"You listen to the music and start to believe you're back in your
country," the 36-year-old said, adding that the lyrics speak about what
is going on in Mexico these days.
For many Latin Americans like Jimenez, the source for their music — a
cultural bridge between their lives in the U.S. and their homelands —
is the neighborhood Latin record shop. These stores have proliferated
in New York's immigrant neighborhoods in recent years and have survived
even as the retail music industry that caters to English speakers faces
grim prospects.
March 4, 2007 From SFGate
Two decades ago, all you needed to
re-create the soundtrack from a top video game was a cheap kazoo.
Frogger and Donkey Kong were fun to play, but the repetitive
synthesized scores usually ranged from kind of grating to
headache-inducing hideousness.
On Friday night, thousands will pack the Nob Hill Masonic Center
Auditorium in San Francisco specifically to listen to video game music,
at a local performance of Video Games Live. There will be a full
symphony and a choir. And, along with several other composers,
Nintendo's Koji Kondo -- the Chuck Berry of video-game music -- will
perform one of his original themes live.
Video Games Live executive producer Tommy Tallarico says the
performance wouldn't have been possible a decade ago, before video game
music underwent a huge renaissance in the late 1990s. Today,
soundtracks for games such as Halo and the Final Fantasy series sell in
the tens of thousands overseas.
March 2 From WSJ
EMI Group PLC said Friday it had received
and rejected a "non-binding" £ 2.1 billion, or $4.1 billion, takeover
proposal from Warner Music Group in a fresh hurdle to the two
companies' continuing and ill-starred attempts to merge dating back to
2000.
EMI, whose artists include Robbie Williams and Norah Jones, said in a
statement that its board had concluded Friday that the proposal, which
was subject to "numerous assumptions and conditions," wasn't in the
best interest of its shareholders and undervalues the company.
March 1, 2007 from Red Herring
Executives from the recording
and technology industries hashed out some of their differences at a
digital music conference in New York, with topics such as digital
rights management, royalties, and licensing provoking a lively debate.
Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association,
said Wednesday that his organization had filed an amicus brief in the
United States Southern District Court of New York in a case involving
the royalties charged by the American Society of Composers, Authors,
and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI)
ASCAP has claimed that digital music downloads are public performances
and therefore should be subject to both a public performance license
fee and a royalty.
“We don’t want ASCAP and BMI to double-dip on performance royalty,” he
said. “This double-dipping is holding back our industry.”
Feb 27,2007 From Google News
Dedicated musicians enclose
themselves in tiny practice rooms for hours, repeating excerpts again
and again with the sound bouncing off the walls. They play in
orchestras in front of the rat-a-tat of snare drums, the blaring of
trumpets and the booming of tubas.
For all this dedication, they could be slowly ruining one of their most
important assets as a musician — their hearing.
UNT is setting out to change that.Through the Texas Center for Music
and Medicine, the College of Music is educating students about the risk
of noise-induced hearing loss in music ensembles — helping them save
their hearing for longer musical careers and improving their quality of
life.
About 28 million people in the United States have some form of hearing
loss, and research by several organizations — including UNT — suggests
30 percent to 50 percent of musicians report hearing problems.
To combat this problem, UNT started distributing information this
semester to its College of Music students in ensembles, informing them
of the possible danger of noise-induced hearing loss and advising them
of resources to protect their hearing. Ensemble directors and teachers
are discussing noise-induced hearing loss and prevention methods with
their students.
Feb 22, 2007 from Vail Daily
Several famous musicians are
suing a local business owner for copyright infringement for allowing
cover bands to play their songs without permission.
Van Halen Music Company, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and
Patricia Bonham are all named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging that
Vail business owner Steven Kovacik allowed public performances of their
songs at 8150, the lawsuit says.
Kovacik, owner of 8150, said he would not comment on the lawsuit. The
lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado, names
Kovacik and a company named Big Snow Ball LLC as defendants.
The plaintiffs alleged 10 counts of copyright infringement because the
defendants allowed bands to play 10 copyrighted songs on Jan. 15 and 16
at 8150, the lawsuit says. The plaintiffs are suing for as little as
$750 per song and as much as $30,000 per song, plus attorneys' fees,
according to court documents.
Anthony Juarez, an event coordinator who represents the local band
initfortim-who opened for female cover band Lez Zeppelin at 8150 on
Jan. 15-said he was surprised by the lawsuit.
"Bands cover famous songs all the time," Juarez said. "We cover songs
sometimes." The lawsuit contends that the defendants allowed public
performances of songs such as "Heartbreaker," "Whole Lotta Love," "Rock
and Roll" and "Black Dog," written by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and
other members of Led Zeppelin; "Hot for Teacher," written by Eddie Van
Halen and David Lee Roth of Van Halen; and "You Shook Me all Night"
written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young members of AC/DC.
Feb 19, 2007 New York Times
Starting this week, Suretone
Records, a label distributed by the Universal Music Group, plans to
distribute video files featuring popular acts like Weezer and new bands
like Drop Dead Gorgeous on file-sharing networks that the industry has
long viewed as illicit bazaars for pirates. Unlike the music audio and
video files that major labels sell at services like iTunes, the video
files will not be wrapped in protective software to limit copying,
executives say. But they will also be incomplete: users who download
them will see perhaps half the video and will be directed to the
label’s own Web site to watch the complete version — and the
advertising planned to run alongside.
The plan represents one of the latest signs that, after years of suing
individual users and file-swapping services, the recording industry is
recognizing that it might have to loosen its control to attract the
giant audience found in largely unregulated corners of the Internet.
And there is new reason for urgency. The music business has been
buckling beneath the pressure of widespread piracy and plunging sales.
Album sales declined 5 percent last year, and the scarcity of hits
after the holidays has put the industry on a course to fall behind even
last year’s lackluster performance.
Sales for the year so far are down more than 15 percent, according to
Nielsen SoundScan data. That has brought a profit warning from one
music corporation, the EMI Group, and prompted dire forecasts
industrywide. Digital sales are increasing, but not nearly enough to
offset the drop. As a result, many executives are searching for other
ways to reach the people who are trafficking in music and other media
files in free file-sharing networks and on social networking sites like
MySpace and Facebook.
Feb 16, 2007 From Top 40 Charts
Target has long been known as an innovative company whose primary goal
is to meet the ongoing needs of their valued "guests." To that end,
Target has formed a strategic alliance with 180 Music to create an
exclusive line of adult contemporary music called The Spotlight Music
Series. Fifteen exclusive albums in this new series will be hitting
store shelves in all 1,449 Target stores nationwide beginning February
27th. The one-of-a-kind albums can be found in "Spotlight End-caps" for
$9.99 each.
Feb 15, 2007 From Google news
EMI Group has cut the revenue
forecast for its recorded music division for the second time in five
weeks, blaming weak U.S. sales, and warned it will miss annual profit
forecasts, sending its shares plunging.
EMI shares fell as much as 13 percent to a 16-month low of 207-1/2
pence on Wednesday, after the firm said recorded music revenues were
likely to fall 15 percent in the year to March 31 at constant currency
rates.
Only last month, the group that is home to Robbie Williams and Norah
Jones cut its forecast to a fall of between 6 percent and 10 percent on
the same basis.
The news dismayed analysts and is likely to again increase the
spotlight on Chief Executive Eric Nicoli.
EMI ousted two music executives after poor Christmas sales in January
from Williams, among others. It said it had revised its forecasts as a
result of the "continued and accelerating deterioration in market
conditions in North America"
Feb 14, 2007 from KEYT
The initial lineup for the 2007
Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival has been released. The sixth annual
four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 14-17 on the
same 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tenn., 60 miles south of Nashville. A
full list of confirmed acts follows, and more will be announced in the
coming weeks. The final Bonnaroo 2007 lineup will total more than 100
bands and 20 comedians performing on 13 stages over four days.
This year, Bonnaroo will host the recently reunited the Police, along
with other acts such as Tool, Widespread Panic and the first announced
appearance by the White Stripes after their lengthy break.
The festival's most far-reaching lineup yet also features Manu Chao,
Wilco, Franz Ferdinand, the Decemberists, Ben Harper and the Innocent
Criminals, the String Cheese Incident, Regina Spektor, the Flaming Lips
and Damien Rice, among others.
Alternative arts entertainment has always been a part of the Bonnaroo
experience. This year's laugh lineup includes sets by David Cross, Dave
Attell and Lewis Black, who is returning to Bonnaroo for the second
year in a row.
Along with its exceptional programming, the Bonnaroo organization is
dedicated to producing a festival that is as environmentally friendly
as possible while raising awareness among patrons about green products,
technologies and issues.
Feb 14, 2007 From Zap2it
In case country music stars Tim
McGraw and Faith Hill run out of material, they have another woe to
sing about.
The country couple's Hollywood Hills home was burglarized over the
weekend, report news sources. An unspecificed amount of money was
taken.
The home was broken into sometime between Friday and Monday, when the
couple was away. The crime was discovered on Monday morning when
someone arrived at the house and then called police.
The Hollywoods house is the couple's secondary home, after their house
in Nashville, Tenn.
Feb 14, from Boston.com
Loretta Lynn will receive an honorary doctorate of music from Boston's
Berklee College of Music during her March 17 performance at the Grand
Ole Opry.
In receiving the honor, the 71-year-old Lynn joins a select group of
recording artists including Duke Ellington, Tony Bennett, Aretha
Franklin, Quincy Jones, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Earl Scruggs, Sting
and Sarah Vaughan.
Feb 9, 2007 From Reuters
Starbucks' Hear Music Debut CD
series will release its first international act this spring.
Brazilian singer/songwriter CeU, who gained notoriety last year after
scoring a Latin Grammy Award nomination for best new artist, will join
the small group of acts -- Antigone Rising, Sonya Kitchell and Low
Stars -- that have debuted via the Hear Music series. Her self-titled
debut album, which previously was released in Brazil, will be
co-released by Starbucks Hear Music and Six Degrees Records on April 3.
Starbucks carries many titles in its stores by established and
up-and-coming acts on major and indie labels. But its Hear Music Debut
series is a proprietary CD series designed to introduce customers to
new and developing artists.
Feb 7, 2007 From News Day
Apple Inc. chief executive Steve
Jobs asked the four largest music companies to license songs for
distribution on iTunes without copy protection software.
The decision on whether to remove so-called digital rights management,
or DRM, software to prevent copying of music files is up to Universal
Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI
Group Plc, Jobs said in an open letter posted on Apple's Web site
yesterday called "Thoughts on Music."
Jobs said the four companies, which control rights to more than 70
percent of the world's music, required Apple to build a DRM system into
iTunes as a condition to selling their music online. ITunes, started in
2003, is the most popular legal site for music downloads and offers
more than 4 million songs.
Feb 5,2007 New Jersey Herald
hundreds of local teens signed a
petition to "save the music" at the Tapestry Cafe in Netcong, after
borough officials asked the eatery to cease its live music in response
to complaints about noise, parking and garbage around the cafe on
Ledgewood Avenue.
Crowds of patrons — most of them high school or college age — flock to
the cafe each week to socialize in an alcohol-free environment
featuring local bands, coffee, desserts, and the occasional
Victorian-era party.
Borough Administrator Bill Sheridan said the town recently had a
fruitful sit-down with the cafe owners and their attorney to settle the
situation. The owners will make sure patrons do not park in the wrong
zones or litter in the area, he said.
Amplified music will be allowed on weekends, but the cafe will make
sure the door's shut "so the sound doesn't become outrageous," Sheridan
said.
"The town was excellent and (zoning officer) Barrie Krouse was
fantastic in resolving the issue," said Peter Mankin, 47, of Stanhope,
who owns the cafe with his wife, Teresa. "All the kids are so happy we
can continue to have live music."
No more live music would have essentially meant no more Tapestry
Cafe."The operation will continue to be a viable operation," Sheridan
said. "I don't think it was any planned or purposeful situation.
They're younger folks and from time to time they might make a mistake."
But the period of uncertainty was a rallying point for a generation
often accused of being lazy or apathetic, said the owners' son, Joe
Mankin, 18, of Stanhope.
"They were in shock," owner Peter Mankin said of the teens and their
ensuing efforts. "It was more than my wife and I even anticipated."
The cafe's young patrons set up an online petition that garnered 581
signatures. Die-hards then took their plight to social networking Web
sites, another sign of the cyber generation.
"It's huge," Mankin said of the online trend. "MySpace is the biggest
thing they got going."
Feb 2,2007 All Hip Hop
The current image of rap music and rap
music videos is cause for concern among Black youth, according to the
Black Youth Project, a survey spearheaded under the direction of Dr.
Cathy Cohen of the University of Chicago.
The survey involved 1590 Black, White and Hispanic young people ages
15-25 from around the country.
Survey findings released yesterday (Feb. 1) reveal that 72 percent of
Black youth agree rap videos contain too many sexual references.
The majority of participants agreed that rap music videos portray Black
women and Black men in bad and offensive ways.
Sixty-six percent of Black women are more likely than White women (55%)
and Hispanic women (53%) to agree that they are portrayed in a
demeaning light in rap videos.
Although 57 percent of Black men feel that rap videos portray Black
women in bad and offensive ways, 44 percent of them disagree that the
videos portray Black men in bad and offensive ways.
The results of the survey provide solid evidence concerning the impact
of rap on young people, according to Dr. Cathy Cohen, one of the
organizers of the survey.
January 31, 2007 From Playbill Arts
Carter Harman, a composer, music critic, author and record producer,
died on January 23 at age 88, reports The New York Times.
Harman wrote an opera, a ballet and several symphonic works; produced
avant-garde music and was the author of a children's book about
skyscrapers. He also worked as a music critic, for the Times from 1947
to 1952, for Time magazine from 1952 to 1957, and in Puerto Rico
through the mid-1960s.
He profiled jazz greats like Rosemary Clooney and Duke Ellington. His A
Popular History of Music — From Gregorian Chant to Jazz was published
by Dell in 1956; other books he wrote include The West Indies, a
collaboration with his wife, Helen Scott Harman, and editors at Life
magazine (1963); and A Skyscraper Goes Up (1973).
Harman was born in Brooklyn in 1918, and began studying clarinet at
nine. He studied composition with Roger Sessions at Princeton
University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1940. In World
War II, he joined the Army Air Force and became a helicopter pilot. An
account of his heroic wartime accomplishments appears in Robert F.
Dorr's Chopper 2005.
January 30, 2007, From Top 40-Charts
Music Nation
(www.musicnation.com), the artist development company, has announced
the final line-up of its music industry judges as the first online
multi-genre video music competition officially launches. Voting is now
formally open and together with the public, these judges will choose
finalists for the 15-week competition. Music Nation will award a global
recording contract with Epic Records to a winner in each of three
genres - rock, pop and urban. Additionally, all three winners will be
showcased on an episode of STRIPPED, Clear Channel Radio's exclusive
in-studio performance series, giving unsigned acts the chance of a
lifetime.
