Search Results for: slash

A year after Apple Computer Inc. launched its iTunes Music Service, the online music industry is selling songs by the millions – and that may not bode well for the major record labels. Online services account for just a fraction of overall music sales, but they’re growing rapidly. And the new choices they give consumers threaten to remix the recording industry’s traditional revenue streams, pumping up the volume of singles and subscriptions and turning down album sales. Customers at three of the leading online services – iTunes, Musicmatch Inc.’s Musicmatch Downloads and RealNetworks Inc.’s Rhapsody – buy about 10 times… Read more »

Universal Music Group will raise the suggested retail price of its CDs by $1 to improve profit margins for merchants after many balked at the company’s push to slash prices, a source familiar with the plan said Friday. The move could leave consumers paying about $11 for a popular CD. Universal’s new suggested retail price will be $13.98, but most retailers typically charge less than that amount. UMG is the world’s biggest record conglomerate, with artists that include U2, Eminem and Shania Twain. Its move comes just three months after the company cut wholesale prices and reduced its suggested retail… Read more »

Figures. Guns N’ Roses reunites and then things go kabooey. Axl Rose reteamed with original Gun mates Slash and Duff McKagan for the purpose of a lawsuit against Geffen Records. The trio was trying to halt the label from releasing a greatest hits collection. In their lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the Gunners sought a preliminary injunction against Geffen, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, accusing the company of failing to consult with the band on the tunes, artwork and remixing of Greatest Hits. But a federal judge on Monday deep-sixed Axl & Co.’s call for… Read more »

The odds are stacked against Velvet Revolver. Their singer, Scott Weiland, is currently in drug rehab for the umpteenth time. Who knows if he’ll be a free man when it’s time to tour, and judging from his past history, it could be a struggle for him to stay clean when the band hits the road. As for his bandmates – ex-Guns N’ Roses members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Matt Sorum (drums), and former Suicidal Tendencies guitarist Dave Kushner – they’re ready to rock, but there’s some question whether the rock community is ready to embrace them. Over a… Read more »

Just as sound bites get reworked into tunes that multiply over the Internet – Remember all the songs based on Howard Dean’s yelp? – a widely seen TV ad is getting the hack-and-slash treatment. The target is Pepsi’s current promotion giving away 100 million free song downloads from Apple’s iTunes Music Store. The company promises one in three bottlecaps on certain Pepsi products carries a code for a free iTunes download. Pepsi is airing a 45-second spot featuring 16 crestfallen music downloaders who have been sued by – and settled lawsuits with – the record industry for illegally snagging songs… Read more »

Sony Corp.’s earnings plunged 26 percent for the latest quarter as expenses for job cuts and other restructuring costs and lower profits from its electronics, moviemaking and video games business offset profit improvement in its music business. But the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant said Wednesday its sales rose for the October-December quarter and it boosted its profit forecast for the year due to a gain on a currency investment. Sony said it earned 92.6 billion yen ($875 million) in the October-December period, down from 125 billion yen a year earlier. Sales inched up 0.7 percent to 2.32 trillion yen… Read more »

Teen idol Aaron Carter isn’t in the middle of his parents’ messy split. He’s taking sides. The 16-year-old younger brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter announced Wednesday he was firing his mother-slash-comanager, and ordering an audit of his pop-star riches. “I feel betrayed by own mother,” Aaron Carter said in a statement. The singer has alleged that a “significant” portion of earnings-reportedly more than $100,000-from his recent tour were tapped into, in part, by mom Jane Carter. “I worked hard for months-10, 11 hours a day, not including school and press appearances-and I come home and owe money!” Aaron Carter… Read more »

Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland, who celebrated his 36th birthday yesterday, and bassist Duff McKagan are slated perform an acoustic version of the Rolling Stones classic “Angie” (alongside some “special surprise guests”) this Thursday, October 30, at the famous Los Angeles photography studio SmashBox. The performance will be part of a fashion show organized by McKagan’s wife, swimwear designer Susan Holmes, as part of this year’s L.A. Fashion Week. Weiland and McKagan are also set to make an autograph-signing appearance at Dragonfest-a massive comics, martial arts, and sci-fi convention-on November 16 at the Glendale Auditorium in Glendale, California. Meanwhile, Scott… Read more »

Velvet Revolver, the much buzzed-about rock group featuring Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland, former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Dave Kushner from Dave Navarro’s band, has signed an exclusive worldwide recording agreement with RCA Records. The quintet will release its highly anticipated debut album in 2004. Weiland, Slash, McKagan, Sorum and Kushner are revered as five of rock’s most valuable players. Their illustrious careers are highlighted by an astonishing run of chart-topping gold and platinum albums, major industry awards, critical acclaim and music of monolithic power. Together they’re making rock history… Read more »

While their cover of Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” may be poised to stay strong at rock radio well through the end of summer, the Ataris are looking forward to the fall. That’s when they’ll release their next single, “The Saddest Song.” Frontman Kris Roe wrote the piano-driven number about his relationship with his estranged daughter and his experience growing up without a father around. “I hope I get the chance to make it up to you/ We got a lot of catching up to do,” he sings. “We started playing that song live two years ago and kids… Read more »