Search Results for: miss may i

A Wisconsin senator took aim at radio and concert-promotion giants on Thursday with legislation that seeks to curb alleged anti-competitive practices in the recently deregulated industries. Pointing to a decline in local ownership of radio stations, escalating ticket prices, and strong-arm promotion tactics, Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold said his bill would rein in the worst abuses of an industry that has undergone rapid consolidation since ownership caps were relaxed in 1996. “I think it is time for Congress to make a strong statement on this,” Feingold said. The 1996 Telecommunications ( news – external web site) Act eased restrictions on… Read more »

The government seemed to side with Internet broadcasters when establishing a royalty rate Thursday, and although the new fees were lower than a proposal rejected last month, the costs may force several independent Net radio stations out of business. The U.S. Copyright Office settled on a rate of 0.07 cent per listener per song for both Internet-only stations and conventional stations that simulcast their programming on the Web, according to a government spokesperson. The rate is exactly half of what the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP), a three-member board appointed by the Copyright Office, suggested in February that Internet-only stations… Read more »

Radio remains one of the most powerful marketing tools available to the recording industry, despite skyrocketing costs of gaining access to the airwaves via independent promoters. While word-of-mouth, video and Internet brush fires occasionally catapult unknowns to stardom, radio remains the most reliable and efficient means of enticing listeners to record stores. Yet many fans surfing the airwaves are far from satisfied. The complaint: Consolidation has made radio even more cookie-cutter bland, with narrow, unimaginative playlists. Demographic targeting and audience testing eliminate variety, stifle regionalism and foist the least objectionable music on the public. Failing to recognize that an individual’s… Read more »

From their earliest days in the ’80s, when radio refused to play them and they had to rely mainly on word of mouth to sell records, Metallica have always been keenly attentive to their fans. That may explain why – while the band routinely turns down press interview requests – it continues to pop online for Web chats at the Metallica Club Web site. Wednesday, following their first concert performance as a band since frontman James Hetfield exited rehab, Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist Kirk Hammett logged on unannounced and fielded questions from about 20 club members for nearly… Read more »

When Courtney Love has her day in court to argue her case against Geffen Records, Inc., she and her attorney won’t be able to use a pivotal claim Love has touted since the dispute started over a year ago. One of Love’s key arguments has been that recording artists are unfairly excluded from a labor law provision that allows other entertainment workers, such as actors, to be freed from their contracts after seven years. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Fumiko Wasserman dismissed that argument from the suit on Wednesday, according to a court spokesperson. Wasserman green-lighted Love’s other claims… Read more »

“Let’s just say the doctors know more about me than I know about me,” Lance Bass told reporters convened for a press conference at Moscow’s Savoy Hotel. For the last four months, the ‘NSYNC star has endured a battery of physical examinations in the pursuit of becoming the next civilian in space. On Friday (May 31), he announced that he’d finally passed the medical component of qualifying for a seat on a Russian rocket mission this fall. “With such a thorough physical, you’re going to find things that you might need to take care of,” Bass said, explaining an outpatient… Read more »

Bennett Zier has a fine idea for a new radio format. His eyes light up as he tells you about it. “We play Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Bobby Darin,” he says. “The great thing about it is what we call it. You ready?” He pauses. “Vegas Radio! Is that great or what?” Zier can imagine the whole scene – the deejays, the jingles, the ironic retro-swinger patter. It’s his music, the kind he plays in his car. He’s in love with this idea, and with his natural salesman’s charm, he’s making you love it, too. So why doesn’t… Read more »

In the city of sin, Britney Spears behaved. There was no dissing of Justin Timberlake during the opening night of the second leg of the Dream Within a Dream Tour. No cigarette smoking. No… whatever vice the rumor mills have her doing this week. Things may have changed in Britney’s well-chronicled life since the last time we saw her onstage – and that’s only if you believe the gossip – but there were no signs of it Friday at Mandalay Bay. The 20-year-old headliner was the same pop princess she was at 19. Nearly every part of Spears’ 90-minute show… Read more »

Limp Bizkit jammed with four finalists after their much-publicized guitarist audition tour, but now it looks like Fred Durst might be taking a cue from his Puddle of Mudd pal Wes Scantlin and handling both vocal and guitar duties himself. “I’ve been doing a lot of writing lately, all kinds of styles,” he posted on the band’s Web site. “I’m playing guitar, too, [and] I have a couple PRS custom guitars being made for me.” Durst added that Limp Bizkit have rented a “cheesy ’70s house in the flats” that they’ve soundproofed so they don’t bother the neighbors. “It’s pink… Read more »

Too bad everyone doesn’t take the title of 3 Doors Down’s last single literally. A simple “duck and run” could’ve saved the band’s bassist, Todd Harrell, from an entanglement with the law. Harrell turned himself in to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Thursday (May 23), after being wanted by police for a misdemeanor simple assault charge, according to a police spokesperson. He was released on a $500 signature bond soon after. A complaint against Harrell was filed by Terry Alexander, 49, on Friday (May 17). In it, Alexander claimed he was attacked at a party in Harrell’s… Read more »