Bringing together a diverse group of both artists and music executives,
Music Nation has lined up a team of industry powerhouses to help
determine the competition winners. For the Urban genre, the judges are
Nelly, three-time Grammy Award winner and one of the best selling
rappers of all time with over 35 million records sold, and
multi-platinum rapper and two-time Grammy nominee The Game. Rounding
out the Urban judges is Mark Pitts, President of Urban Music at Jive
Records, who over his career has managed such acts as Notorious B.I.G.
and Nas, and is credited for helping to break such artists as Usher,
Ciara, and Chris Brown. Serving as judges for the Rock genre are
brothers Joel and Benji Madden from multi-platinum recording artists
Good Charlotte and producer Howard Benson, who has worked with acts
such as The All-American Rejects, Hoobastank, Papa Roach and My
Chemical Romance, and is currently a 2007 Grammy-nominee for Producer
Of The Year. In the Pop genre, the judges are Charlie Walk, President
of Epic Records, home of platinum-selling acts such as Modest Mouse,
Franz Ferdinand, and Incubus, and producer Jonathan "J.R." Rotem, who
has worked with high profile artists such as Britney Spears, Jennifer
Lopez, Destiny's Child, and Rihanna.
January 29, 2007 From Houston Choronicle
When SpiralFrog
announced a deal with a major recording company to offer free,
ad-supported music downloads, it made headlines as a bold but natural
step — giving the label a share of the fast-growing Internet
advertising pie, while squeezing out pirates.
Soon after Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group came on board in August,
EMI Group PLC also struck a deal with the formerly obscure startup.
Suddenly, downloads from mainstream music catalogs were to become free.
But the concept appeared last week to have suffered a setback.
SpiralFrog sent its attorney to the Midem music industry gathering in
Cannes to replace former CEO Robin Kent, who was ousted late last month
— when the service had been set to go live.
"There's been a management shake-up," Marc Jacobson of lawfirm
Greenberg Traurig told a conference at which Kent had been due to
speak.
SpiralFrog still plans to launch, Jacobson said, but has no firm date.
He declined to elaborate and made no comment on speculation that the
company had been unable to sell enough advertising to meet royalty
fees.
Despite a boom in download sales over the Internet and mobile phones,
the music market as a whole is shrinking as digital revenue growth
fails to offset a decline in CD sales. Total music revenues fell 3
percent to 4 percent globally in 2006, according to estimates by IFPI,
the industry's leading global body.
Illegal file-sharing accounts for up to 100 times as many song
downloads as Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes, the market leader in legal
online music sales, according to Intent MediaWorks, a U.S.-based
consulting firm that specializes in digital distribution.
SpiralFrog and other embryonic ad-supported services promise a new
approach to tackling piracy. Proponents see massive demand from
peer-to-peer users who, they believe, would gladly put up with
commercial messages in return for the peace of mind that legality
brings.
If you can't beat them, the theory goes, then at least make some money
out of them.
January 29, 2007 From NMC
AOL Music Now and Virgin Digital
have both gone under and sent their former customers over to Napster,
giving credence to the notion that music subscription services may
enjoy a higher success rate when it is offered by a company who
specializes in the field.
In a recent report, Ovum analyst Jonathan Arber stated: "We wouldn't be
surprised to see more players take this approach over the coming 12
months, as the initial rush of hype around digital music dies down, and
those faced with the reality of a hugely difficult market look to hand
the
reins over to specialist players." AOL, MTV, Virgin and Yahoo all
started music subscription services to find that they couldn't sustain
themsleves in such a complex and competitive market.
Experts say that a service needs 1 million subscribers to "reach
critical mass," but RealNetworks' Rhapsody was the only one to have
achieved it, managing to make profits with only slightly lower numbers.
Analysts estimate that AOL's MusicNow carried only 350,000 subscribers
when it gave the reins over to Napster.
January 28, 2007 From Tech Blorge
More than US$2 billion of
music was sold online or through mobile phones in 2006 which was almost
double that of 2005. Unfortunately, this did not come anywhere close to
compensating for the decline in CD sales, according to the 2007 Digital
Music Report published by the IFPI (an international body that
represents the recording industry worldwide).The report spells out the
problem for the music industry: while the future of the music industry
may lie on the Internet, digital piracy and the devaluation of music
content are a real threat to the emerging digital music business.
However, the music industry is not resting on its laurels. It has
launched legal actions against approximately 10,000 large-scale P2P
uploaders, and according to research, this has helped contain piracy,
reducing the proportion of internet users frequently file-sharing in
key European markets.
The IFPI says that action against individual uploaders are only the
second best way of dealing with the problem, and the IFPI is stepping
up its campaign for action from ISPs and will take whatever legal steps
are necessary.
January 28, 2007 The North Western
Piano, violin, flute,
voice. Whatever music lessons they take, those who start music before
age 6 or 7 have been shown to score higher on abstract reasoning tests,
said Frances Rauscher, the associate University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
professor granted a 1997 Faculty Scholars Award to explore the
relationship between music lessons and cognition.
The five-year study was done with a group of economically disadvantaged
Head Start students in preschool. Some received instruction in piano,
singing or rhythm; others, classes in computer or no instruction at
all.
The music group scored higher on special tests. Not only that, but
Rauscher said the study team noticed positive effects on self-esteem
and social interaction.
"It's important for children to be engaged in things that make them
happy," she said. "Most children really enjoy music."
In Oshkosh and around the country, there are countless ways to expose
children to music – even before they're born.
Some parents opt to strap headphones infused with classical tunes on
their pregnant bellies, hoping (as The Mozart Effect theorizes) it
might increase a child's IQ, future musical skills or even turn out a
little genius.
"The ear is pretty well developed by birth, so they can hear," Rauscher
said. "But there's no data that I know of that has looked at those
affects in the womb."
When parents come to Rauscher asking what to play to their unborn
children, she tells them "whatever they enjoy. The good feelings from
what they like are passed on to the fetus."
But she, along with local music instructors, agrees that starting kids
on an instrument by age 3 is a good way to go.
Everett and Santha Goodwin, of Oshkosh, have taught violin and piano to
preschool children since the early 1970s, using the Dr. Shin'ichi
Suzuki method, which introduces children as young as 2 to music. The
method teaches kids to think about music they hear, then reproduce the
sound.
"Most aren't reading yet. They're listening and pick it up," Everett
Goodwin said. "It's unbelievable."
January 25,2007 from New York Times
Impresario George Wein, who brought jazz out of smoke-filled nightclubs
to mass audiences by founding the much-imitated Newport Jazz Festival
more than 50 years ago, said he has sold his production company, which
puts on music festivals from New York City to Tokyo.
"I'm concerned with preserving my legacy and at my age I'm still
working as hard as ever but it was more difficult to find the funding
necessary to guarantee the future of everything we're doing," Wein, 81,
said in a telephone interview Thursday.
Wein said he sold his company, Festival Productions Inc., to The
Festival Network LLC, a new New York-based entertainment production
company. The price was "in the millions," he said.
Wein said he became concerned about the future of his company and its
festivals as he grew older. Joyce Wein, his wife of 46 years, died in
2005.
He said he had been approached several times during the last decade
about selling his company and nearly sold it in 1998 to Black
Entertainment Television.
The new owners assured him the sale won't cause any major changes in
the near future in the sponsorship or programming of the 13 to 15 major
festivals his company produces annually, he said, including the JVC
Jazz Festival in New York and the Newport jazz and folk festivals.
The deal does not cover the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival,
which Wein also founded and runs through a separate company.
January 21,2007 From Orlando Sentinel
Independent music companies, who produce artists including Arctic
Monkeys and the White Stripes, agreed to start a licensing agency to
generate sales from new media outlets such as MySpace and YouTube.
The London-based agency, called Merlin, will facilitate licensing new
releases through a single point of contact, Charles Caldas, chief
executive officer of Australia's Shock Records, said Saturday.
Advertising-supported Web sites and social-networking sites are
providing the music industry with potential revenue streams as piracy
and declining CD sales damage the industry's traditional business
models.
Networking sites are an opportunity as they reach a huge community of
music fans and offer new ways of marketing and selling, the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said recently.
"Merlin will enable independents around the world to participate in new
licensing and revenue models on competitive terms and give new services
more direct access to their repertoire," said Caldas, who was at a
music-industry conference in Cannes, France.
The number of tracks available online has doubled to more than 4
million in the past year, the federation said.
Merlin is a nonprofit organization owned by its members.
January 20, 2007 From Google News
The mountain of confusion
over where to download your music based on what software you use just
got
leveled. NexTune(R), Inc., a Redmond WA. based music software company,
today announced the release of its new desktop music player, online
music
recognition service, and Music Store. NexTune's digital music software
is the first desktop application capable of playing multiple digital
music
formats, including songs purchased from Apple's iTunes(R) Music Store
and from download stores featuring Microsoft's DRM (digital rights
management)
-- a capability that makes nexTune(TM) the most versatile music
software ever released. To help introduce its software, NexTune is
giving away up to
$50,000 in free music via a credit-towards-purchase promotion at the
NexTune Music Store. By simply downloading and using the nexTune(TM)
software application, music fans can get 15 days of access to the
NexTune Music Profile Database, and credit (at $.10 per song) for
adding music info
to that database if it's not already there. Then, they can purchase new
or used CDs with those credits. Said Michael DuKane, NexTune founder
and CEO: "We want to encourage everyone to give this tremendous
playlisting and music management software
a try, and what better way to promote a 'music tool' than to give away
music with it? And," he continued, "if they enjoy the program and the
process, users can become NexTune Gold Members and take advantage of
numerous music specials, services, and offerings all year long."
January 17,2007 From USA Today
Country-music luminary George Jones wants to share his knowledge of the
industry as part of a just-launched "country music university" named
for him.
Dedicated to teaching students how the music industry works and how to
break into the business, George Jones University will assemble its
first 3-day session in late March, school officials said Wednesday.
The kickoff session, which likely will be held at Jones' Nashville-area
home, will be followed by similar quarterly seminars.
The cost for each session will be $300 per student.
Music executive Tandy Rice, who has been tapped as dean, said George
Jones University was modeled off Trump University, established last
year by New York real estate mogul Donald Trump.
January 15, 2007 From Yahoo News
Alice Coltrane, the jazz musician who was closely linked with the music
of her late husband, legendary US saxophonist John Coltrane, has died
at the age of 69, a newspaper reported.
Citing a spokesman for the family, The Los Angeles Times newspaper said
Coltrane died Friday at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center in West
Hills of respiratory failure.
She had been in frail health for some time. Though known for her
contributions to jazz and early New Age music, Coltrane, a convert to
Hinduism, was also a significant spiritual leader and founded the
Vedantic Center, a spiritual commune now located in the Los Angeles
area, the paper said.
For much of the last nearly 40 years, Alice Coltrane was also the
keeper of her husband's musical legacy, managing his archive and
estate.
Her husband, one of the pivotal figures in the history of jazz, died of
liver disease on July 17, 1967, at the age of 40.
A pianist and organist, Alice Coltrane was noted for her astral
compositions and for bringing the harp onto the jazz bandstand, the
paper said.
January 14, 2007 Chicago Sun Times
First came the death of
the 8-track tape, followed by vinyl and cassette tapes. Now music
lovers are bracing themselves for several new realities. Could the
death of the CD be just around the corner? Will music exist only in
cyberspace? And is the revolution in downloading also sounding a death
knell for traditional music stores?
Evidence is mounting that the answer is yes: Another nail was pounded
into the CD's coffin when Tower Records, the retailer with the deepest
catalog in town, closed its doors.
According to a recent survey in Britain's New Musical Express magazine,
young music fans give the CD only about five more years of life. Plus,
figures this month show CD sales dropped nearly 5 percent in 2006
compared to the previous year. Digital downloahowever, increased a
whopping 65 percent.
So the purchase and collection of CDs is getting a little harder -- but
while the futuf music leans toward cyberspace, experts also feel the CD
and the record store will remain a part of the music industry. The song
will remahe same, but the shops' roles will be different.
January 9,2007 From Mp3.com
JupiterResearch says that digital music sales, both a la carte
downloads and subscriptions, will account for 22 percent of the total
music market in five years. With technology giants making big music
moves this week at both MacWorld and the Consumer Electronics Show
(CES), it should come as no surprise that the digital music industry is
poised for big things in the next five years.
The new iPhone is expected to drive music sales. The new iPhone is
expected to drive music sales.JupiterResearch said as much today,
projecting digital music sales to reach $2.5 billion in the US by 2011,
a jump that will have digital sales accounting for 22 percent of the
total music market by 2011. Digital sales brought in slightly less than
$1 billion in 2006
January 5, 2007 From MP3.com
Annual music festival is set to
wrap up a deal to purchase 530 acres on the site where the festival is
held; lineup to be announced in the coming weeks.
One of the largest music festival's in the US is looking to stick
around for a while. My Morning Jacket's Jim James at Bonnaroo 2006.
The organizers of the annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival are
wrapping up a deal to buy 530 acres of the site on which the event is
held each year in Manchester, Tennessee, according to the Associated
Press. The sale of the farmland to Bonnaroo producers Superfly
Productions and A.C. Entertainment could be completed by next week,
landowner Sam McAlister told the AP.
The organizers plan to build several permanent structures on the site,
including stages and water, bathroom, and food facilities, as well as a
power grid. They also plan to use the land for additional, smaller
events throughout the year.
January 4, 2007 From Google News
A new study from the Digital Media Association (DiMA) finds that
digital music consumers are more involved and passionate music fans.
The organization surveyed over 1000 consumers, finding that 60 percent
are listening to more music since they began using an online music
service, including Internet radio and digital music download services.
The majority of those surveyed found that listening to music online has
allowed them to discover new artists and try out more music than
before. Over 60 percent said they have discovered "some new artists,"
with 25 percent saying they found "a lot of new artists." Additionally,
over 35 percent said they now talk about music more than before, and
more than 75 percent have recommended an online service to someone
else. Also 15 percent of online music fans say they are now attending
more concerts.
January 4,2007 From CMSpin
The Gospel Music Association (GMA)
and Nielsen Christian SoundScan have announced 2006 year-end sales data
for the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006.
“2006 was a good year for Christian/Gospel music. Album sales were up,
albeit slightly; digital sales continue to rise and most importantly,
the impact of the Gospel through music reached beyond even what our
sales reveal. Everywhere you look, in books, games, TV and movies,
music that is inspired by faith seems more prevalent than ever before,”
said John W. Styll, president and CEO of the GMA. “There may be many
reasons why this is true, but I think chief among them is that people
seem to be drawn to the inspiring and compassionate message of Gospel
music amid uncertain times.”
December 30,2006 From MOnsters and Critics
In a city that
lost several beloved institutions in 2006, the sound coming out of
Chicago's jazz scene is providing a year-end coda no one wants to hear.
The Jazz Showcase, this jazz-drenched city's oldest club dedicated to
the musical form and the second-oldest U.S. jazz venue after New York's
Village Vanguard, is closing its doors this weekend after 59 years.
A New Year's Eve 'last blast' featuring saxophonist David 'Fathead'
Newman and Henry Johnson's Organ Express will be the final show at the
club, which for six decades presented artists like Charlie Parker and
others working out of the tradition associated with legendary players
like John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins.
This fall, the club lost its lease and despite help from the city of
Chicago, its owner and founder, 80-year-old Joe Segal, still has found
no new digs.
The uncertainty surrounding the venerable club's future serves as a
depressingly apt final note in a year that saw a number of Chicago
landmarks -- including the Marshall Field's department store on State
Street, the Berghoff restaurant, and the scruffy City News Service --
pass from the scene.
December 25, 2006 From CNN
James Brown, the dynamic,
pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary
rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early
Monday, his agent said. He was 73.
Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital
on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank
Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his
side, he said.
December 23,2006 From CBC
Princes William and Harry have
awarded the British broadcast rights for this summer's Concert for
Diana to the BBC.
The show — scheduled for July 1 to commemorate what would have been the
46th birthday of Diana, Princess of Wales — will be broadcast live on
BBC television and BBC radio, as well as online, the BBC said Friday.
