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Kanye West compares Beyonce, Lady Gaga to legends


Kanye West and his Caps Lock button were back in action on the rapper’s blog yesterday in a post about the role of celebrity photographers. Just days after pleading not guilty to charges of assaulting a TMZ photographer, West applauded the skills of one paparazzo and compared some of music’s biggest names with superstars of another era in an effort to prove a point. Kanye was inspired by a candid photo of Rihanna, the muse of his new 808s & Heartbreak video “Paranoid,” as she was stepping into a yellow cab in New York City. “ Yo why can’t all… Read more »

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SXSW can be key showcase for veterans


You’ll usually find R.E.M. playing arenas and esteemed concert halls. But this week, the rock hall of famers were among the acts trying to catch a break and artists looking to build their audience at the sprawling South by Southwest music festival. The multiplatinum rockers played Stubbs BBQ shortly after midnight Wednesday before an energetic crowd of a couple thousand, marking the first time they’ve played the annual extravaganza in their nearly three-decade career. But it’s hardly a downgrade: Playing a showcase at SXSW has often been a way for a veteran act to make a big splash with a… Read more »

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Beyoncé's "Queen" a Royal Pain for Aretha


There are plenty of divas. But there can only be one queen. Aretha Franklin has lashed out at well-intentioned comments made by Beyoncé Knowles during the latter’s introduction of Tina Turner on the Grammy stage Sunday night. Franklin, 65, says she felt disrepected after Knowles referred to Turner as the Queen, while relegating Franklin to a brief name check in a long list of inspirational singers past, an act apparently tantamount to musical heresy. “I am not sure of whose toes I may have stepped on or whose ego I may have bruised between the Grammy writers and Beyoncé. However,… Read more »

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Rivals fear spread of piracy after Apple/EMI music-video deal


Media industry executives and analysts have expressed surprise and alarm at last week’s decision by EMI, the record label, to start selling music videos without the protection of anti-piracy software. The decision was a little-noticed part of the company’s ground-breaking deal with Apple that made all of EMI’s catalogue available on iTunes in a format that can be copied and played on any digital device without restriction. That deal, announced with fanfare by EMI chief executive Eric Nicoli and Apple founder Steve Jobs, was hailed as ushering in a new digital music era. EMI is expected to begin announcing deals… Read more »

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3 Doors Down Steers Straight to No. 1


Los Angeles – Rock band 3 Doors Down earned its first No. 1 on the U.S. pop albums chart Wednesday with its latest CD, “Seventeen Days.” The Republic/Universal release sold 231,000 copies in the week ended Feb. 13, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the best sales week of the band’s career. The Mississippi-bred combo’s previous high came with 2002’s “Away From the Sun,” which opened and peaked at No. 8 with 115,000 and has sold 3.3 million to date. 2000’s debut “The Better Life” has sold 5.2 million copies so far. Previous champ, rapper the Game’s “The Documentary” (Aftermath/G-Unit/Interscope), slipped to… Read more »

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Record Sales Numbers Up


Los Angeles – Welcome to the best sales week of this still-young 2005. Contributing to this buoyant frame are historic chart accomplishments by Tina Turner, the fastest start for the 10-year-old “Grammy Nominees” line of releases and, nestled between those two albums, a not-too-motley week for Motley Crue. Album volume for the week stands at 11.4 million, and 6.9 million of those units sold were current titles. Both figures are high-water marks for the year. The volume of digital tracks, which slipped to less than 5 million last week for the first time since the week ending Dec. 19, is… Read more »

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