Search Results for: robbie williams

EMI Group Plc, which ousted its two top music executives last week after issuing a profit warning, announced on Thursday two key appointments to its EMI Music management team. JF Cecillon will become chairman and chief executive of the newly established EMI Music International unit which will focus on EMI’s recorded music business outside the UK and North America. Cecillon, who was previously in charge of EMI Music for continental Europe, will now oversee Asia, Latin America and Australia and New Zealand. Ian Hanson, previously senior vice president, chairman’s office, EMI Music, has been promoted to the global role of… Read more »

EMI Group PLC said Friday two top music executives are leaving the company and said it expects revenue to fall at its music division after lower-than-expected sales over the Christmas period. EMI Music Chief Executive Alain Levy and Vice-Chairman David Munns will leave the world’s third-largest music company with immediate effect, EMI said. EMI, home to Coldplay and Robbie Williams, said in October that it expected the bulk of its full-year sales to be generated in the second half of the financial year ending March 30. However, on Friday, the company downgraded its full-year revenue forecast significantly. It expects a… Read more »

The help for tsunami victims keeps on coming from the music community. No Doubt, Linkin Park with Jay-Z, Blink-182, Jurassic 5, Story of the Year, Crystal Method and Ozzy Osbourne will perform at a benefit concert Feb. 18 in Anaheim, Calif. The organizer, Music for Relief, hopes to raise over $1 million from the show, with proceeds going to UNICEF and Habitat for Humanity programs in South Asia. R&B star Alicia Keys led an array of singers and other international celebrities who entertained thousands at a separate benefit event on Feb. 3. The MTV Asia Aid show in the Thai… Read more »

London – It was No. 1 in 1984, and it’s No. 1 again in 2004. The star-studded re-recording of the hit charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” hit the top of the British music charts Sunday after a strong first week of sales. The single, featuring such artists as Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Paul McCartney, U2’s Bono and Dido, will raise money for victims of violence in Sudan, where fighting has killed thousands of people and created 1.8 million refugees. The United Nations has called the situation there the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Retailers are selling the song for $7.70,… Read more »

London – The new Band Aid charity single will be sold on Apple’s popular iTunes online music service, with the company subsidizing the retail cost of the track. Apple had initially turned down the idea of charging more than its standard 99-cents-per-song cost for the new version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” The single features artists including Coldplay’s Chris Martin, former Beatle Paul McCartney, U2’s Bono, and Dido, and will raise money for victims of the ongoing strife in the Sudan, where fighting has killed thousands of people and created 1.8 million refugees. But the Cupertino, Calif.-based company reversed… Read more »

London – EMI Group PLC, one of the world’s ‘big three’ music companies, reported a fall in sales and a net loss for the first half of its fiscal year Friday but said it expected an improvement in the second half when its album release schedule kicks in. EMI, whose artists include Coldplay, Norah Jones, Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams, said it was confident the global music industry was returning to a growth phase after a sales slump from 2000 to 2003. Chairman Eric Nicoli said the global industry recorded a decline of 1.3 percent for the first half of… Read more »

London – American rap star Eminem scored his fifth British number one single on Sunday as his “Just Lose It” shot to the top of the charts in its first week on release, the Official UK Charts Company said. The track is taken from Eminem’s fourth album “Encore,” due for release next week, and is one of seven new entries in this week’s British top ten. American girl supergroup Destiny’s Child entered at number two with “Lose My Breath,” with Britney Spears new at third place with “My Prerogative.” Also fresh in was American singer Christina Aguilera at number four… Read more »

LONDON – U.S. rapper Ja Rule hit gold on Sunday as his new release “Wonderful,” featuring R&B stars R Kelly and Ashanti, soared to the top of the UK singles chart, figures from the Official UK Charts Company showed. The song from Ja Rule, famous for his gruff voice, knocked Swedish DJ Eric Prydz’s “Call On Me” down to second place. Other new entrants also made their mark, with New Zealand-born Londoner Daniel Bedingfield’s “Nothing Hurts Like Love” debuting at No. 3 and singer-rapper Jay Sean jumping into fourth place with “Stolen.” Further down the list, Robbie Williams slipped from… Read more »

In Britain, Busted are headlining stadiums. In America, the pop-punk trio are playing parking lots outside stadiums. So which do they prefer? Prepare to be surprised. “It’s awesome at gigs here, because you kind of have to win the crowd over,” bassist Matt Jay said recently. “Like in England, it’s awesome and stuff, but we could just go ‘Bugger!’ and they would go ‘Yeah!’ Which is awesome, but here, you really have to work hard.” “It’s nice to kind of see the first-time reaction of the crowds again,” guitarist James Bourne added. “It’s like it’s a little déjà vu of… Read more »

Sir Richard Branson offered to buy back Virgin Records, the label which set him on the road to a fortune, from its owners EMI, it emerged yesterday. A spokesman confirmed that Sir Richard was still hankering to bring the business which launched his career back into the Virgin stable, “if the opportunity arose”. Set up in 1973, when Branson was prescient enough to guess that Mike Oldfield’s quirky Tubular Bells album would sell like hotcakes, Virgin Records went on to sign the Sex Pistols in 1977. It was sold to EMI for £650m in 1992, and the proceeds used to… Read more »