"This is a key event for the British public this summer, and I am
delighted that we have been asked to broadcast it into the nation's
living rooms," BBC1 controller Peter Fincham said.
A spokeswoman for William and Harry said that the international
broadcast partners have "yet to be decided."
The concert will feature talent, including Elton John, Duran Duran,
Joss Stone, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Pharrell Williams and the English
National Ballet.
December 20, 2006 From Yahoo News
Yusuf Islam, the former
superstar once known as Cat Stevens, performed on stage before a live
U.S. audience on Tuesday for the first time in nearly three decades as
he promoted his first pop album since leaving the music world for life
as a devout Muslim.
Mixing new songs with such old hits as "The Wind," "Oh Very Young" and
"Peace Train," he sang with a gentle voice that sounded
scarcely changed from his heyday in the 1970s.Now going by just the
name Yusuf, the British singer walked away from the musical spotlight
in 1978 but returned to release his new album, "An Other Cup," last
month.
"It's one small step for man, one giant step for common sense," joked
the singer, 58, about his return.
December 18,2006 From C21
CBS Corp is overcoming one of the main hurdles to online distribution
of TV programming by reviving the CBS Records label so that it has
total ownership of music used in its shows.
The company said on Friday that the rebirth of CBS Records, which it
launched in 1938 and subsequently sold to Sony for US$2bn, would
produce music that would be used in programming across its networks.
CBS, CBS Paramount, The CW and Showtime networks, plus broadband
channel Innertube, will all benefit from output from the music label
that was once home to Bob Dylan, Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra.
While the primary rationale is to tap into online music sales through
services such as Apple's iTunes, by integrating its own music into
programming, CBS is removing one of the obstacles frustrating many
producers' attempts to put TV shows online – that of music rights.
December 16, 2006 From Brownsville Herald
Fans of No Doubt
shouldn’t be concerned that the release of a sophomore album means the
end to the creative and innovative band. Stefani has recently confirmed
speculation of a reunion with her old band mates.
Stefani told MTV that the band, sans Stefani, has been working in the
studio for a while, and are ready to continue their musical career
together yet again.
“This record puts me on the yellow brick road to the No Doubt record I
might do.” Stefani told MTV. “I can smell it. ‘Sweet Escape’ and some
other melodies remind me of the No Doubt feeling.”
December 15, 2006 From Business Week
CBS Corp. has launched a
new recorded music label -- reviving the name of long-defunct CBS
Records -- through which the company plans to release music and promote
artists on its networks' stable of television shows.
CBS Records aims to market its artists and their music in television
shows produced by CBS Paramount Television and aired across several
broadcast and cable networks, including CBS, The CW, NBC and USA
Network, New York-based CBS Corp. said Thursday.
"With more consumers choosing the online download model as the
preferred way to purchase their favorite songs, we have an opportunity
to use our unique and broad collection of media platforms to create a
new music label paradigm for a small price of admission," Leslie
Moonves, president and chief executive of CBS Corp., said in a prepared
statement.
The label, in the works for months, was being officially announced
Friday.
December 14,2006 From Google News
Ahmet Ertegun, a Turkish
diplomat's son who co-founded Atlantic Records in 1947 and became a
charismatic industry leader for six decades, died in New York today
from a head injury suffered at a Rolling Stones concert in October. He
was 83.
Ertegun fell backstage Oct. 29 at Manhattan's Beacon Theatre and
subsequently went into a coma, Atlantic Records said today in a
statement.
Ertegun used his natural charm, stamina and musical instincts to spot
and sign talent in smoke-filled clubs from New Orleans to Harlem and
London. He remained active long after many of his contemporaries
retired or soured on the popular music of the late 20th century.
December 6, 2006 From Google News
The copyright period on sound recordings should not be extended as the
British music industry has demanded, a key Treasury-commissioned report
concluded today.
The findings in former Financial Times editor Andrew Gowers' review of
intellectual property will come as little surprise, given leaks to the
media and legal experts predictions, but will still be a big
disappointment to music industry lobby groups.
A broad coalition of industry groups and artists including Cliff
Richard, whose earliest recordings will be among the first to fall out
of copyright from 2008, have loudly campaigned for the copyright term
to be extended to 95 years from the present 50.
December 6,2006 From San Francisco Chronicle,
After years of
selling online music digitally wrapped with copy and playback
restrictions designed to hinder piracy, major music labels are
beginning to make some songs available in the unrestricted MP3 file
format.
The releases are part of an experiment to gauge demand for tracks that
can be played on any digital music player capable of playing MP3s, one
of the oldest music compression formats.
Normally, copy-protected tracks are only playable on certain devices.
By selling MP3s, recording companies can ensure they can be played on
Apple Computer Inc.'s market-leading iPod players without going through
Apple's iTunes Music Store.
The latest such offering comes from singer Norah Jones and rock band
Relient K, both signed to labels operated by Britain's EMI Music.
December 4, 2006 From Seattle Times
The "Lord of the Rings"
movies have been out of theaters and on DVD shelves for years.
Howard Shore already composed a symphony based on the scores, and it's
even been more than two years since the Oscar-winning film composer
conducted that "Lord of the Rings Symphony" in Seattle's Benaroya Hall.
But the story behind the music behind Frodo Baggins and his quest to
destroy the One Ring is not over yet, as Shore is still completely
immersed in the score he wrote for Peter Jackson's epic fantasy film
trilogy. Following last year's release of "The Fellowship of the Ring:
The Complete Recordings," Shore went right to work assembling "The Two
Towers: The Complete Recordings," a three-CD/one-DVD set released last
month. "The Return of the King" will get the same deluxe treatment next
year, with a four-disc set that will, for the first time, contain
Shore's complete score from the films in its impressive entirety.
December 1, 2006 From Reuters
Warner Music Group Corp. on
Friday posted disappointing operating results for its fiscal fourth
quarter and said it saw substantial pressure on operating income in the
current quarter.
Warner Music's fiscal first quarter coincides with the crucial holiday
music sales season, but the New York-based company suggested that it
probably would not replicate year-earlier results, when it said it
outperformed expectations. In the same period last year, sales were
driven by artists Madonna and Enya.
"We will face even tougher comparisons in the first quarter of fiscal
year 2007 than the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2006," Michael
Fleischer, Warner Music's chief financial officer, told analysts during
a conference call.
The company swung to a fourth-quarter profit of $12 million, or 8 cents
a share, compared with a loss of $30 million, or 21 cents, a year
earlier. However, excluding a $13-million gain from its litigation
against Kazaa, an online music downloading service, Warner Music posted
a loss of 1 cent a share.
Wall Street analysts, on average, expected the company to break even.
Strong sales of artists including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Gnarls Barkley
and Panic at the Disco were not enough to prevent a decline in
fourth-quarter revenue to $854 million, off 6% from a year earlier,
when sales were driven by Green Day, Faith Hill and James Blunt.
Warner Music, the world's fourth-largest music company, said sales in
the quarter were down compared with last year because of a relatively
thin album release schedule and broader weakness in the recorded music
and music publishing businesses.
November 30,2006 From Stuff.co
Dick Smith's Ripit site,
launched yesterday, is aimed squarely at teenagers and is the first to
sell music by voucher as well as credit card.
The $5 to $50 vouchers are for sale in all Dick Smith stores, and let
teenagers pay for music downloads without having to borrow their
parents' credit cards.
There are eight other music download websites already, but Ripit
development manager Paul Fuimaono said the vouchers gave the service an
edge over the competition.
"That's a huge point of difference at the moment. There's a whole
portion of society that misses out." Tracks are downloaded as Windows
Media files (WMA) which can be played on most MP3 players. They will
not play on iPods, however, without first converting the tracks to
MP3s. Tracks cost $1.89 each, with about 30 promotional tracks on sale
for 99 cents each - the cheapest in the country.
November 29, 2006 From Google News
Concerts at Toronto's Air Canada Centre could be temporarily halted if
an organization representing the Canadian music industry gets its way.
According to a report Wednesday in the Toronto Star, the Society of
Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is seeking a
court injunction preventing arena owner Maple Leaf Sports and
Entertainment Ltd. from holding concerts at the ACC while a dispute
over the company's alleged refusal to pay rights fees is resolved.
It isn't yet clear when a judge might rule on the injunction
November 25, 2006 From PR Web
Royalty Free Music website,
MediaMusicNow.com is delighted to announce that they are hosting
Christmas music produced by award winning Hollywood composer and sound
designer, Christopher Page.
Media Music Now's founder, Lee Pritchard first became acquainted with
Christopher when Media Music Now was being developed back in 2005.
Christopher, now back in Brighton, United Kingdom is a great supporter
of digital distribution and believes that finding new uses and
recycling existing music is a great way for composers to create an
additional income.
November 21, 2006 Google News
The 2006 UK Music Hall Of
Fame premieres on VH1 as a two-hour extravaganza on Saturday, November
25 9:00 p.m. Prince joined the inductees for this year's event — Brian
Wilson, Dusty Springfield, LED ZEPPELIN, Rod Stewart, BON JOVI and
James Brown in a star-studded evening full of musical legends. These
seven joined Sir George Martin who received this year's Honorary
Membership in recognition of his exceptional contribution to British
music.
The "2006 UK Music Hall of Fame" took place at the famed Alexandra
Palace in London on November 14 and included a rare public appearance
by LED ZEPPELIN founding member and "guitar god" Jimmy Page and
performances by inductee Brian Wilson and his band; British soul
sensation Joss Stone and R&B legend Patti LaBelle who paid tribute
to Dusty Springfield; a supergroup tribute to THE BEATLES conducted by
Sir George Martin which featured QUEEN's Roger Taylor, Johnny Borrell
of RAZORLIGHT, Swedish singer/songwriter Jose Gonzales and Corinne
Baily Rae. Finally, WOLFMOTHER performed a tribute to LED ZEPPELIN and
James Morrison performed tribute to Rod Stewart.
November 20,2006 From M&C
It`s the comeback no one ever
expected. November sees the return to the world stage of the artist
known internationally as Cat Stevens, more than a quarter-century after
his last commercial recording. The global release of Yusuf`s album 'An
Other Cup' marks the latest stage in the musical and spiritual journey
of the British singer/songwriter, born Steven Georgiou some 59 years
ago.
November 18, 2006 From CBS News
Universal Music Group on Friday sued MySpace.com, claiming the online
social-networking hub illegally encourages its users to share music and
music videos on the site without permission.
The recording company is seeking unspecified damages, including up to
$150,000 for each unauthorized music video or song posted on the Web
site.
The lawsuit is the latest legal salvo in a wider conflict between
established media against Internet companies whose technology is
challenging the traditional ways music, video and other content are
distributed and consumed. In its complaint, filed in U.S. District
Court, Universal Music contends MySpace, a unit of News Corp., attempts
to shield itself from liability by requiring users agree to grant the
Web site a license to publish the content they upload to the site.
Users, however, have no such authority over works they don't own.The
Web site also "encourages, facilitates and participates in the
unauthorized reproduction, adaptation, distribution and public
performance," according to the suit.
Universal contends that much of the media posted by users of MySpace is
not user-generated at all, but actually music and videos stolen from
copyright owners."Myspace is a willing partner in that theft," the
lawsuit claims.MySpace issued a statement saying it is in full
compliance with copyright laws and is confident it will prevail in
court.
November 14, 2006 From Google News
Add Nordstrom Inc. to the
list of retailers entering the music CD market.The Seattle-based
upscale department store said Monday that it will develop and sell a
collection of CDs that, over time, is expected to rival the one carried
by its corporate neighbor, Starbucks Corp. The trend comes as specialty
retailers such as Tower Records have closed or filed for bankruptcy
while music has moved online, creating an opening for traditional
merchants to jump back into the business.
November 13, 2006 From Reuters
The crowd roared as blue
lights flickered, and images of skulls and three-eyed creatures were
superimposed behind the Swedish electronica music duo The Knife. Clad
in their signature body suits with ski masks, the enigmatic
brother-and-sister band wooed a packed audience at New York's Webster
Hall with their angular, often foreboding sound and computerized
graphics projected on a translucent screen that covered the stage. In
their first performance in North America last week, The Knife were
voted the "hottest show" at the CMJ Music Marathon, an annual bonanza
of up-and-coming music artists that this year concluded on Saturday.
Music fans, starved of novelty and overwhelmed with choice thanks to
the ever-growing onslaught of music online, are increasingly finding
what they are looking for at music festivals all over the country.
Festivals are also becoming an important way that struggling musicians
can make it big amid an industry slump.
November 9, 2006 From Monsters and Critics
Few record labels
can truly claim they rule any sector of the marketplace. But Walt
Disney Records, beyond being the clear leader in soundtracks, has got
the tween-music market nailed.
This week, Disney takes the top four positions and five of the top 10
slots on the soundtracks chart (with sister label Hollywood Records
accounting for a sixth top 10 entry). The top three titles are chipper
soundtracks for three Disney Channel shows appealing to 6- to
13-year-old listeners: 'Hannah Montana,' 'Cheetah Girls 2' and the
tireless 'High School Musical.'
The 'Hannah' album also holds atop the Billboard 200 this week, selling
203,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan; it trumped Barry
Manilow`s debuting "The Greatest Songs of the Sixties" by 1,500 units.
The soundtrack debuted at No. 1 last week, selling 281,000.
November 5, 2006 From Seattle Times
Country ranks as the
nation's hottest musical genre. Check the numbers:
• Sales of country CDs are up 11 percent over last year, according to
Nielsen SoundScan, while all other genres have declined and overall
sales are down 5 percent. The best-selling album of 2006 is country
trio Rascal Flatts' "Me and My Gang."
• The year's best-selling concert tour is by country's first couple,
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill; three other country acts are in the Top 10.
• New Yorkers certainly noticed the hillbillies — Vanity Fair, that
arbiter of style, just ran a 33-page spread on country stars.
A young audience is attracted to country's fresh new faces — Rascal
Flatts, Carrie Underwood and Sugarland, each of whom has had a
3-million-selling album this year.
Another reason is a void in other genres: There is no dominant pop,
rock or rap artist, as 50 Cent, Norah Jones and OutKast were in recent
years. Aside from classic rockers, the only musician playing stadiums
this year is Kenny Chesney, one of country's hottest figures of the
past five years.
November 3, 2006 From Google News
Cingular Wireless announced
the new "Cingular Music" service today along with a new music phone,
the Samsung SGH-A707 "Sync."
The goal of Cingular Music right now is to bring together Napster,
Yahoo! , Windows Media Player and MP3 subscription music support,
streaming music services including MobiRadio, Melodeo Mobilcast for
podcasts, and streaming XM Radio channels and other music functions on
an easy-to-use, dedicated music menu, said Gregg Brown, Cingular's
strategic marketing and business development manager for music. The
service officially lets you sync Yahoo! and Napster purchased or
subscription music to your phone, at no charge. (You can also,
unoffically, sync other MP3 or WMA music from Windows Media Player,
including songs bought at stores like Rhapsody.)
November 1, 2006 From Richmond Times Dispatch
John C. Williams, drummer and founding member of the Pat McGee Band,
died Saturday at his home in Williamsburg.Mr. Williams, known publicly
as "Chris," died in his sleep. He was 39. Autopsy results are pending.
A member of the Richmond-based band since its inception in 1996, Mr.
Williams recorded five albums with the band, which found national
success with the songs "Beautiful Ways" and "Must Have Been Love" and
opened for major acts including Fleetwood Mac and James Taylor. Mr.
