Search Results for: spite

The Doors are trying to light a fire among audiences minus the Lizard King, and they don’t care if people disapprove of their attempt to revive the group without Jim Morrison. “I suppose there’s always going to be those hardcore naysayers who believe that if it’s not Jim Morrison, it’s not the Doors,” said Robby Krieger, one of two original band members in the new Doors. “I don’t really care what those people think,” the 57-year-old guitarist added. “If they don’t want to come to the show, they don’t have to. It’s not a problem. Believe me, those who have… Read more »

Just when it seemed all systems were go, it now appears that Lance Bass’ trip into space may be off – though his team insists otherwise. When Bass returned to Moscow over the weekend following a weeklong crash course at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Russian space officials didn’t welcome the singer with open arms. The sticky issue of payment had not been resolved by the last Russian deadline of Friday (August 30), and on Tuesday (September 3), the Russian Space Agency pulled Bass off his training regiment in Star City. To make matters seem more dire, spokespeople for… Read more »

EMI Group Plc played down chances of an attempt to merge or sell its business on Friday, saying it was more convinced than ever it was best off alone despite a rapidly shrinking music industry. Signs so far this year point to a steeper than expected decline in global music sales of four percent, but the world’s third biggest music group remains on track to meet its targets, EMI’s head of recorded music Alain Levy said. “When we originally announced a merger with Warner Music, we made clear the best option after that was to remain as a stand-alone. That… Read more »

There’s no money like show money – just ask your favorite performer. Where else can you make tens of thousands of dollars for 90 minutes (or less) of work? Apparently somebody has hipped the guys of N.E.R.D. to this and they have decided to go out on the road in support of their LP, In Search Of…, for 12 dates this spring. In March, one third of the trio, Chad Hugo, said he and his musical mates had no intention of doing any concerts, affirming that their album was done just for “fun” and that the group didn’t consider itself… Read more »

The number of people using online music- and video-sharing services has continued to rise sharply despite the self-imposed shutdown of song-swapping service Napster, according to a study released on Wednesday. Technology research firm Jupiter Media Metrix Inc. said at-home users of file-swapping services other than Napster totaled 6.9 million in August, up 492 percent from March, when Jupiter began tracking those services. Over the same period, according to the company’s Media Metrix audience ratings service, Napster’s user base fell 49 percent, to 5.5 million users in August, just after it shuttered its free service. The top alternative to Napster was… Read more »

French-American media giant Vivendi Universal confirmed on Tuesday its profit and sales targets for this year and said it was well positioned for additional growth despite the uncertain economic environment. The company issued its bullish outlook as it reported that net profit dwindled to a meager 22 million euros ($20.3 million), weighed down by goodwill from its Seagram merger, provisions and losses at companies in which it holds stakes. The company’s outlook compared favorably with those of its top competitors, several of which have issued profit warnings in recent days. Media firms, particularly those exposed to the tumbling advertising market,… Read more »

“She’s Kobe, and I’m Shaq,” Kurupt said of himself and his fiancée, Blaque’s Natina Reed, on the heels of the Lakers’ championship series win last month. The lovebirds can currently be caught trading verses, Crip-walking and courting each other in the video for Kurupt’s “It’s Over.” The L.A. by way of Philly rapper may be on to something – their duet helped him debut at #10 on the latest Billboard 200 albums chart with Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey. It was just a year ago that the longtime buddies fell in love. As to who made the first move, we’ll probably… Read more »

U.S. album sales have declined in the first half of the year, despite the demise of song-swap service Napster, which the recording industry claimed would depress sales and hurt their bottom lines. According to New York-based SoundScan, which tracks music retail trends, sales of current albums – recordings released less than 18 months ago – have fallen about 8 percent year-to-date, while sales of all albums fell about 2.8 percent. Many music company officials shrug off the decline, blaming it on a lack of mega-hits and a slowdown in the economy. Many also predict the trend will improve in the… Read more »

The number of people listening to streaming audio over the Internet has continued to increase despite the decisions made by some traditional AM and FM stations to pull their programs off the Internet. That’s the word from MeasureCast, which reports that its Internet Radio Index for the final full week in April increased 2.4 percent-from 132 to 135-demonstrating that listeners are not abandoning Internet radio. MeasureCast’s weekly index tracks the total number of hours streamed by on-line broadcasters, and is a representation of the trend in Total Time Spent Listening across a spectrum of stations. Internet-only stations have been receiving… Read more »