Search Results for: european

London – The decision by a group of European labels to legally challenge the European Commission’s approval of the Sony/BMG merger could raise questions for future deals. Impala, the Brussels-based association of European independent labels, announced Nov. 3 that it would appeal the EC’s decision to authorize Sony BMG’s union before the court of First Instance in Luxembourg. The legal process is expected to last 12-24 months. Legal experts believe that during that period, it will be difficult for the EC to clear any other proposed merger in the music industry without knowing the outcome of the court case. Sources… Read more »

Since Simple Plan’s new album Still Not Getting Any… showed up in stores last week a single question has been plaguing the collective hearts and sad poetry of teenage girls across the country: what exactly isn’t this Montreal-based, pop-punk five-piece getting? Respect? Rock credibility? Happiness? Special friends of the vaginal persuasion? It’s hard to tell since you’d think they’d be on cloud nine after their debut album was certified platinum and shot them into the realm of disenchanted youth superstars. Well, it’s no secret that the band’s unrelenting flow of bouncing, pop melodies, which include just enough angst to pass… Read more »

More than a year after its release, Howie Day’s STOP ALL THE WORLD NOW is blowing up, thanks to relentless touring and the recent success of surprise hit “Collide.” The breakthrough smash rocketed all the way to No. 20 on the Adult Top 40 Airplay Chart and was recently highlighted in its entirety on the hit WB series “One Tree Hill.” After the show aired, Day’s album sales erupted, rising more than 73%. In addition, “Collide” is garnering extensive airplay on stations such as WPLJ/New York, WTMX/Chicago, WWZZ/Washington, KHMX/Houston, KRSK/Portland, KAMX/Austin, KQMB/Albuquerque and many more. A video for the song… Read more »

Apple Computer says it has sold five million songs in the first 10 weeks after opening three European iTunes Music Stores on the Internet in Germany, France and Britain. It made the announcement in a presentation on the fringes of the annual Apple Expo on Tuesday. Worldwide, Apple has sold more than four million of its market leading iPod digital music players and sold more than 100 million tracks on its iTunes online music store in the United States since it was launched in April last year.

The success of the Black Eyed Peas flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that the music business sacrifices long-term artist development in favor of quick hits and short-term corporate profits. Signed to Interscope Records more than six years ago by chairman Jimmy Iovine, the progressive hip-hop group’s first two albums, “Behind the Front” in 1998 and “Bridging the Gap” in 2000 earned rave reviews but failed to go gold (shipments of 500,000 copies). The first album peaked at No. 139 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 197,000 units, according Nielsen SoundScan, while the sophomore set stalled at… Read more »

The Streets, a.k.a. innovative English rapper Mike Skinner, have the U.K.’s No. 1 single and album, just days after being nominated for the country’s prestigious Mercury Music Prize. The one-man band’s album, “A Grand Don’t Come For Free,” moved up one place to No. 1 in its 11th week on the survey, while second single “Dry Your Eyes” entered the chart at No. 1. Last week’s No. 1 single, “Lola’s Theme” by Shapeshifters, fell to No. 2. The only other new entry in the top 10 was the remix of Lou Reed’s “Satellite of Love” by London outfit Dab Hands,… Read more »

Songs from Europe’s independent record labels will be available on Apple’s iTunes download service after a deal resolved a dispute between the sides. Songs by artists like The White Stripes and Franz Ferdinand – who are signed to indie labels – were not available at iTunes’ European launch in June. The labels complained they were being dictated unreasonable terms by Apple. But the Association of Indie Music (Aim) has secured terms it says are “on a par with those agreed by the majors”. Aim chairman Alison Wenham said: “The industry’s future is wedded to the success of iTunes and similar… Read more »

Apple Computers’ iTunes Music Stores in the United Kingdom, France and Germany have lost little sales momentum in their second week of operations. The services have registered more than 1.5 million combined download sales since launching June 15, the computer giant claims. Apple has not released details on the best-selling titles in the markets. The European download services made a big splash in their debut week, shifting 800,000 songs in total. Comparatively, it took Apple just seven days to sell 1 million songs in the United States when it introduced the iTunes Music Store for Macintosh computers there in April… Read more »

Computer audio equipment maker Creative Technology Ltd and online music service Soundbuzz.Com launched an alliance on Tuesday aimed at capturing Asia’s infant fee-based online music market. The two companies are setting up online music stores in Singapore, Hong Kong and India – regions where knock-off CDs burned by sophisticated piracy syndicates or downloaded off the Internet for free are hammering sales of recorded music. Soundbuzz.Com and Creative launched the first of their online stores in Singapore on Tuesday, offering 250,000 songs at $1.16 each in a format designed for quick downloading into Creative’s digital music players. “We’ve all been through… Read more »

After initial denials, Britney Spears’ reps have now confirmed that the singer is engaged to her dancer boyfriend, Kevin Federline. Rumors began circulating after Spears’ knee injury that the couple were talking marriage, but her spokespeople dismissed the rumors and said that the two were “serious” but “definitely not engaged.” However, the story changed Friday afternoon (June 25), and Spears’ camp confirmed what people had been speculating all along. No details are available on the impending nuptials just yet, and the couple has yet to set a date. The news comes just six months after Spears was married for a… Read more »