Williams' family has requested a private memorial service, but there
are plans for a public memorial in the future. "We're obviously totally
devastated," said McGee, who now lives in Rhode Island but is flying to
Richmond for the private service. Fans can offer condolences to Mr.
Williams' family at www.pmboard.net or at www.myspace.com/patmcgeeband.
November 1, 2006 From ABC News
Oricon on Wednesday announced
its exit from Japan's PC music download market, becoming the first
victim among local players to the surging popularity of Apple Computer
Inc.'s iTunes music store.
Oricon, best known as a publisher of music hit charts, will instead
post links from its Web site to online music stores and concentrate on
music downloads for mobile phones, which are far more popular than
PC-based downloads in Japan.
"The iPod has outrun us all," said Oricon spokesman Teruaki Hidaka. "If
iPod users could download music from our site, we may have waited to
see if the tide turns from mobile phones to online downloads."
October 31, 2006 From ABC News
MySpace.com will use a music content filtering system in an effort to
weed out unauthorised copyrighted music posted on members' pages, the
social networking portal says.
The News Corp unit, which has more than 90 million active users,
licensed the technology from Gracenote, a private digital entertainment
company, and will use it to identify copyrighted music on profile pages
and to prevent users from uploading the audio.
Individuals who repeatedly attempt to upload unauthorised music will
have their accounts deleted.
"MySpace is staunchly committed to protecting artists' rights, whether
those artists are on major labels or are independent acts," MySpace CEO
and co-founder Chris DeWolfe said.
MySpace has more than 100 million profile pages, including 3 million
band sites, many of which feature copyrighted music.
October 30, 2006 From Reuters
Universal Music is slashing European download prices for some of its
older albums, the first broad online cost-cutting move by any of the
four major music companies.
The world's largest seller of recorded music said on Monday that
starting November 1 it would reduce the prices it charges online
retailers for 1,500 albums ranging from The Who's "Quadrophenia" to
R.E.M.'s "Reckoning."
The prices ultimately charged consumers will be determined by
individual online services, Universal Music said, though a spokesman
added that the response has been encouraging.
Broadly speaking, the albums in the programme, including ones from The
Cure, Dusty Springfield and Buddy Holly, are expected to sell for about
6.99 euros ($8.89) and 5.49 pounds ($10.43), reduced from 9.99 euros
($12.70) and 7.99 pounds ($15.20), respectively.
October 27, 2006 From Market Watch
EMI Music Chairman and
Chief Executive Alain Levy Friday told an audience at the London
Business School that the CD is dead, saying music companies will no
longer be able to sell CDs without offering "value-added" material.
"The CD as it is right now is dead," Levy said, adding that 60% of
consumers put CDs into home computers in order to transfer material to
digital music players.
EMI Music is part of EMI Group PLC (EMI.LN)."By the beginning of next
year, none of our content will come without any additional material,"
Levy said.
CD sales accounted for more than 70% of total music sales in the first
half of 2006, while digital music sales were around 11% of the total,
according to music industry trade body the International Federation of
the Phonographic Industry.
CD sales were worth $6.45 billion and digital sales $945 million, the
IFPI said.
October 26, 2006 From Google News
A court in Denmark has ordered Swedish telecom operator Tele2 AB to
block its Internet service subscribers from connecting to a Russian Web
site accused by recording companies of selling their music illegally.
The ruling, issued Wednesday, stemmed from a lawsuit filed in
Copenhagen City Court in July by the Danish arm of the International
Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a trade group for the
recording industry. Moscow-based Mediaservices, which owns AllofMP3,
was not a party to the lawsuit. The company said Thursday that it was
disappointed in the ruling, and stressed that it hasn't been found
guilty of violating any laws.
October 24, 2006 From Monsters and Critics
After Hurricane
Katrina forced a relocation to Houston, organizers for the annual
Essence Music Festival have announced the event is on its way back to
New Orleans.
Magazine publisher Essence Communication Inc., which owns the annual
July 4th event, announced on Monday that a deal had been accepted that
would see the festival return to New Orleans for the next three years.
The city’s tourism industry beat Houston in a bid to get the rights for
the festival which is known to feature hip-hop, R&B and soul
performances by night and seminars by day. The state of Louisiana has
been working on getting the festival, which began in New Orleans in
1995 as a way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Essence magazine,
since after city was left devastated by Katrina, according to the
leader of negotiations Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu.
October 23, 2006 From CBS News
It is a proud anniversary for
Apple Computer – the now-ubiquitous iPod is turning five. The first
iPod back in 2001 held only 1,000 songs, and back then, few even knew
what the term meant. But now, whether you are in the street, riding the
train, or out for a jog, you are certain to see those white earbuds.
Steven Levy of Newsweek told the CBS Early Show that iPods have
resulted in an increased interest in Apple computer products, and some
have argued that the iPod is beginning to supplant the traditional
music retail industry.
October 20, 2006 From Yahoo News
Sting says contemporary rock
music is so stagnant that he prefers to sing 16th century English
ballads. By comparison, Pete Townshend can't stand old rock stars and
wouldn't even pay to see his own concert. The former lead singer of The
Police told German newspaper Die Zeit that he prefers singing songs of
Elizabethan lutenist and composer John Dowland to the rock music of
today.
His album of Dowland lute music Songs from the Labyrinth has topped
classical charts on both sides of the Atlantic and entered the UK album
chart at No. 24.
"Rock music has come to a standstill -- it's not going forward any
more, it only bores me," Die Zeit quoted him as saying. Sting also
revealed his true reasons for getting into music in the first place.
"Forty years ago it was my dream to break out of Newcastle and never be
poor again," he told the magazine.
October 19, 2006 From NY Times
Three of the four major music
companies - Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann
AG's jointly owned Sony BMG Music Entertainment, and the Warner Music
Group - each quietly negotiated to take small stakes in YouTube as part
of video- and music-licensing deals they struck shortly before the sale
of the company to Google Inc., people involved in the talks said, The
New York Times reported in its Thursday editions. The music companies
collectively stand to receive as much as $50 million from these
arrangements, the Times reports these people as saying. Details of the
stakes that the music companies received as part of revenue-sharing and
content-licensing deals could not be learned as yet. YouTube's deals
with Universal and Sony BMG came hours before it announced its deal
with Google, and people involved in the discussions said that the music
companies rushed to complete the deal ahead of the YouTube deal, in
part so that it could benefit in the jump in YouTube's value, the Times
reports.
October 17, 2006 from Google News
The organization representing the recording industry has filed over
8,000 lawsuits claiming illegal file sharing in its continued attempts
to discourage digital downloading of music. The International
Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) launched the suits in 17
countries, mostly in Europe and South America. No new suits were
launched in Canada or the United States. The organization launched
suits in Poland, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil for the first time,
claiming Brazil in particular was a hotbed for the illegal practice,
with over one billion music tracks downloaded last year. The IFPI
claims the illegal downloads have hurt the music industry in Brazil,
where record company revenues have nearly halved since 2000.
October 14, 2006 From Total Assault LLC
Maya Entertainment
will be theatrically releasing a documentary entitled SCREAMERS.
In Screamers, Garapedian traces the history of modern-day genocide -
and genocide denial – from the fertile “Holy Mountains” of Anatolia to
the current atrocities in Darfur .The documentary is as shattering as
it is powerful, which includes live performance footage and interviews
with System Of A Down, the multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning rock
band, all of whose members are of Armenian descent. SCREAMERS is set
for a limited release in Los Angeles, CA on December 8th, and depending
on how the film is received, it is hope to be able to bring this film
to the entire United States.
October 13, 2006. From cnn.com
CBGB closes its doors after 33
years this Sunday night. Punk poet Smith will play the closing night as
well, a booking that Kristal described as effortless. Smith isn't the
only veteran playing one last gig. The '80s hardcore band Bad Brains
and the '70s punks the Dictators are both scheduled for the final week.
Blondie's Debbie Harry and Chris Stein are also stopping by. Hilly
Kristal plans to move the club far from its roots with a new CBGB's in
Las Vegas. The owner plans to strip the current club down to the bare
walls, bringing as much of it to Nevada as possible.
October 12, 2006 From Chron.com
Shipments of CDs and other physical music formats to U.S. retail
outlets were down in the first half of 2006, but the decline was
partially offset by downloads, the recording industry's trade group
said Thursday. Record companies shipped a total of 277.6 million units
- CDs, music DVDs, vinyl records, cassettes and other physical formats
- to retailers, record clubs and other outlets. The figure represents a
15.7 percent decline from the first half of last year, according to the
Recording Industry Association of America.The estimated retail value of
the shipments in the first six months of this year was $4.1 billion, a
15 percent drop from the same period last year, the RIAA said.
October 10, 2006 From Yahoo News
Music Entertainment and
Google announced a strategic business relationship designed to make the
music company's expansive music video collection available for online
streaming at no cost to users. Starting this month, users can watch
thousands of videos from Sony BMG Music Entertainment on Google Video.
In the coming months, users will also be able to access content from
Sony BMG Music Entertainment artists through Google's partner websites
in its AdSense network. Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Google and web
publishers will now be able to monetize professional video content
while respecting copyrights through these video distribution models.
October 9, 2006 from Reuters
Tower Records has played its
last tune.On Friday, after a 29-hour auction, most of the bankrupt
music retailer's assets were sold to liquidation firm Great American
Group, which bid $134.3 million. The company outbid Albany, N.Y.-based
retailer Trans World Entertainment by a mere $500,000. According to
Tower attorney Peter Gurfein, Great American was set to begin
liquidation and going-out-of-business sales Saturday. An internal
e-mail to employees from Tower CEO Joseph D'Amico said the company's
Web operation, Tower.com, its label 33rd Street Records and its real
estate holdings were sold separately.
October 9, 2006. From cnn.com
The online hangout MySpace.com
will organize 20 concerts featuring bands promoted on its site as part
of a campaign to raise awareness and money for humanitarian relief in
Sudan. The concerts will take place October 21. Artists include TV on
the Radio in Philadelphia, Alice in Chains in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, Ziggy Marley in Medford, Oregon, Citizen Cope in Seattle,
Gov't Mule in Spokane, Washington, and Insane Clown Posse in St.
Petersburg, Florida. Other concerts will take place in Sacramento, San
Diego and San Francisco, California; Melbourne, Florida; Atlanta;
Louisville, Kentucky; St. Paul, Minnesota; Reno, Nevada; Baltimore;
Asheville, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Milwaukee; and
Washington, D.C. A Canadian show will take place in Toronto. Bands --
pop, rock, country and reggae, among others -- agreed to donate part of
their ticket proceeds to Oxfam's relief efforts in Sudan and
neighboring Chad.
October 7, 2006 From Google News
Justin Timberlake is considering quitting the music business after just
two solo albums. The Sexyback star, 25, has revealed he doesn't want to
be performing on stage for the rest of his life - because he's sick of
unwanted attention from female fans and abuse from rowdy audiences. He
says, "I've had bottles of pee thrown at me, and had girls try to tear
my clothes off." "I don't want to be jumping around on stage 10 years
from now." Timberlake launched his pop career with boy band 'N Sync
before embarking on a solo career in 2002. He's since tried his hand at
acting with roles in Edison, Alpha Dog and upcoming animation Shrek The
Third.
October 5, 2006 from Beta News
Coffee house chain Starbucks said Thursday it had signed an agreement
with Apple Computer to make its Hear Music offerings available through
the iTunes service. The company acquired Hear Music in 1999, and the
agreement would set up a separate store within iTunes. The area would
include playlists created by the same people responsible with
programming the music heard in the company's shops worldwide.
October 5, 2006
Best Buy has unveiled the Best Buy Digital
Music Store, a new service powered by the RealNetworks, Inc.’s Rhapsody
4.0 music service, and featuring both a permanent download store and a
subscription download service. As part of this launch, Best Buy also
will carry and promote the SanDisk Sansa e200R Rhapsody MP3 players,
which have been optimized to work with the Best Buy Digital Music
Store. The Best Buy Digital Music Store and the Sansa e200R Rhapsody
players will both be available at participating Best Buy stores. The
Best Buy Digital Music Store will launch with an exclusive track from
Diddy, coinciding with his new CD, Press Play, which goes on sale 17
October.
October 4, 2006. From Billboard
The Nirvana concert film
"Live! Tonight! Sold Out!" will make its DVD debut November 7, 12 years
after it was originally issued on VHS. The Geffen Records release was
conceived by Kurt Cobain as a way to anthologize Nirvana's quick ascent
to rock superstardom but was not completed until after his 1994 suicide.
October 3, 2006 From CNET
Napster said on Tuesday it launched an online song distribution site in
Japan, challenging Apple Computer and popular music phones. Napster
Japan, a joint venture between America's Napster and Tower Records
Japan, will introduce a service that lets members listen to and
download an unlimited number of songs from its database of 1.5 million
selections for 1,980 yen ($16.80) a month. Users will also be able to
transfer music to compatible music players. Napster's challenge in
Japan, along with other online music sites like Apple's iTunes music
store, is to expand in a market where more people download music
directly onto mobile phones than to personal computers. KDDI, the
country's No. 2 phone company, leads the market for wireless music
download.
October 2, 2006 From Miami Herald
Younger workers are more likely to don their headphones while sitting
in their offices than their older counterparts, according to a study
from Spherion Corp. Nearly half of adults ages 25 to 29 said they
listen to their iPod, MP3 player or other personal music device while
working, whereas only 22 percent of adults ages 50 to 64 claim to do
so. Overall, almost one-third of all workers listen to music at the
office. Nine out of 10 of workers ages 18 to 24 and ages 30 to 39
believe that music improves their job satisfaction and job
productivity. While allowing personal music devices may make many
employees happy, employers should set ground rules first, according to
Nancy Halverson, vice president of talent development at Spherion. Ask
workers to keep volume levels low so that they can easily interact with
other co-workers and hear telephones and fire alarms. To ensure
computer safety, make sure to set policies regarding music downloads.
In August, Spherion polled 1,613 employed adults ages 18 and older.
October 2, 2006 From Tech Digest
Samsung have revealed their
X830 music phone with a swivel design that's just a little different to
the current crop of clams and sliders. It's pretty compact, measuring
up at under 2cm wide by 8.4cm long, with a depth of 3cm. Aimed at the
mobile music lover, it features a 1GB flash memory and is able to play
MP3, AAC and WMA files. It has click-wheel navigation and an internal
music library so you can sort and play your music tracks as you wish.
Music lovers often don't
have everything at their fingertips when it comes to the Web. They have
their own libraries, but then there are podcast hubs, social sites like
Last.fm, and all those streaming media sites, too. How can you put it
all in one place? Luckily, these days, there always seems to be a Web
2.0-style mashup solution to any such problem. Music fans might be
consequently interested in the "test flight" beta of Songbird, a new
open-source jukebox-browser-music player built from Mozilla. Like
Firefox, it's open to extensions and skins. It's Windows, Mac, and
Linux-compatible. And, yes, it claims to integrate everything from
podcasts to music blogs to MP3 download Web sites into the same
interface as your music library.
September 28, 2006. From Associated Press
Steven Tyler says
he was diagnosed with hepatitis C three years ago after having the
illness for a long time without any symptoms. In an interview that was
to air Tuesday on "Access Hollywood," the 58-year-old Aerosmith
frontman said the infection was now "nonexistent" in his bloodstream
after 11 months of treatment, including the drug interferon.
