Search Results for: miss may i

The European Union must make an identity code for compact discs compulsory when it unveils a draft law aimed at combating piracy later this year, industry executives said on Tuesday. “What we are asking for is a little code. It’s a very cheap way to fight piracy,” said Yolanda Smits, international trade adviser at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Smits was one of several representatives from music and film industry bodies speaking at a news conference in Brussels, where the European Commission is expected to unveil its proposal for a law on piracy in early December. But… Read more »

One of pop singer Christina Aguilera (news)’s latest music videos has Thais decrying not its explicit dancing and revealing costumes, but a Thai-language billboard in the backdrop that alludes to the country’s sex industry. Saharat Wannachomphu, marketing director for BMG Thailand Co., the local distributors of Aguilera’s new album, said the company had decided not to air the video for the song “Dirrty” on local television, the Nation newspaper reported this week. In the video, the scantily clad 21-year-old dances in a boxing ring next to a wall with posters in Thai that read “Thailand’s sex tourism” and “Young underage… Read more »

For generations, radio listeners have contended with static. That may be about to change if backers of digital radio have their way. The technology they want to roll out within a year promises custom news and information at the touch of a button, CD-quality sound for FM broadcasts and an end to AM’s hiss, crackle and pop. The Federal Communications Commission is to decide Thursday whether to allow radio stations to broadcast digital signals and how they should do it. Digital radio could be the biggest update to the medium since the debut of FM in the 1940s, said Ken… Read more »

A year after Michael Jackson gathered Britney Spears, ‘NSYNC, Destiny’s Child and dozens of other superstars to record “What More Can I Give,” the September 11 benefit single is finally being heard. New York radio station WKTU-FM debuted the song on Friday at 6 p.m. and has been playing it about six times a day since, albeit without permission. Program Director Frankie Blue, a longtime friend of Jackson’s, won’t say how he got the song, but he insists the King of Pop had nothing to do with it. Marc Schaffel, the executive producer of the single, said at least 200… Read more »

The five major record label groups and the three largest music retailers have agreed to pay $143 million in cash and CDs to resolve a long-standing class action price-fixing case. The settlement, announced Monday, brings to a close allegations that the major labels and retailers had violated antitrust laws and illegally inflated the cost of CDs. At issue was a policy called “minimum advertised pricing,” or MAP, under which the major labels would jointly pay for advertising if a retailer agreed to sell CDs above a certain price. This pricing practice began nearly a decade ago as a way for… Read more »

The world’s five largest music companies and the three largest music retailers will pay $143.1 million to settle a CD price-fixing case launched by New York and Florida two years ago, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said on Monday. In August 2000, most U.S. states joined in a lawsuit alleging that an industry practice called “minimum advertised pricing” (MAP) artificially inflated the price of CDs between 1995 and 2000, violating federal and state antitrust laws. Under MAP, the labels subsidized advertising for retailers that agreed not to sell CDs below a certain price. The five record labels –… Read more »

DataPlay, a company attempting to replace CDs as the music format of choice, has missed its announced release date and appears unlikely to survive. Employees were put on mandatory leave and told to call in Friday for a status update, according to a source close to the situation. Only those staff members with vacation days available will receive any payment. Zomba Recording Corp., Universal Music Group, EMI Group and BMG Entertainment in March announced plans to distribute music using DataPlay discs. DataPlay discs are about the size of a half-dollar and resemble a tiny CD encased in a translucent shell.… Read more »

With many superstar acts up to their elbows in solo projects, movie roles, charity work or just on interminable hiatus, we decided to check in with some of them to determine when they might deliver their next albums. Barring gazing into a crystal ball, we did a bit of sleuthing to find out who is doing what, and when fans can expect another album (if at all). ‘NSYNC The scenario: Lance’s space mission trudges on, and Justin’s solo career looks poised to blast off. Joey’s working the Great White Way in “Rent,” Chris is trying his hand at TV work,… Read more »

The girls still screamed every time former bar mitzvah singer Justin Guarini flashed his pearly whites, but it was soulful girl-next-door Kelly Clarkson who took home the title of “American Idol” Wednesday night. Coming off her bravura performance on Tuesday, the 20-year-old Burleson, Texas, cocktail waitress brought down the house moments after being crowned the champion of the talent contest. “I can’t believe it’s happening to me,” Clarkson sang, as fireworks rained down behind her during a performance of her soon-to-be-released first single, “A Moment Like This.” A choked-up Clarkson blew a line during her command performance (one of her… Read more »

He may never win the Thug of the Year award, but his new friends the Patty Cake Man and the Pusha Man have vouched that Justin Timberlake knows the streets. “Working with Justin was crazy,” Malice, the older half of the Clipse affirmed last week in New York, the day before MTV’s 2002 Video Music Awards. The Patty Cake Man (a.k.a. Malice) and his brother Pusha T took to the stage at Radio City Music Hall as special guests for J.T.’s solo set of “Like I Love You.” “Justin recognized us,” Malice continued about working on the track. “He does… Read more »