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Paris – Note to readers: Vivendi Universal provided preliminary, unaudited revenue information on a French GAAP basis for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2004 to ‘Balo’ a French official bulletin for publication in accordance with French regulatory requirements. On a comparable basis(1, the revenues for the third quarter 2004 were up 6%, and 7% at constant currency. On a comparable basis(1, the revenues for the first nine months of 2004 were up 5%, and 7% at constant currency. Vivendi Universal’s consolidated revenues for the third quarter of 2004 amounted to EUR 4,703 million. On a comparable… Read more »

Bad Religion bassist Jay Bentley is generally a pretty easy-going guy. Interviewing him is usually like sitting through a comedy routine where any and all taboos are duly mocked. On this occasion, though, Bentley isn’t so laidback – and you can hardly blame him. He’s consumed by the problems within America’s political climate. Fearing the ever-looming November 2 U.S. Presidential Election date (which takes place the day Bad Religion play in Montreal), Bentley doesn’t really want to talk about anything else. “My job right now isn’t to play music,” he grunts. “It’s to get a new president in office. Half… Read more »

When speaking this month to a representative from Soundscan, the company that provides much of the data for the Billboard Top 200 Chart, I learned things that would contradict reported statements by the RIAA. Mainly that US labels have had a significant reduction in sales over the past three years. Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA, responded personally, put his rebuttals on the record and in the process exposed intriguing insight into the way the RIAA calculates “losses.” Soundscan is a service owned by Nielsen, the company that computes TV ratings. Soundscan uses the barcodes on CDs to register sales… Read more »

“At the end of every show we’d grab handfuls of these stickers we made at Kinko’s with our name and website,” says Steriogram frontman Brad Carter. “We’d toss ’em to our fans from the stage, 300 or 400 stickers every night.” Carter laughs at the band’s ultra-humble approach to building fan loyalty. But it’s working. Steriogram’s homemade stickers, website and music videos, together with its enthusiastic courting of street teams and high school kids, helped launch the rock-hiphop group from obscurity in Auckland, NZ, to a major deal with Capitol Records. “Our goal was to play in America because our… Read more »

Child molestation charges against Michael Jackson are being driven by “money and revenge,” said defense attorney Mark Geragos, who vowed to derail the alleged victim’s credibility and fight what he called a prosecutor’s vendetta. For District Attorney Thomas Sneddon, whose similar 1993 case against the pop singer evaporated when the accuser reportedly accepted millions in settlement money, the charges filed Thursday represent a second chance to convict the fading pop star before the prosecutor begins his planned retirement. Unlike the 1993 case, Sneddon says, this time he has a cooperative witness who isn’t interested in a piece of Jackson’s fortune.… Read more »

With the summer of 2003 speeding to a close, the boys of Three Days Grace continue to power their way through North America. After a supporting tour for Theory Of A Deadman earlier this summer, 3DG immediately hooked up with alterna-metal heads Trapt in July and since then have continued to take their music to the masses. Yes, it’s been a busy few months for 3DG, but this suits them just fine, thank you very much. “We kind of have this ‘BRING IT’ approach to whatever we do,” says drummer Neil Sanderson. “At the end of the day, our job… Read more »

Johnny Cash, “The Man in Black” who became a towering figure in American music with such hits as “Folsom Prison Blues,” “I Walk the Line,” and “A Boy Named Sue,” died Friday. He was 71. “Johnny died due to complications from diabetes, which resulted in respiratory failure,” Cash’s manager, Lou Robin, said in a statement issued by Baptist Hospital in Nashville. He said Cash died at the hospital at 1 a.m. EDT. “I hope that friends and fans of Johnny will pray for the Cash family to find comfort during this very difficult time,” Robin said. Cash had been released… Read more »

Ticket sales are down, and big tours are scaling back to smaller venues. It looks to be a long, hot summer for the touring industry. On the cusp of the industry’s peak period, a number of high-profile tours and festivals have already hit snags, among them highly touted outings from Mariah Carey, the Field Day Music Festival, Lollapalooza, and Beck and Dashboard Confessional. Faced with a crowded tour market combined with high ticket prices, permit hassles, a sluggish economy and poor buzz, these tours and a handful of others have either had to scale back the size of the venues… Read more »

They don’t have a record deal. They don’t have a music publishing deal. But they are on their way to having a hit single with “Set Me Free” off “The Hulk” soundtrack. Collectively, they’ve sold 70 million albums worldwide. Velvet Revolver’s lineup is stocked with the bad boys of rock supergroups, including Guns N’ Roses vets Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, David Kushner of Suicidal Tendencies and former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland. Thursday night, they play their first official show – a free, fans-only, short set after an international news conference – at the El Rey in… Read more »

As an independent band that manages to sell more than 300,000 copies of your self-released albums, signing with a major label might seem like the most logical move to the next level. But O.A.R. bassist Benj Gersham tells Billboard.com the Maryland-bred, Ohio State University-brewed group’s decision to ink with Lava/Atlantic was anything but simple. “We had been going over the decision for at least two years before we finally made it, because we wanted to do it when the time was right,” says Gersham. “And all of those numbers are great but we didn’t do it because of that. We… Read more »