September 23, 2006 From Google News
Beyonce Knowles and Justin Timberlake’s songs may have topped music
charts on a regular basis, but British rocker Sting feels that their
compositions are too commercial to impress him. He says that he finds
understanding the music composed by today’s artists very difficult. The
former ‘Police’ frontman says that an artist should make such music
that can give a “spiritual” experience to the listeners, rather than
aiming to top chart positions and record sales.
September 22, 2006 From Beta News
MTV Networks on Friday announced an agreement to acquire Harmonix Music
Systems, the company behind the popular Guitar Hero game for the
PlayStation 2. Harmonix joins a number of other companies recently
brought into the MTV fold. Last month, MTV purchased Atom
Entertainment, including its Atom Films, Shockwave and AddictingGames
properties. That acquisition followed purchases of entertainment brands
XFIRE, Y2M, GameTrailers.com, IFILM, and Neopets.
MTV had already forged a partnership with Harmonix last year to
integrate the Guitar Hero brand into a number of its online and
television properties. Version 2 of the title, in which players strum
an actual guitar along to a virtual rock concert on-screen, is slated
to debut this fall by publisher Activision.
September 20, 2006 From Google News
Young children who take
music lessons develop a better memory compared with children who have
no musical training, according to research published today. The
benefits are noticeable just four months after learning to play a
musical instrument, scientists writing in the online edition of the
journal Brain revealed. And they suggest that music should be taught
routinely in schools because of the benefits they have shown it can
have on the development of the brains of young children. Takako
Fujioka, from the Baycrest Rotman Research Institute in Toronto,
Canada, who was involved in the study, said: "Our work explores how
musical training affects the way in which the brain develops. It is
clear that music is good for children's cognitive development and that
music should be part of the pre-school and primary school curriculum."
The scientists reached their conclusions after measuring brain
responses to sounds in two groups of children aged between four and
six. One group were taking Suzuki music lessons, while the other group
had no musical training at all. Suzuki is a recognised teaching method,
which can be used on children from as young as two.
September 18, 2006 From Chron.com
Warner Music Group Corp.
has agreed to distribute and license its copyrighted songs and other
material through online video trendsetter YouTube, marking another
significant step in the entertainment industry's migration to the
Internet. Under a revenue-sharing deal announced today, New York-based
Warner Music has agreed to transfer thousands of its music videos and
interviews to YouTube, a San Mateo, Calif.-based startup that has
become a cultural touchstone since two 20-something friends launched
the company in a Silicon Valley garage 19 months ago. Perhaps even more
important for YouTube is that Warner Music has agreed to license its
songs to the millions of ordinary people who upload their homemade
videos to the Web site. Warner Music ranks as the country's third
largest recording company with annual revenue of $3.5 billion.
September 15, 2006. From Associated Press
A suburban
basement where The Beatles played some of their earliest gigs was given
protected heritage status by the British government Friday. The Casbah
Coffee Club, created in the home of original Beatles drummer Pete Best,
was given Grade II Listed status on the recommendation of conservation
body English Heritage. The designation means the venue, which still
contains original artwork and musical equipment, is of "special
architectural or historic interest" and cannot be demolished.
September 14, 2006. From Reuters
"The U.S. vs John Lennon," which will be released in New York and Los
Angeles on Friday, is a documentary pieced together from old newsreels
and rarely seen home movies. It documents FBI surveillance of Lennon
and his battle with immigration authorities who tried to deport him in
the 1970s in what the film says was an effort to stifle his
anti-Vietnam War activism.
September 14, 2006 From Market Watch
There was speculation
Thursday that Universal Music Group is set to file a copyright
infringement lawsuit against YouTube, a Web site where millions of
videos are uploaded every month and can be viewed for free.
A company spokesman denied the report, which came from Jessica Reif
Cohen, a Merrill Lynch analyst, who wrote in a note to clients Thursday
that remarks two days before by Universal Chief Executive Officer Doug
Morris meant Universal was getting set to sue not just the popular Web
site, but possibly others that like YouTube rely on user-generated
content.
What Morris told a group of financial analysts on Tuesday, according to
a Reuters report, was that YouTube was a "copyright infringer" that
allegedly owes Universal tens of millions of dollars in royalties.
September 14, 2006 From Google News
Fans of hip hop music are likely to have had more sexual partners in
the last five years while many of those who prefer classical strains
will have tried cannabis, according to a study released on Thursday.
Psychologist Adrian North from the University of Leicester surveyed
2,500 Britons to find out how their musical tastes related to their
lifestyles and interests. Almost 38% of hip hop devotees and 29% of
dance music fans were more likely to have had more than one sexual
partner in the last five years compared to just 1.5% of country music
fans. However, they were also more likely to have broken the law with
more than 50% of both hip hop and dance music lovers admitting
committing a criminal act.
September 12, 2006. From CNN
The Rolling Stones are about to get the cartoon treatment in "Ruby
Tuesday," an animated film featuring 12 of their songs. The story is
described as "a Faustian tale of a single mother searching for
happiness in New York."
September 11, 2006. From Associated Press.
Sean Combs is Diddy no more -- at least in Britain. The musician and
entertainment mogul has agreed to drop the Diddy name as part of an
out-of court legal settlement with London-based music producer Richard
"Diddy" Dearlove, the law firm representing Dearlove said Monday.
Dearlove launched a lawsuit for unfair competition, claiming the name
change had caused confusion. The case had been due to go to the High
Court next month.
September 10, 2006 From Net Music Countdown
As far back as 1999, hackers have been tring to mess with programs that
protect music files from unauthorized duplication.This forces Apple and
Microsoft play a constant game of chess with the cyber-criminals,
sending them in a frenzied search for the next solution. The complexity
of some of these hacker programs is also increasing, thereby making it
more difficult to come up with quick fixes.According to CNET news,
while this sort of hacking is not uncommon, two such programs have
cropped up in the past month. Both Apple and Microsoft have been busy
finding the latest patches and updates to solve the problem, and are
working as fast as possible to get them out to the public.
September 7, 2006 from Advocate
R.E.M. will perform three songs with original drummer Bill Berry to
celebrate its induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, to be held
September 16 in Atlanta. Berry has played only three times with his
longtime colleagues since exiting the band in 1997, most prominently at
the October 2005 wedding of R.E.M. guitar tech Dewitt Burton. Following
the Hall of Fame induction, R.E.M. will end a yearlong hiatus and hit
the studio to begin work on the follow-up to 2004's critically maligned
Around the Sun. In the meantime, the band's first five years will be celebrated with the CD/DVD package And I Feel Fine,
due September 12 via I.R.S./Capitol. The collection includes the first
authorized release of a number of long-bootlegged rare tracks.
Spetember 7, 2006 From Winnipeg Sun
John Mayer's opinion of the music industry is harsh but fair."It's a
lonely time to be a musician, I can tell you that," Mayer says. How so?
"Well, there aren't that many outlets left to present your music," he
explains. "And when there are, they're not really germane to the spirit
of music. It is precisely because music is Mayer's first love that he
worries about it so much. "You know, 'cool' probably is the biggest
industry of all time," Mayer says. "What makes cool happen. Who thinks
what is cool. Billions of dollars are spent every year to help people
who aren't cool figure out what is cool. But you can't chase it, man.
You have to let it roll. And over the past 10 years, it has rolled into
-- I can't even call it bad music, because who am I to say what's good
or bad? -- but just (less). "There's just less music. And with less
music comes less good music. But there still are the same number of
slots on the radio and the same number of slots on a record shelf."
Mayer doesn't want to rule the world. But as far as the music industry
goes, he would like to rule a small part of it. "They need to put me up
in the record company, high up, and I will change the whole system," he
says. "Usually people don't stay in these companies long enough to
think past saving their own asses. So my condition would be that they
have to keep me in there for at least five years. And the first two
years, they wouldn't even see me. Because I would be down in the
trenches bringing people up."
Spetmeber 4, 2006 From Forbes
Viacom Inc, Warner Music Group Corp and Universal Music Group are among
those to have bid for Bertelsmann AG unit BMG Music Publishing, the
Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the
situation. Viacom has teamed up with private-equity group Apollo
Management LP and boutique adviser Zelnick Media, headed by former BMG
executive Strauss Zelnick, the paper said in its online edition. Warner
Music submitted a bid along with private-equity backers Providence
Equity, Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee C, it said. Universal Music, a
unit of Vivendi Universal SA, has made an offer for the company alone,
the report said, adding that Chicago-based private-equity group GTCR
also submitted an offer. Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) and
EMI Group PLC were working on a bid, but it was unclear whether they
had submitted an offer by the Thursday deadline, the paper said. EMI
and KKR declined to comment amid reports the two companies had not been
able to agree on terms, it said. Citigroup Inc and J.P. Morgan Chase
& Co, which are running the sale process, are expected to choose a
bidder within the next week.
September 3, 2006 From Google News
MySpace will make its first move into the digital music business by
selling songs from nearly 3 million unsigned bands. MySpace is the
latest company to try to take on Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store,
but unlike many other start-up rivals, it already boasts 106 million
users, as well as the backing of parent company News Corp. Before the
end of 2006, De Wolfe said MySpace will offer independent bands that
have not signed with a record label a chance to sell their music on the
site. MySpace says it has nearly 3 million bands showcasing their
music. Songs can be sold on the bands' MySpace pages and on fan pages,
in non-copyright-protected MP3 digital file format, which works on most
digital players including Apple's market-dominating iPod.The bands will
decide how much to charge per song after including MySpace's
distribution fee.
September 2, 2006 From Top 40 Charts
For the first time ever, VMA viewers were able to vote on all general
awards categories reflecting and celebrating the most eclectic group of
artists today. Panic! at the Disco nabbed "Best Video of the Year" for
"I Write Sins Not Tragedies." Avenged Sevenfold won "Best New Artist
Video" for their music video "Bat Country." Beyonce took home a Moon
Man for "Best R&B Video" for her music video "Check on It." A.F.I.
grabbed a Moon Man with "Miss Murder" winning for "Best Rock Video."
Pink hauled in "Best Pop Video" for her music video "Stupid Girls."
While the VMAs aired live on MTV, MTV.com streamed "VMA Live: Backstage
Uncensored," an unprecedented live simultaneous view of ALL the action
behind the scenes and backstage that viewers have never gotten to see.
Fans followed talent such as Ludacris, OK Go, and T.I. as they traveled
from dressing rooms to the stage for their performances. In addition to
the television and broadband experiences, MTV Mobile offered updates
and recaps of the VMAs across all wireless carriers. The VMAs were also
celebrated across all of MTV's platforms including MTV2, mtvU, MHD, MTV
World, and Urge.
Agust 31, 2006 From The Standard
Universal strikes digital catalog deal with advertising Web site to
mark new era in legal downloads. Music fans for years have been telling
record labels what they want to pay for downloaded songs: Nothing. Now
the labels are starting to agree that free might work for them, too.
Universal Music Group's announcement Tuesday that it is licensing its
digital catalog to a Web site offering free, legal downloads marks a
significant shift in an industry long criticized for fighting, rather
than harnessing, the Internet's potential. The Web site, backed by New
York company SpiralFrog, hopes to make money selling advertisements
that play while songs download. In addition to Universal's artists,
which include U2 and Kanye West, SpiralFrog is seeking to license the
catalogs of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI
Group.
August 29,2006 From Fox News
Internet giant AOL has revamped its Web-based music download service,
adding music videos, streaming radio and user community features. The
new version of AOL Music Now is scheduled to debut Tuesday, offering
some 2.5 million audio tracks and thousands of music videos, the
company said. Audio tracks can be bought individually for 99 cents,
while music videos cost $1.99 each. The service offers unlimited
downloads at a monthly rate of $9.95, or $14.95 for the ability to
transfer songs to compatible portable music players. By increasing
video content, AOL is putting itself in a better position to compete
with rivals like Yahoo. Other established online music services also
sell video content or allow computer users to view _ not download _
videos free of charge. But the AOL Music Now subscription plan includes
unlimited music video downloads.
Agust 28, 2006 From Google News
Afghanistan has opened its first women-only music school. Just a few
years ago music was banned by the Taliban government and musicians fled
the country. Now, this six-month-old project at the Nagashand Fine Art
Gallery in Mazar-i-Sharif, near the border with Uzbekistan, is teaching
18 girls and women to become music teachers. The women are taught
singing and how to play modern and traditional instruments. But the
$9,200 project, backed by the United Nations and local aid groups,
still battles to overcome old fears. Students are all former refugees,
whose families fled the civil war. All the students, ranging in age
from 14 to 30, lived in Iran as refugees after their families left
Afghanistan.
August 27, 2006. From Billboard.
Beck wants to have a little fun with the artwork for his upcoming
album, "The Information," and he wants his fans to contribute. The set,
due October 3 via Interscope, will feature blank packaging and one of
four sets of sticker sheets designed by artists from the United States
and Europe, allowing consumers to customize the cover however they
wish. Although details have yet to be announced, a contest is in the
works to select the best album cover creation, with final approval
coming from Beck himself. Plans also call for displaying the sticker
designs at select art galleries.
August 24, 2006 From CNN
Dell Inc. has quietly pulled the
plug on its DJ Ditty music players, less than a year after the world's
largest computer maker launched the device to compete with Apple
Computer Inc.'s iPod Shuffle. The company stopped selling the Ditty on
August 17. Dell is trying to focus on its core areas of PCs, printers
and flat-panel televisions. Dell unveiled the Ditty last September as a
better value than the Shuffle. Both devices store music on flash memory
chips. The Ditty, like the Shuffle, cost $99 at the time and included
512 megabytes of memory. But because the Dell device used an audio
format that compresses digital music files more efficiently, Dell
asserted it could hold up to 220 songs -- 100 more than the Shuffle.
The 512 megabyte Shuffle now retails for $69, with a one gigabyte model
for $99. The Ditty also included a 1-inch LCD display screen and an FM
radio receiver. The Shuffle lacks both features. As of Wednesday
afternoon, visitors to Dell's Web site could select from a range of
music players from Creative Technology Ltd., iRiver, SanDisk Corp. and
Samsung. The Ditty was not available, and Figueroa said the company's
entire inventory has been sold. Accessories such as lanyards were still
available at a discount. Dell entered the portable music player market
in 2003 but struggled against competitors. In January, the Round
Rock-based company discontinued its DJ line of hard drive-based devices.
August 23,2006 From USA TODAY
Get ready for louder, hipper music at hotels. In the latest bid for a
new generation of travelers, hotel chains are paying more attention to
music in their lobbies, shops and restaurants. They're playing it
louder, making it more consistent across their hotels and turning more
to contemporary tunes. With more people traveling, hotel chains are
trying to outdo each other in providing a "more memorable experience,"
says Alan Benjamin, a hospitality consultant. "They are trying to make
travel more of a personal experience. Not just (having guests say) that
I checked in, went to bed, shaved and checked out." Part of that, says
Rob Kwortnik, a marketing professor at Cornell University, is catering
to a rising number of younger customers who are more comfortable with
louder music. Omni's program, which features about 1,500 songs, plays
its music at a louder volume than before, but people can still have
conversations without raising their voice.
August 21,2006 From Information Week
The music industry is targeting Web sites that allow users to share
music. This time it's not recordings, but helpful hints on how to play
the guitar. Industry groups representing music publishers in recent
months have intimidated guitar tablature sites such as Olga.net,
GuitarTabs.com, and MyGuitarTabs.com with copyright lawsuits if they
don't shutter their offerings that let guitar players exchange tips on
how to play songs, according to a report, "Now the Music Industry Wants
Guitarists to Stop Sharing," in The New York Times on Monday. The
publishers complain that tablature sites post parts of copyrighted
sheet music without paying royalties to composers. "People can get it
for free on the Internet, and it's hurting the songwriters," Lauren
Keiser, president of the Music Publishers' Association, told the Times.
