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BEIJING —  Oasis will not play in China for economic reasons and not because of any connection with the Tibet issue, an official at the promoter of the shows said. Oasis had said China blocked shows scheduled for Shanghai and Beijing after they found out that band member Noel Gallagher had appeared at a “Free Tibet” benefit concert in the United States in 1997. But a promoter from Beijing All Culture Communication Co Ltd, a small event company which promotes more ballet and traditional Chinese concerts than rock concerts told Reuters by telephone it was canceled due to a “tough… Read more »

He had one of the biggest opening sales weeks of 2008, and now, Lil Wayne is the year’s most-nominated Grammy contender. Wayne and his latest LP, “Tha Carter III,” lead the pack with a total of eight nominations, while one of the year’s other biggest sellers, Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends,” garnered seven nods. Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West each earned six nods, while Alison Krauss, John Mayer, Robert Plant, Radiohead and Jazmine Sullivan received five each. Adele is up for four – including Best New Artist – as are Lupe Fiasco and T.I. The… Read more »

Looks like Avril Lavigne can prove she’s “The Best Damn Thing” in Kuala Lumpur after all. The Malaysian government has given the go-ahead for the wannabe punk rocker’s gig on Aug. 29 as scheduled, despite scrapping the concert last week for being “too sexy.” The decision was reversed after Lavigne’s promoters assured the performance wouldn’t corrupt the mainly-Muslim country’s youth or disrupt its independence day celebration on Aug. 31. “In giving the approval, the cabinet also instructed the (arts and cultural) ministry to monitor the concert to ensure that the performances do not clash with the Malaysian culture and values,”… Read more »

If Malaysian officials’ logic holds, Avril Lavigne is sexier than Gwen Stefani and the Pussycat Dolls and just as potentially morally corrupting as Beyoncé. The Canadian faux-punkette has become the latest Western pop star to face trouble in the Asian country as she was uninvited from performing a planned Kuala Lumpur gig. The Muslim-majority country’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Ministry canceled the show today amid growing protests and claims the singer was, quite simply, “too sexy.” While that, of course, is entirely subjective, the timing of the planned gig–just two days before the nation’s Independence Day on Aug. 29–was not… Read more »

Avril Lavigne is getting under the skin of Malaysian censors. A hard-line Islamic opposition party in the Southeast Asian country is calling on the government to scuttle an upcoming concert featuring the “Sk8er Boi” singer, calling her stage act way “too sexy” for local tastes. Officials with the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party’s youth wing contend Lavigne’s Aug. 29 performance in Kuala Lumpur would set a bad example for citizens, especially coming two days before the nation’s Aug. 31 Independence Day holiday. “It is considered too sexy for us…it’s not good for viewers in Malaysia,” party official Kamarulzaman Mohamed was quoted by… Read more »

China vowed on Sunday to improve the “grave situation” of music piracy in the country, as it hosted the annual music industry event here to learn and exchange ideas with companies from around the world. China has been strongly criticized for its record on Internet piracy in recent years, and a report out this month by the international music trade body, the IFPI, said piracy was responsible for 99 percent of the Chinese market. On Sunday, a delegation from the Ministry of Culture met a small group of reporters to explain their approach to the problem. “Web music is booming… Read more »

For the typically rowdy rock band on the road, “scoring” might not necessarily have anything to do with film music. Yet over the last couple of decades of making music, a number of rock talents have made the career leap from arenas to scoring stages, and the ranks of today’s A-list composers include many with rock ‘n’ roll pedigrees. Randy Newman had a successful career as a songwriter and solo artist; Mark Mothersbaugh was a founder of Devo; and Danny Elfman started out in Oingo Boingo (a band that also included future composers Steve Bartek and Richard Gibbs). Trevor Rabin… Read more »

Iranian authorities have approved a plan for concerts by an Iranian pop group and singer Chris de Burgh in Tehran, the group’s manager said on Saturday. The concerts, set for the middle of next year, would be the first time since the 1979 revolution that an Iranian pop band had played alongside a Western singer inside the Islamic Republic, Arian’s manager Mohsen Rajabpour said. Rajabpour, director of Taraneh Sharghi music company, said Arian and de Burgh had recorded a song called “A Melody for Peace” which he said was intended “to reflect the peace-seeking spirit of the Iranian people to… Read more »