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Vivendi Universal said third-quarter revenues for Vivendi Universal, excluding its utilities unit Vivendi Environnement, grew by 1 percent to $7.4 billion, despite revenue declines in its publishing and music divisions. The report, released Monday, comes as the media, entertainment and utilities conglomerate faces continuing pressure to improve its balance sheet and convince investors that its business is sound. For the three months ending Sept. 30, Vivendi’s Canal Plus subscription television group showed some improvement, with revenue growing 4 percent to nearly $1.2 billion in the third quarter. But Vivendi’s Universal Music Group saw revenues fall 9 percent to 1.3 billion… Read more »

Faced with adverse publicity to copy protection on CDs, a year ago Bertelsmann Music Group bravely gave in and promised to replace a clutch of Natalie Imbruglia CDs which were protected by Midbar’s Cactus Data Shield. But a year is a long time, BMG is at it again, this time apparently set on applying copy protection to all its music products. Not, of course, that this should be surprising. The music companies are absolutely intent on copy-proofing their products, and although they’ll maybe retreat a little when irate consumers pelt them with ordure, they’ll be right back just as soon… Read more »

Universal Music, the music arm of Vivendi Universal and the world’s largest record company, will decide in coming weeks which of its Web music properties are worth keeping as the French media giant seeks to downsize, sources close to the company said on Thursday. Company representatives declined comment, but people familiar with the company said such a move was in line with Vivendi chairman and chief executive officer Jean-Rene Fourtou’s overall mandate to sell about $12 billion in company assets to reduce debt. “One of the things that will be happening in the next few weeks is that Universal Music… Read more »

Oops! Montreal’s radio pranksters did it again. Canadian comics posing as singer Celine Dion persuaded Britney Spears to sing a duet with golfer Tiger Woods called “Let’s Make a Hole in One” for a bogus charity event. Montreal comic Marc Audette, deftly imitating the voice of French-Canadian diva Dion, chatted with Spears on the telephone about each woman’s charity foundations. After a few minutes of mutual admiration, Audette got down to business and invited Spears to come to Montreal and visit “her club” – in reality, a popular Montreal strip joint. “We certainly won’t be distracted there,” Audette said. “Of… Read more »

Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, Blur’s Damon Albarn, Beck, the Neptunes, and the Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi are among the judges for the 2002 Shortlist Music Prize, which spotlights lesser-known acts for their artistic merit. Others musicians accepting the role as so-called “listmakers” for the second annual Shortlist are Mos Def, Paul Oakenfold, Iggy Pop, Jill Scott, the Roots’ Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon. They are joined by directors Baz Lurhman and Spike Jonze, producers Dan “The Automator” Nakamura (Gorillaz) and Gustavo Santaolalla (Cafe Tacuba), as well as journalists and radio personalities. Through the summer and… Read more »

Struggling media giant Vivendi Universal on Wednesday named Jacques Espinasse, head of a French satellite television channel, as its new chief financial officer. He replaces Guillaume Hannezo, who was retained on a six-month contract as a special adviser to Vivendi’s new chairman and chief executive officer, Jean-Renee Fourtou, the company said. Hannezo left his post less than a week ago. Espinasse, chief operation officer of French satellite television channel TPS, had been tipped as Hannezo’s most likely successor. He joins the company at a critical time. Debt-ridden Vivendi is negotiating a second round of short-term financing with its creditor banks,… Read more »

Scottish pop group Travis said on Wednesday they had canceled four European concerts after drummer Neil Primrose suffered a suspected spinal injury in a French swimming pool accident. Primrose was knocked unconscious after striking his head on Sunday while relaxing in the pool following a concert at Belfort in eastern France, the band said in a statement. He was taken by ambulance to hospital, where early indications suggested he had a fractured vertebra. He has been kept in hospital for further tests, the statement said. “Neil has had a terrible accident,” a spokesman for the band told the Daily Mirror.… Read more »

Stunned fans of The Who’s John Entwistle left flowers and consoled each other outside a casino concert hall where the bass player who helped make the band one of the biggest in rock history had been expected to perform Friday. Entwistle was found dead Thursday in his Hard Rock Hotel room of an apparent heart attack. He was 57. “The Ox has left the building – we’ve lost another great friend,” bandmates Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey wrote on Townshend’s Web site. The Who’s celebrated drummer, Keith Moon, died in 1978. Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman described Entwistle as… Read more »

Thousands of music fans have begun the annual pilgrimage to the Glastonbury Music Festival, parking caravans and pitching tents on Michael Eavis’s sprawling farmland ahead of the party’s official kick-off Friday. The grounds were thrown open Wednesday night and by Thursday a few eager thousand had already settled in for a weekend orgy of rock, pop, dance, folk and reggae music. Coldplay, Spiritualized, Mercury Rev and Canadian singer Nelly Furtado were among the diverse array of top acts who will open this year’s festival Friday afternoon. The Charlatans, The Beta Band and a surprise special guest were scheduled for Saturday… Read more »

Sonic Youth will take their sixteenth album, Murray Street, out on a twenty-two-date tour, starting August 1st in Dallas. The tour will be the group’s second as a five-piece, as the group brought producer Jim O’Rourke onboard while promoting their last studio record, 2000’s NYC Ghosts and Flowers. The dates will run through a September 1st appearance at the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle and include a free concert at Central Park in the band’s hometown of New York City. The majority of Murray Street, which will be released on June 25th, was written last summer, and the band recorded the… Read more »