But the publisher of Guitar Tab Universe contends sites like his
promotes guitar playing and, in turn, propels sales of sheet music.
"The publishers can't dispute the fact that the popularity of playing
guitar has exploded because of sites like mine," the Times quotes
Robert Balch. "And any person that buys a guitar book during their
lifetime, that money goes to the publishers."'
August 17, 2006 From Pocket Lint
Google has posted a new
program on Google Labs that tracks your music tastes and then posts
aggregated results online. Google Talk users can now check off the
option for Google Music Trends in their settings to allow the search
engine to monitor what tracks you’re listening to on iTunes, Winamp,
Windows Media Player, and Yahoo Music Engine. Every night Google then
updates the list of top 20 songs from a range of genres of the past 7
days on Google Music Talk. Those worried about Google collecting
personal data from them should know that opting for Google Music Trends
also enables Google Personalized Search, which keeps track of your
music choices; however Google does offer information to opt out of
Personalized Search. What benefit Google Music Talk has to the average
Joe is not clear. It simply seems like an alternative to the mainstream
US top-40 chart listings, but one that reflects the personal taste of a
specific demographic, namely, Google Talk members. On Google’s music
charts, a click on the song name or artist will take you to a Google
Music search page, which then leads to online retailers.
August 14, 2006 from Yahoo News
With a city-issued broom in
his hand, Boy George started his court-ordered community service early
Monday, sweeping the streets for the Department of Sanitation and
getting in a dust-up with the media. It took less than an hour for the
former Culture Club frontman to get into a spat with the media. The
45-year-old singer was swarmed by reporters and photographers while he
stood by the median of a Lower East Side street. He used his broom to
sweep dust and leaves into the lens of a video camera. His sweeping,
interrupted by the confrontation, later resumed in a gated Sanitation
parking lot. He said the day's work also might include mopping inside
the depot. Boy George appeared to be in good spirits during a
late-morning break, waving to reporters on the other side of a
chain-link fence and yelling, "How are you?" before returning to work.
August 13, 2006 Google News
Sony Media Software, a leading
provider of music creation programs for the PC, has signed an agreement
with FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide, Americas to develop American
Idol(R) Jam Trax(TM) and American Idol Extreme Music Creator(TM)
software, two new applications that let users experience the thrill of
making music and living the dream, just like the stars of America's
most popular television series, American Idol."The ever-increasing
popularity of American Idol makes it clear that there are millions of
aspiring musicians looking for an outlet for their artistic talents,"
said Dave Chaimson, vice president of marketing, Sony Media Software.
"These new software packages make it easy to create original songs in
minutes and provide limitless ways to explore music, take center stage
and discover your inner Idol." American Idol Jam Trax software comes
with over six hundred music loops and samples and is the perfect
entry-level software application for those who want to get started
creating their own music. Users can record vocals, change tempo and key
and even email songs to others right from within the software.
August 11, 2006 From AFP
Europe's summer music festivals were
facing a headache over a British hand-luggage ban sparked by an alleged
bomb plot, with top performers deeply reluctant to be parted from their
precious instruments. The conductor of Moscow's celebrated Bolshoi
theatre, which is performing in London until August 20, warned Friday
that his musicians would under no circumstance check in their
instruments. "I saw two violins being checked in as luggage, which is
unacceptable," said Alexander Vedernikov, who flew back to Moscow ahead
of the other musicians. He said the Bolshoi musicians would probably
travel by train to France -- which has not banned hand-luggage -- and
catch a flight from there rather than risk seeing their instruments
rough-handled. British authorities banned all but the most essential
items from aircraft cabins after police said Thursday they had foiled
an alleged terrorist plot to blow up flights from Britain to the United
States. Draconian hand-luggage restrictions have also been introduced
in Australia, Canada, Ghana, Kenya, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and
Switzerland.
August 9, 2006 from ITH
Nokia, the world's biggest maker of
cellphones, has agreed to buy Loudeye, a digital music distributor, for
$60 million, in an effort to turn mobile music into a viable
alternative to Apple Computer's iTunes online service. Though sales of
music via cellphone networks have been sluggish, some analysts say that
wireless distribution offers the greatest prospects for future growth
of the music industry, particularly among young, on-the-go fans.
August 7, 2006 From CNN
Whether it's hip-hop, rap, pop or
rock, much of popular music aimed at teens contains sexual overtones.
Its influence on their behavior appears to depend on how the sex is
portrayed, researchers found. Songs depicting men as "sex-driven
studs," women as sex objects and with explicit references to sex acts
are more likely to trigger early sexual behavior than those where
sexual references are more veiled and relationships appear more
committed, the study found. Teens who said they listened to lots of
music with degrading sexual messages were almost twice as likely to
start having intercourse or other sexual activities within the
following two years as were teens who listened to little or no sexually
degrading music. Among heavy listeners, 51 percent started having sex
within two years, versus 29 percent of those who said they listened to
little or no sexually degrading music. Exposure to lots of sexually
degrading music "gives them a specific message about sex," said lead
author Steven Martino, a researcher for Rand Corp. in Pittsburgh. Boys
learn they should be relentless in pursuit of women and girls learn to
view themselves as sex objects, he said.
August 6, 2006 From Click Z
In a bid to increase
subscriptions to its Yahoo! Music service during the slow summer
months, Yahoo has joined forces with MasterCard to offer a special,
twp-for-one online promotion. Customers using MasterCard to pay for the
music service for one year will get a second year of service for free.
The promotion runs now through October 4. Yahoo! Music and MasterCard
will rely almost entirely on Internet banner ads on Yahoo! Music and
the rest of Yahoo to promote the deal. Michael Lao, MasterCard VP of
global media, told ClickZ, “We’re running banner ads on Yahoo and some
outside sites we feel this promotion will resonate with.” Two of just a
handful of other Web sites that will carry banner ads for the music
deal are ComedyCentral.com and BET.com. MasterCard has entered a
two-year promotional agreement with Yahoo! Music, and Lao says this
two-for-one music campaign will serve as a test bed for future
promotions. A year’s subscription to Yahoo! Music is $83.88 to download
music, or $143.88 to have the additional ability to transfer tracks to
compatible portable devices.
August 3, 2006 From PR Inside
he fledgling singer - who
recently released her debut single 'Stars Are Blind' from her
self-titled debut album - has reportedly been asked to perform for VIP
guests at the upcoming V Festival.
Paris will potentially play in front of a host of stars, including
supermodel Naomi Campbell and 'Desperate Housewives' heartthrob Jessie
Metcalfe, when the festival kicks off in two weeks time.
Paris has reportedly been asked to sing 'Stars Are Blind' and several
other tunes by the festival's organisers. A source said: "We always
have a high number of celebrities chilling out there and we make sure
we have a special performance for them.
"We think Paris would go down a storm, which is why we have asked her."
Paris recently revealed she was desperate to play at a British music
festival to prove she can sing live.
She said: "I really want to do a festival so I can prove I have
talent."
August 2, 2006 From Beta News
Yahoo released a new version of
its online music service Wednesday, merging its Yahoo! Music Engine and
MusicMatch applications into a single program called Yahoo! Music
Jukebox. which Yahoo acquired MusicMatch in 2004. Among the
enhancements to the software include a new equalizer, as well as
improved playlist and usability enhancements. Popular features from
MusicMatch Jukebox have been seamlessly integrated into the Yahoo
product, the company said.
"This new version of the Yahoo! Music Jukebox enables our users to take
advantage of the combined strengths of the Yahoo! Music Engine and the
Musicmatch Jukebox in one fully-integrated experience," Yahoo Music
vice president and general manager Dave Goldberg said. A Plus version
of the product would also be offered for $19.99 USD, which would add
features such as faster ripping and burning, MP3 audio enhancements,
and CD label printing features. Both versions would allow mixing and
the capability to import and manage music, as well as the option
transfer songs to portable devices that support the Windows Media
PlaysForSure format.
July 31, 2006 From USA Today
In less than a year, cellphone
users have bought about 7.5 million songs, while Apple's iTunes Music
Store continues to dominate on PCs, selling more than 1 billion songs
in three years.Industry watchers have been predicting that sales to
mobile customers would one day be really big. Starting Monday, Verizon
Wireless is taking steps it hopes will make that happen.Consumers
buying a song or two on their handsets will no longer have to pay the
$15 monthly charge to access a tune. Additionally, Verizon is
introducing the Chocolate cellphone by LG, a sleek device that looks
more like a thin iPod than a handset.Verizon will sell it for $149 with
a service contract. The phone answers the main criticism leveled at
Verizon when it launched its music store in January: Current music
collections in the MP3 format couldn't be moved to or played on Verizon
phones.With the new handset, a USB cable is supplied that connects the
phone to a PC, and transfers in MP3 and Microsoft's copy-protected WMA
formats. The phone has a slot for a storage card. With a 2-gigabyte
card, the phone can hold 2,000 songs.
July 27, 2006 From NY Times
The music industry and Hollywood
film studios said today that they had settled lawsuits against a
longtime nemesis: Kazaa, the digital file-sharing service. The
settlement frees Kazaa to transform itself into an authorized online
distributor of music and movies. The owner of Kazaa — Sharman Networks,
a privately held company incorporated on the Pacific island nation of
Vanuatu and operated out of Australia — agreed to pay $115 million to
the major record companies and movie studios, which accused Kazaa of
aiding the illegal copying and distribution of movies over the
Internet. The settlement follows court decisions against Kazaa in
Australia and against other file-sharing services by the United States
Supreme Court. Sharman Networks said the agreements clear the way “to
enable distribution of the broadest range of licensed content over
Kazaa.” “All the parties involved now recognize the time is right to
work together, and we are looking forward to collaborating with the
music and motion picture companies to make P2P an integral part of the
future of online digital entertainment,” said Nikki Hemming, chief
executive of Sharman Networks.
July 26,2006 From E!
They may have been dragged kicking and
screaming, but Metallica has finally joined the digital revolution.
After famously decrying online downloading as the death of the album
format, and filing a few lawsuits in the process, the head-banging
quartet has finally acquiesced to Apple and made available their back
catalog on the iTunes Music Store Tuesday. "From the 'It's about
f---ing time!' file, comes this...," the group said on its Website
Monday. "Over the last year or so, we have seen an ever-growing number
of Metallica fans using online sites like iTunes to get their music.
So, in continuing with the tradition of offering our albums for sale
online (which we've been doing for a few years through various sites),
as well as making our live concerts available for download in their
entirety (through the livemetallica.com site), we are now offering fans
the opportunity to obtain our songs individually." Metallica had
previously made available their music for downloading on Yahoo! Music,
MSN Music and Rhapsody, but the iTunes collaboration marks the first
time listeners can purchase a single song rather than an entire album.
July 25,2006 From BBC News
Transporter is being billed as the world's first network music player
for lovers of pure sound. The $1,999 (£1,079) player is aimed at people
who encode music using so-called lossless formats, such as Flac or Wav.
Many people who rip their CDs onto a computer use formats such as MP3,
AAC or WMA - all of which compress the audio, losing quality in the
process. Digital music files stored on a computer can be streamed over
a wi-fi network to Transporter, which plugs into an amplifer and
speakers. Patrick Cosson, from US manufacturer Slim Devices, said:
"Audiophiles are investing a lot of money to rip their files at more
than simple 128kbps MP3." He said many people did not realise what a
compromise they were making when ripping CDs into formats such as MP3.
July 23, 2006 From Google NewsThe process of licensing music for
a TV commercial, show or movie is notorious for being a time-consuming
and often hair-pulling exercise in frustration. There's no uniformity
of rates, it requires extensive negotiations at times and, with the
explosion of new media formats, is entering a new era of pricing
uncertainty. But what if licensing a song were as easy as buying it
online? That's something a handful of licensing experts are about to
find out. Music licensing companies Pump Audio and Rumblefish this
summer introduced different flavors of Internet-based licensing
services where anybody from an amateur podcaster to a TV music
supervisor can go to search, sample and license music for their
productions. Both companies pre-clear the rights for all music in their
catalogs for a variety of different uses. License costs vary based on
the size of the project, the use of the song and other predetermined
criteria that users fill out in a sort of online questionnaire/rate
card. Costs run from as low as $5 for a podcast license to $50,000 for
nationwide TV use. Once paid, the license is autogenerated and e-mailed
as a PDF file. There are no phone calls, price haggling or lawyers
involved. According to Rumblefish CEO Paul Anthony, what normally takes
between 30 to 100 man-hours of effort is reduced to 10 minutes online.
"We learned that music supervisors were going into iTunes to find songs
and then figure out a way to license them later," he says. "Their dream
scenario was to have a license button next to the buy button. So we
wanted to make licensing music as easy as buying it." Of course,
there's a catch: major-label publishers don't participate in either
service. Rumblefish boasts a catalog of about 4,000 tracks, Pump Audio
about 15,000, all independent acts or artists with expired contracts
who now own their masters.
July 21,2006 From Reuters
Microsoft Corp said on Friday it
plans to release a new music and entertainment player and accompanying
software under the "Zune" brand this year, in a belated attempt to
challenge the dominance of Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod player. The
announcement comes after weeks of rumors and speculation about such an
offering. Microsoft has already touted the products to record
companies. "Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware
and software products, the first of which will be available this year,"
said Chris Stephenson, general manager of market for entertainment and
services at Microsoft, in an statement. "We see a great opportunity to
bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore
and discover music together." The world's largest software maker faces
an uphill climb in closing the gap on Apple's iPod media player and
iTunes Music Store, the runaway leaders in their respective areas. The
iPod holds more than half of the digital media player market, according
to research company NPD, while iTunes accounts for over 70 percent of
U.S. digital music sales. In the United States, the iPod has more than
75 percent of the digital music player market, according to NPD.
"Creating a lifestyle device, Microsoft is clearly going to face a
battle here," said Michael Gartenberg, research director at
JupiterResearch. "It's going to be hard for them to create the same
level of cachet that Apple has with the iPod." Music industry sources
told Reuters earlier this month that Microsoft disclosed plans to be in
the market before Christmas with a media player that will allow users
to download videos and music wirelessly.
July 21, 2006 From USA Today
Record label Sony BMG Music
Entertainment, which got into trouble last year when it sold
copy-protected CDs that inadvertently threatened PCs with a computer
virus, has become the first major record label to sell an unprotected
digital song. Jessica Simpson's A Public Affair went on sale this week
at Yahoo Music, and unlike every digital song sold on competitors Apple
iTunes, Napster and Rhapsody, it is compatible with all portable music
players. The song is in the open MP3 format and can be transferred to
an Apple iPod or players by Creative, Samsung and others. Record labels
have refused to sell songs without digital rights management (DRM) in
the past. Consumer advocates hope this is the beginning of a trend.
"It's about time," says Fred von Lohmann, a senior attorney with the
public interest group Electronic Frontier Foundation. "This is an
important signal that the labels may be finally realizing that DRM is
hindering the size of the market." Sony BMG played down the
significance of the release. The song, on Yahoo, is "personalized" —
there are 500 versions, each including a different first name, from
Aaron to Zach, that consumers can search for. The label says it would
have been too complicated to release all 500 with DRM. Ian Rogers, who
runs Yahoo Music, wrote about the deal on the Yahoo Music Blog, calling
it a breakthrough for music fans.
