Search Results for: plan b entertainment

Major recording companies have agreed to return nearly $50 million in unclaimed royalties to Sean Combs, Gloria Estefan, Dolly Parton and thousands of lesser known musicians under a settlement announced Tuesday. A two-year investigation by New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office found that many artists were not being paid royalties because record companies lost contact with the performers and had stopped making required payments. As a result of the agreement, Spitzer said, new procedures will be adopted to ensure that artists and their descendants receive the compensation they are entitled to get. “Once the recording companies have received… Read more »

Instead of fries, how about a little Beyonce or Bruce Springsteen to go with your Big Mac? In the latest blend of e-music with the food-and-beverage industry, Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. is working out a deal to promote the upcoming launch of its download music service through fast-food chain McDonald’s Corp., the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday. According to the newspaper, McDonald’s is expected to commit about $30 million in advertising to the partnership in exchange for unspecified discounts to license some songs from Sony’s new download service, Sony Connect. Those songs would then be offered to McDonald’s… Read more »

Prince is taking that little red Corvette out of the garage again. On the heels of his blistering Grammy “Purple Rain” performance, the ’80s funk legend has announced he will hit the road with the New Power Generation for his first major arena tour in six years in support of his new CD, Musicology. To help hype the tour, Prince says the upcoming gigs may be the last time fans get to see him jam out some of the best-known hits live. That presumably means that tunes like “Little Red Corvette,” “1999” “Purple Rain,” When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go… Read more »

Japanese electronics and entertainment company Sony Corp. has canceled the planned sale this spring in Japan of two portable MP3 digital music players because of problems with the built-in FM radio tuners, the company said Monday. The AZ-FS256 and AZ-FS1 players were announced last month with great fanfare as part of the company’s effort to overhaul its Aiwa brand name. The FM tuners did not function properly with the other digital music functions, Sony said. “It is extremely regrettable that this product could not go on sale, and we are very sorry this happened about a product we had announced,”… Read more »

Tower Records Inc. is singing a new tune: Chapter 11. The music and entertainment chain on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, burdened by too much debt and hammered by competition from large retailers, and Internet music downloading and piracy. The bankruptcy filings for Tower and its privately held parent, MTS Inc., cap a long period of distress for the money-losing chain of 93 stores, which sources say was unable to find a suitable buyer. MTS, based in West Sacramento, California, said its 3,100 employees, vendors and in-store and online customers will not notice operating changes because of the… Read more »

Due to the controversy caused by the Justin Timberlake-Janet Jackson boobgate, the NFL has decided to cancel a halftime performance by Timberlake’s fellow ‘N Syncer, J.C. Chasez, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed to E!. Chasez had reportedly planned to perform “Blowin’ Me Up (With Her Love) during halftime of the NFL Pro Bowl this weekend. The song was featured on the soundtrack for 2002’s Drumline-which was rated for the record, a staid PG-13. However, still smarting from the R-rated Super Bowl festivities, the NFL has decided to steer clear of any potential for further embarrassment. “We thought it was over… Read more »

For the humdrum New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers, putting on a show to match the glitz, glitter and star power of the rest of Super Bowl Sunday was no easy task. Typical of America’s biggest unofficial holiday, the game was only the icing on an over-the-top extravaganza. There was a gleaming new $450 million stadium to show off, a slew of pricey new ads, and Beyonce, Janet Jackson and P. Diddy to share the field. The biggest cliffhanger of the week wasn’t who would win, but whether Janet’s brother, Michael, would show up. He didn’t, but Justin Timberlake did,… Read more »

On Jan. 6, San Francisco’s Moscone convention center pulses with all the energy of a rock concert. A crowd sprinkled with hip-hop teenagers, digerati, and aging hippies streams in to hear the annual state-of-the-Mac keynote from Apple Computer Inc. Chief Executive Steven P. Jobs. Every facet of the event bears the fingerprints of the obsessive Jobs – right down to the music that fills the air. This year, it’s the King himself, Elvis Presley. Later, Jobs rolls the tape of Apple’s famous “1984” ad that ran on Super Bowl Sunday that year – and hasn’t been broadcast since. Only this… Read more »

Aerosmith, will headline the Super Bowl XXXVIII pre-game show at Reliant Stadium in Houston on Sunday, Feb. 1, the NFL announced today. Super Bowl XXXVIII will be televised by CBS to an expected 130 million viewers in the United States and a potential worldwide audience of 1 billion viewers. The Super Bowl is annually the nation’s highest-rated TV program and the most-watched single-day sporting event. Game time is 6 p.m. EST/5 p.m. CST/3 p.m. PST. Said Steven Tyler, “The Super Bowl is Rock and Roll! It’s sexy, it’s slammin’, it’s precision, it’s passion and pure energy. That’s Sweet Emotion to… Read more »

They’re not newlyweds anymore, but Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson are coming back for a second season of “Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica” on MTV. New episodes of the reality series are scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. EST Jan. 21. The first season followed the pop stars from their October 2002 wedding through the beginning of their life together, and became hugely popular thanks to Simpson’s frequent goofy-blonde gaffes. Right afterward, at 10:30 p.m. EST, MTV will air the debut of “‘Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave,” about the months leading up to the wedding of Carmen Electra… Read more »