July 19,2006 From Telematics
Sony is planning to do its part
to help drivers enjoy safe hands-free conversations and crystal clear,
streaming music on the road. The Sony MEX-BT5000 car stereo is the
company's first audio-streaming AM/FM CD receiver with wireless
Bluetooth technology. The car stereo automatically connects with
cellular phones and other devices, including portable music players
that have Bluetooth connectivity. Placing calls from the MEX-BT5000 car
stereo is effortless. Bluetooth technology transfers up to 50 phonebook
contacts and six speed-dial entries from your phone to the stereo. The
contact information appears on the receiver's high-resolution screen so
drivers can easily call friends even when the phone is out of reach. An
integrated microphone on the faceplate detects voices and eliminates
the need for additional wiring so the installation process is quick and
easy. The integrated noise and echo reduction signal processing
enhances phone call clarity. "In three words, the car stereo is simple,
safe and sleek. It's easy to use, has outstanding sound clarity and
looks great in any car," said Brennan Mullin, general manager for
mobile electronics at Sony Electronics. "By giving people a
hassle-free, all-in-one audio solution, our intention is to help make
drivers' lives easier while raising their expectations for car
stereos."
July 18, 2006 From M&C
National Geographic is known for
bringing the world alive through images and stories. Now it has
expanded its representation of global cultures by creating a music
exploration and purchasing site, enhanced with content from its
National Geographic Channel and elsewhere. National Geographic World
Music blends a music store, powered by Calabash Music, with extensive
context provided by videos, maps, photos and features from National
Geographic magazines, the National Geographic Channel and other
editorial activities of the National Geographic Society. "World Music
is a natural extension of NationalGeographic.com`s rich multimedia
experience that entertains, informs and engages consumers who are as
passionate about the world`s cultures and the environment as we are,"
National Geographic vice president content operations Betsy Scolnik
said. "World Music fans around the world will be able to listen and
learn in one digital experience." Musician, composer and musicologist
David Beal, who was president at Palm Pictures, has been key to the
project now at http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com.
July 17, 2006 From Tech Digest
Aimed very much at first-time downloaders, Virgin Digital's Music
Download Starter Pack offers all the basics of music downloading -
including the player, free downloads and basic instruction - all in one
box. Each Starter Pack contains a digital music player, five free
downloads from VirginDigital.com to get you started, and
easy-to-understand instructions. Don't expect a top-of-the-range iPod -
the kit contains a fairly basic lightweight 256MB Virgin-branded
player, with headphones, USB cable and an installation disc. The player
should be good to hold around 60 tracks.
July 15, 2006 From Google News
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool,
Human Nature and Rogue Traders have contributed to a 2.4 per cent spike
in Australian music sales, confidential figures obtained by The Sunday
Telegraph show.Despite the boost, however, the figures remain well
behind those of 2001, when the wholesale value of music sold peaked at
$647 million. According to the leaked statistics, the wholesale value
of CD/DVD music sales climbed by 1.5 per cent in the six months to
June, compared with the same period last year.When digital downloads
purchased from online e-tailers such as Apple's iTunes are factored in,
the overall increase is 2.4 per cent.According to ARIA's half-yearly
figures, to be made public later this year, album sales are up three
per cent, while digital downloads have risen 25 per cent, from $8
million to $10 million.However, the significant increase in digital
downloads has hit the sale of CD singles, which have crashed by 30 per
cent.DVD and music video sales are also down, by about 10 per cent, for
the January to June period. Woeful April sales had the major record
labels staring down another disastrous reporting period. However, they
bounced back by lifting June sales by 20 per cent. Annual CD and DVD
sales peaked in 2001 at $647 million, but, by last year, they had
fallen to $539 million.
July 15,2006 From Houston Chronical
Imagine rap lyrics
without the F-bomb.Or acid-rock lyrics without sex.Or reggae lyrics
without drugs.Howard Rachinski imagined it all last year, when his
then-10-year-old son began to get interested in music.Although Apple's
iTunes and other commercial music-download sites offered plenty of
Christian and other inoffensive songs and albums, Rachinski wanted
something that catered exclusively to religious people like himself and
his family.So he and his colleagues created Portland, Ore.-based
SongTouch, an online music store much like iTunes — but without a
single "Parental Advisory" label among its 220,000 religious,
inspirational and classical titles."Our core target market," Rachinski
says, "is people with Judeo-Christian values or faith not wanting to
compromise that faith."Today, tens of thousands of SongTouch customers
are legally downloading 99-cent copies of such songs as Carrie
Underwood's Jesus, Take the Wheel, Casting Crowns' Lifesong and
Tobymac's Catchafire (Whoopsi-Daisy).The SongTouch Web site
(www.songtouch.com) offers 27 musical genres, from Americana to
Southern gospel, plus spoken-word performances. Last week's top-selling
song was Mark Harris' gospel song Find Your Wings. The top-selling
album, at $9.99, was country singer Alan Jackson's collection of old
hymns called Precious Memories.The Web site also offers news and
features about artists, a monthly video show on Christian entertainers,
upcoming music releases and customer polls.
July 11, 2006 from New York Times
Syd Barrett, the erratically brilliant songwriter and singer who
created the psychedelic rock of Pink Floyd only to leave the band in
1968 with mental problems, died on July 7 at his home in
Cambridgeshire, England. He was 60.Pink Floyd in March 1967. From left,
Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Syd Barrett and Rick Wright. Drug use left
Mr. Barrett unable to play, and the next year he was out of the band.
He later recorded two solo albums.His death was confirmed by a
spokesman for his former band, Doug Wright of LD Communications, who
did not give a cause. Mr. Barrett had long suffered from diabetes.A
statement from Mr. Wright said: “The band are very naturally upset and
sad to hear of Syd Barrett’s death. Syd was the guiding light of the
early band lineup and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire.”With
Pink Floyd, and on two haunting solo albums, Mr. Barrett became a
touchstone for experimental pop musicians. He was also renowned both as
an LSD casualty and as a symbol of how close creativity can be to
madness.Mr. Barrett wrote most of the songs on Pink Floyd’s debut
album, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.” In Mr. Barrett’s songs like
“Astronomy Domine,” whimsy and wordplay merged with a playful sense of
structure and sound. “Let’s try it another way/You’ll lose your mind
and play,” he wrote in “See Emily Play.”He also helped to conceive the
band’s performances as spectacles. “We have only just started to scrape
the surface of effects and ideas of lights and music combined,” Mr.
Barrett told the trade newspaper Melody Maker in 1967.
July 8, 2006 From Earth Times
Pop idol Justin Timberlake has vowed to bring the style back into pop
music with his new album, "FutureSex/LoveSounds," which is due to be
released on September 11."I realize that I have a platform to push the
sound of pop music. That's the only responsibility that I put on myself
in recording the album," Timberlake told reporters at Paris. "If I'm
not going to push it, then who's going to push it?" The first single of
the album is titled "SexyBack," and has got some great bass beats as
well as electronic sounds. "It's been awhile since the last record. And
I just wanted to try something new," Timberlake continued. "I sort of
had an idea in mind where I wanted to go and it turned out that I went
completely left of that. But that's what music should do."He said that
in the first single the intention was to sing as a rock and roll single
rather than a R&B singer. But SexyBack does not seem to belong
either to straight rock or funk. People are calling it "club funk" and
Timberlake's happy with the label. "Anything that I do and anything
Timbaland does is going to be funky. That's a rule of thumb. And that's
how the song got started, going more dance rock, club funk," he added.
"There are people out there pushing the boundaries of music; Gnarls
Barkley, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, they always push themselves. The
most you can hope for is music that pushes your sound as much as they
push theirs."
July 7,2006 From USA Today
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, seriously injured
in a motorcycle accident last month, will play in a celebrity golf
tournament next week and appear in a music video.Officials with
American Century Championship, a tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nev., said
Friday that Roethlisberger has committed to play there next weekend,
July 14-16.Also, a spokeswoman for The PovertyNeck Hillbillies, a
country music group in Pittsburgh, announced Friday that Roethlisberger
will be shooting a music video with the group on Tuesday at Heinz
Field.A Steelers spokesman declined to comment on Roethlisberger's
recovery or his personal appearances. Roethlisberger's agent, Leigh
Steinberg, did not immediately return a call for comment.Roethlisberger
underwent seven hours of facial reconstruction surgery June 12 after
ramming his Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle into a car that turned left in
front of him on a Pittsburgh street. Roethlisberger broke his jaw and
nose when his head smashed into the car's windshield and he was thrown
over the car onto the pavement. He was cited for riding without a
license and not wearing a helmet — which unlicensed riders cannot
legally do in Pennsylvania.Roethlisberger, 24, who became the youngest
quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl after just his second season with
the Steelers, spent less than three full days in the hospital.NBC will
televise the second and third rounds of the American Century
Championship. The Golf Channel will televise the first round on July 14.
JUly 5, 2006 From Reuters
The world's biggest record company is not ready to give the compact
disc up for dead just yet, and is giving the venerable music format a
revamp.Universal Music Group, home to artists such as U2 and Mariah
Carey, is rolling out three new tiers of CD packaging in Europe,
ranging from lush deluxe editions down to bare-bones cardboard sleeves
that are designed to compete with albums sold online.Despite the hype
about online music stores like iTunes, the huge majority of music is
still sold on CDs, usually inside the "jewel boxes" that have been
around for decades."We thought we should reboot the consumer's
experience of buying CDs," said Max Hole, executive vice president for
marketing and A&R at Universal Music Group International. "Ninety
percent of what we sell is physical goods, and the CD hasn't had much
of a revamp in the last 20 years."The middle tier of Universal's CDs
will be sold in a new "super jewel box" designed to be stronger and
more durable than the standard jewel box. Universal Music plans to
absorb the extra manufacturing costs, estimated to be about 3 to 5 euro
cents per unit.Although it does not set retail prices, Universal Music
expects the deluxe CDs to sell for an average of 19.99 euros ($25.61),
the standard for 14.99 euros and the basic for 9.99 euros. The group is
part of France's Vivendi.The basic package will be used to stimulate
sales for catalog albums that have been on sale for a while, "similar
to a paperback book," Hole said.Universal Music expects digital sales
to double to about 10 percent of its sales this year, with digital
making up 25 percent of revenues by 2010.
July 4, 2006 From Slashdot
"According to their chairman, John Kennedy, the International
Federation of the Phonographic Industries (IFPI) is preparing to sue
Yahoo China unless negotiations are agreed upon which satisfy the IFPI.
Yahoo China is the second most popular search engine in China, with the
frontrunner, Baidu, already involved in an ongoing lawsuit brought by
the IFPI. The BBC article is vague in its description of what exactly
Yahoo China would be sued for, mentioning that it provides links to
pirated music tracks but not explaining this any further other than a
statement that 'a simple search on Yahoo China found mp3 files of
recent releases for direct download within a few clicks.'"
July 1, 2006 From CBS News
On Genova Street in downtown Mexico City, illegally copied CDs of music
by top U.S. artists sell for 20 pesos, just under $2 a piece, in tiny
booths between tables overflowing with batteries, stuffed animals and
cheap knockoff sunglasses. That's about one-tenth the price in nearby
stores.Music is even cheaper a few hundred yards away, inside the
Internet cafes surrounding the pedestrian plaza of the Glorieta
Insurgentes. At eMilios, about 20 customers a day fill virgin discs
with illegally downloaded songs for about $1.60, according to the
clerk, Luis Arturo Guerrero, and whether or not they pay legitimate
Internet sites for the tunes is not his concern."We can't really be
responsible for what people see or download," says Guerrero, who sells
blank CD-Rs for 8 pesos, or about 70 cents, and charges 9 pesos, about
80 cents, for an hour of computer time. Most use the free file-sharing
programs Limewire or Morpheus, he said.
June 29,2006 From Information Weekly
Earlier this month, an
article in Nikkei Net Interactive stated definitively that Apple and
Softbank plan to jointly develop cellular phone handsets that have
built-in iPod digital music players, and which could download songs
directly from Apple's iTunes Music Store. The phone is expected to
first be marketed in Japan. Softbank has released a statement calling
such reports "speculation."This follows on the heels of confirmation
from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to Macsimum News that Apple
in December filed a patent application for a wireless iPod with
ringtones and a browser."Our take is that there's a 75% chance that it
comes to market first quarter 2007," says Gene Munster, an analyst with
Piper Jaffrey, who said his firm compiled a survey of the market for an
iPhone. Of adults surveyed, an impressive 30% said they'd buy an iPhone
from Apple, but a whopping 70% of high school students said they would
leap to purchase such a device.The interest is not surprising. A study
by the NPD Group shows that sales of new music-enabled mobile phones
are rising steadily. In the second quarter of 2005, music-enabled
phones represented just 2.9% of all new mobile phone sales. By first
quarter 2006, however, that number had risen to 6%. "It's still a small
percentage of the whole, but rising steadily," says Ross Rubin, NPD's
director of industry analysis.Indeed, a report published earlier this
month by ABI Research said that cell phones and smart phones with hard
disks will eventually cut significantly into sales of MP3 players.
Currently such players are very expensive--about $800. But the fact
that cellular operators have started offering music services with which
users can download music directly onto their phones also means that
Apple might be forced to release an iPhone just to preserve its iPod
revenues.
June 27,2006 From Google News
The Pope has demanded an end to electric guitars and modern music in
church and a return to traditional choirs.The Catholic Church has been
experimenting with new ways of holding Mass to try to attract more
people. The recital of Mass set to guitars has grown in popularity in
Italy; in Spain it has been set to flamenco music; and in the United
States the Electric Prunes produced a "psychedelic" album called Mass
in F Minor.However, the use of guitars and tambourines has irritated
the Pope, who loves classical music. "It is possible to modernise holy
music," the Pope said, at a concert conducted by Domenico Bartolucci
the director of music at the Sistine Chapel. "But it should not happen
outside the traditional path of Gregorian chants or sacred polyphonic
choral music."His comments prompted the newspaper La Stampa to compare
him with Pope Pius X, who denounced faddish classical and baroque
compositions and reinstated Gregorian chants in 1903.The Pope's
supporters argue that the music played during Mass is a vital part of
the communion between worshippers and God, and that medieval church
music, with the liturgy, creates the correct ambience for perceiving
God's mystery.
June 27, 2006 From TMCnet
Seeking to expand its online offerings in the digital world, Tower
Records enters the music downloading business todaywith a service that
will initially feature more than 1.2 million tracks.The iconic music
retailer, based in West Sacramento, hopes to use its 46 years of
experience in the record industry to attract customers who want to
download music.That won't be easy. Tower enters a crowded field of more
than a dozen download sites dominated by the iTunes Music Store, which
has sold more than 1 billion songs since it was launched in 2003 and
controls more than 70 percent of the U.S. market.
June 25, 2006 From Vancouver Sun
Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman began her new life as the wife of
country music crooner Keith Urban on Monday, after a romantic twilight
ceremony with relatives, close friends and a smattering of Hollywood
stars.The newlyweds were expected to jet off to Fiji for their
honeymoon on an exclusive island resort, local media said.Kidman and
Urban exchanged vows Sunday evening by the light of around 1,000
candles at a small chapel overlooking Sydney's iconic Manly beach.The
beaming bride wore a flowing white Balenciaga gown and pearl drop
earrings. Her cream Rolls-Royce limousine drove from her waterfront
mansion across the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge, through streets lined
with cheering fans.Kidman, accompanied by her father, Antony, smiled
and waved to well-wishers outside the Gothic-style St. Patrick's
College building, which was dramatically floodlit for the Sunday
evening ceremony.Urban, a Grammy-winning country music star, wore a
black suit with a white rose in his lapel matching a bouquet clutched
by Kidman.The ceremony was private, amid intense public interest and
speculation about the details. The pastor said the Oscar-winning
actress and Nashville, Tennessee-based singer would have a traditional
Roman Catholic service.It was Urban's first marriage. Kidman and Tom
Cruise divorced in 2001 after 10 years of marriage.
June 23, 2006 From Click Music
New Orleans' Voodoo Music Experience has added The Flaming Lips, The Wu
Tang Clan and Kings of Leon to it's bill.Voodoo organiser Stephen
Rehege told Billboard: "Despite the ongoing uncertainty in New Orleans,
I feel it's important for people to continue to invest in the rebirth
of our city.Whatever small part we can play in that, we will continue
to do and we'll see in due course if it was the right decision. What I
do know with no uncertainty is that New Orleans and its music culture
is something worth nurturing back to its glory."Other acts playing
include Duran Duran, Red Hot Chili Peppers, My Chemical Romance, Broken
Social Scene, Secret Machines and Brazilian Girls.
June 23, 2006 From Game Info Wire
Crank it up, gamers! The
football pre-season kicks off with a bang as Electronic Arts reveals
the 35 songs that will be featured in Madden NFL 07, becoming the de
facto soundtrack of the 2007 football season. The bone-crunching action
and heart-pounding adrenaline of the grid iron is intensified by the
game's one-of-a-kind mix of rock and hip hop."Year after year, the
music selected for inclusion in EA's smash hit football series
invariably becomes the soundtrack of the football season, moving beyond
the game to turn up in football stadiums and on live TV broadcasts,"
said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Music Marketing at
EA. "The Madden NFL Football franchise is recognized across North
America as a driving force behind break-out bands...this year EA does
it again."Players step onto the field in Madden NFL 07 with the
thundering roar of the crowd in the background and the air filled with
pounding rock anthems and energizing hip hop beats. Dr. Dre's protege
who first appeared in NBA LIVE 06 and NFL STREET 2, Bishop LaMont now
makes an appearance on Madden NFL 07 with a track featuring Chevy
Jones, while Lupe Fiasco is on deck with Jonah Matranga. These hot
tracks are included alongside new releases from fan favorites AFI,
Audioslave, Dashboard Confessional and Taking Back Sunday. Also this
year, game fans will be spellbound by new music debuts from Jared
Leto's 30 Seconds to Mars, Dave Navarro's band The Panic Channel, and
Rise Against whose sophomore record is anticipated to be one of the
biggest rock albums of the year.Again this year, the hip hop production
team Da Riffs remixed nearly a dozen original NFL FILMS music pieces
will be showcased throughout the menus and in gameplay.
June 20, 2006 From MTV NEWS
If you categorize your albums by geographic location, original release
date or instrumental make-up, you're a music geek. If the Beck playlist
on your iPod is named after a lyric fragment like "Drive-by
Body-pierce," you're a total music geek.But if either of the above
describes you, it's possible you are a Mogger and you just don't know
it. Mog is the name of a new Web site (www.mog.com) that mixes the
social networking of MySpace with the hard-drive-peeking ability of the
original Napster, along with a bagful of clever "widgets" that allow
users to share their musical obsessions with like-minded fanatics
around the world on custom-crafted, blog-like pages.The idea behind the
site was deceptively simple: Why let machines tell you what kind of
music you might like when humans can do it for you?"I've been studying
music recommendation for a long time," said founder and CEO David
Hyman, 38, a former CEO of Gracenote, the media-management company
that, among other things, identifies which album you've just put into
your computer and downloads the song list to your iTunes."I've seen a
bombardment of media entities trying to influence my taste — like Clear
Channel, MTV and [online suggestion-based radio service] Pandora — but
I realized that most of my recommendations are still coming from my
friends, and nobody was catering to that," he said (see "What Do Gwen
And Fischerspooner Have In Common? Open Pandora's Box To Find Out").
"When I look at records I've been turned on to, more than half of them
are from friends."So, after leaving Gracenote more than a year ago,
Hyman set out to find a way to use the company's ability to instantly
recognize music on your computer with a social aspect that would allow
music freaks to turn each other on to new artists and songs. "Wouldn't
it be great if there was a way for people to discover music and
discover people at the same time?" he asked.The answer was actually an
old one. Taking a page from the original Napster, which scanned users'
hard drives and allowed the world to see what music they had, Hyman
began building a site that would dump the information from your hard
drive onto a highly customizable Web page (minus the illegal
file-swapping, of course). Once you sign up for the free site and
download the Mog-O-Matic software, Mog scans your hard drive to create
your song list and a tally of what you've listened to and added to your
MP3 player or computer lately.Mogger Kevin Luss has been surfing around
the beta version of the site since April, even though he was sure he
wouldn't like it."I found myself really enjoying it," said Luss, 38, a
financial analyst from Southampton, New York. "It's like I can be a DJ
at a huge party and people can hear the music that I like. It's part
ego, but at the same time I've been turned on to some really awesome
music I would never have checked out."
June 19,2006 From CBS News
Apple may be an underdog in the personal computer business, but when it
comes to digital music, it’s the 800-pound gorilla. With market share
for both its iPod music player and iTunes service hovering around 80
percent, Apple could almost be described as the Microsoft of digital
music.Yet there is plenty of competition on all three fronts: hardware,
music store and software. Creative Labs, iRiver, Samsung, Archos and
Sony are just a few of the companies that make products that compete
with the iPod. The iTunes music store faces competition from Yahoo,
Rhapsody, Napster and even Wal-Mart while Microsoft’s Windows Media
Player is the most popular of many programs that — like Apple’s iTunes
software — let you play music and video and transfer media files to a
portable device.
June 18, 2006 from CNN
As Beck took the stage at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, he was
joined by dancers in bear suits and a band that played on water glasses
and dinner plates.A puppet alter-ego also took a swipe at "sweaty
hippies stinking of patchouli" -- a friendly jab at his audience and
the jam-band culture that has supported the 5-year-old Bonnaroo.The
camping and music festival on a 700-acre Tennessee farm still has its
neo-hippies and free spirits, but Bonnaroo has grown into something
more than a celebration of endless guitar solos.Rather than be
pigeonholed into the jam-band scene, Bonnaroo has diversified its
lineup to include major artists in rap, blues, indie rock and, this
year, classic rockers like Tom Petty and Elvis Costello."At first it
was a jam band festival. But is it still?" said Mike Gordon of the
former jam band Phish. "There still is a lot of jamming. I think it's
grown in respect. It's not considered a niche festival anymore."Ashley
Capps, owner of AC Entertainment in Knoxville, which co-organizes
Bonnaroo with Superfly Productions, said the performances by Petty and
the British band Radiohead were watershed moments for the
festival."From the beginning, we were a music festival that was about
the music. We never saw ourselves being limited to one genre or
another," Capps said.David Taylor, 25, and Lucy Cornford, 24, said the
only reason they came from London, England, to attend Bonnaroo was to
see a number of indie and underground rock bands like Bright Eyes, Clap
Your Hands Say Yeah, and Beck."We normally go to (the) Glastonbury
(Festival), but they didn't have one this year and there were so many
good bands we wanted to see at Bonnaroo," Taylor said.The festival
accommodated 80,000 fans -- many of whom spent the entire weekend
camped out on the concert site. More than 100 performers played on 10
stages this year.
June 15, 2006 From Google News
EMI Music North America, the third largest recording label in the
world, has settled a pay-for-play investigation into radio air time
sold or traded to benefit artists including the Rolling Stones,
Coldplay and Norah Jones.The settlement was the latest during more than
two years of a "payola" investigation by New York Attorney General
Eliot Spitzer."When a record label engages in an elaborate scheme to
purchase air time for its artists, it violates state and federal law
and presents consumers with a skewed picture of the country's
proclaimed 'best' and 'most popular' music," Spitzer said.He said
payola also hurts struggling artists who aren't judged on the merits of
their music.Spitzer said the compensation for radio airplay was paid by
EMI, which includes Virgin Records America, Capitol Records, EMI
Christian Music Group and S Curve Records. One deal included tickets to
a Rolling Stones concert in Toronto that were given to a radio program
director for his personal use.The radio executive in Watertown, N.Y.,
was willing to offer "what it takes for us to get them," according to
Spitzer's investigation. In exchange for the tickets, Virgin Records
received airplay for the Rolling Stones and the Exies.EMI is agreeing
to reform its practices and to pay $3.75 million US to a music charity.
June 13, 2006. From Associated Press
The song "Dirty Water" blares at Fenway Park after every Red Sox
victory and has become part of the winning soundtrack of baseball-crazy
Massachusetts. The band that performed the 1966 hit says it is used in
Budweiser commercials, and the rock 'n' rollers are none too happy. The
Standells filed a federal lawsuit last week claiming that
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. used "Dirty Water" without permission in
commercials to try to tap into the song's connection to the team. The
company is accused of violating collective bargaining agreements with
the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen
Actors Guild. The Standells are seeking more than $1 million in
compensation from the St. Louis-based beer maker. Anheuser-Busch said
in a written statement Friday that it has yet to receive a copy of the
lawsuit and will not comment until it reviews the complaint.
Anheuser-Busch has not been forthcoming with those details, which will
have to be determined in court, Brown said, adding that the royalty
payment proves the company used the song. The relationship between the
Standells and the Red Sox, however, has been amicable. The band, which
broke up in the 1970s, has embraced Boston's enthusiasm for "Dirty
Water." The band performed the song live at Fenway Park before Game 2
of the 2004 World Series. The Red Sox won.
June 12, 2006 MVD Entertainment
After 19 years of specializing solely in music video and DVD product,
Music Video Distributors has expanded into CD distribution with the
formation of MVD Audio. The conglomerate will now be known as the MVD
Entertainment Group, and will consist of three major divisions: MVD
Visual, MVD Audio, and MVD Distribution. Previous to this formation, CD
distribution was not part of the MVD business model.
June 11, 2006. From Associated Press
A singer suffered a
broken jaw and other injuries in an attack by a group yelling anti-gay
slurs, yet he hopes to perform again by the end of the month, police
and his publicist said. Kevin Aviance, 38, whose songs have topped the
Billboard dance chart, is expected to be released Monday from the
hospital where he underwent surgery, publicist Len Evans said. Four
people were arrested on hate-crime charges, police said. Aviance's jaw
is wired shut, but he hopes to perform in the city's Gay Pride parade
at the end of the month, Evans said. The agent had said earlier that
Aviance would not be able to sing at the event. A group of six or seven
males attacked the singer early Saturday on a corner in Manhattan's
East Village, Evans said. There were passers-by, but no one stopped to
help as the attackers threw objects at him, Evans said. Aviance
performs in drag but was "dressed like a boy" when he was attacked,
Evans said. The four people arrested ranged in age from 16 to 20.
June 10, 2006
After 83 years of providing sheet music, band
instruments, and all-around musical advice to the community, Wollmer's
Music Store has played its last note. David Garber is closing shop
because of rising rental costs and growing competition with online
shopping. Garber bought Wollmer's, then located in Burlingame, in 1973
from Lloyd Wollmer, and moved the store to San Mateo nine years later,
when Burlingame rent went "sky high." On the Peninsula and around the
Bay Area, independent music stores like Wollmer's have been closing
rapidly. Last year, Bill's ABC Music in San Bruno closed after more
than 10 years in business, Drapers Music Center in Palo Alto closed
after 24 years, and Tupper & Reed in Berkeley shut down after 99
years.
June 9, 2006. From Reuters
Country music trio the Dixie
Chicks, still taking heat for criticizing U.S. President George W.
Bush, are weathering sluggish ticket sales in several cities for their
upcoming U.S. tour, industry watchers reported on Thursday. While early
ticket purchases for their first major tour in three years are
generally robust in Northeastern cities, initial sales have fallen
short of expectations in numerous markets, especially in the Midwest
and South, forcing some dates to be scrubbed. By contrast, the group's
latest album, "Taking the Long Way," opened atop the U.S. pop charts
last week, selling 526,000 copies during its first seven days and
remaining No. 1 in its second week to notch one of the year's strongest
debuts. But with many country music stations denying the Chicks
airplay, box office business is off to a slow start in places where the
group has sold out in the past, said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of
concert industry magazine Pollstar. Still, ticket sales were strong in
cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Toronto, where a
second October show was added to the schedule after the first concert
quickly sold out, he said. Further complicating the Chicks' commercial
outlook has been their recent transformation as a band, Bongiovanni
said. "They've moved away from being a purely country group, so their
audience is changing," he said.
June 8, 2006 From Wired
I've been a la la user since March, and I'm hooked. This is a smartly
coded site and a very clever business model. La la is a peer-to-peer
used CD store on the net that launched Thursday. You trade CDs with
other users, not unlike the DVD-trading site Peerflix. For $1.49 a pop,
my influx of music now approaches what it was in high school and
college, when used records were still cheap enough to indulge
experimentation. Before la la was born, I had never been able to afford
a let's-try-it-and-see approach with CDs. Here's how it works: After
setting up an account, you list the CDs you are willing to trade in a
"Have List," and the CDs you want in a "Want List." Your page also
includes site-generated recommendations based on your lists and
pointers to other la la users with similar lists. Several times a week,
I receive e-mails from la la telling me to send CD X from my Have List
to user Y. Doing so, using la la's free, postage-paid mailers, I build
up credits for acquiring CDs on my Want List. Each CD trade costs $1,
plus 49 cents for postage. For every $1.49 CD you buy, you must also
sell at least one of your CDs into the system. My Have List now hovers
above 60. My Want List is at 45. I have sold 58 CDs so far and received
52. I typically receive three to five CDs per week. The $1.49-per-CD
fees are totaled at the end of the month and charged to my credit card.
With each transaction, 20 cents gets channeled into an escrow account
destined to be donated to the recording artist(s) or, if they are
deceased, to a foundation to subsidize health insurance for working
musicians. Like eBay suffused with a collaborative Wikipedia spirit, la
la is a big, ambitious experiment hiding behind a whimsical name. The
next big innovation comes in a couple months, when la la will open its
doors for local independent record stores to join the network.
June 7, 2006. From associated press
Eminem's publishing
companies have settled a lawsuit filed in what they said was an effort
to illegally sell the Grammy-winning rapper's songs as cell phone ring
tones. Michigan-based Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated filed the
lawsuit last October in U.S. District Court against five companies. The
lawsuit asked for an order to prohibit the companies from illegally
selling Eminem song ring tones on the Internet. Eminem's
representatives reached an undisclosed settlement last week with one of
the companies -- Colorado-based Cellus US -- and asked U.S. District
Court Judge Gerald E. Rosen to approve the deal, The Detroit News
reported Tuesday. Cellus lawyer Mary Margaret O'Donnell said the
company agreed to stop distributing the ring tones, but declined to say
whether it had paid any money to settle the lawsuit.
June 5, 2006. From associated press
Hennes & Mauritz AB, Europe's largest fashion retailer, said
Thursday it has signed a deal with singer Madonna, under which H&M
will supply a complete off-stage wardrobe for her entire entourage.
H&M said that off-stage, Madonna and the team -- including the
band, dancers, and crew members -- participating in the Confessions
World Tour will be free to choose clothing from H&M's 2006
collection.
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