Search Results for: Jay Som

The days of the compact disc could be drawing to a close as an increasing number of music fans, especially technologically savvy youngsters, turn to the Internet for free downloadable music. At a panel of the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin on Thursday, music industry executives talked about how they plan to stay afloat in the digital world of downloadable music and CD burning. “Unless you’re in a coma, it’s clear that the current business model of selling shiny discs at $17.99 isn’t going to sustain anybody any longer,” said David Adelson, executive editor Hits Magazine and the… Read more »

A Dutch Internet company on Thursday said it had developed software that could be used to compensate musicians whose songs are swapped online, a move it said could cut out the embattled music industry. PGR BV, a privately held company has its own new file-sharing service known as The Honest Thief and is helping companies start up services like the popular Kazaa and Morpheus services in the Netherlands, which has emerged as something of a haven for such operations. “We are the first, but certainly not the last, to eliminate the record companies from the equation,” said Pieter Plass, founder… Read more »

Rap mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, one of contemporary music’s most successful entrepreneurs, has signed a distribution deal with Vivendi Universal’s Universal Records rather than sell the Bad Boy label he says is worth $100 million, the partners said on Thursday. The three-year deal leaves Universal paying marketing and promotion costs and giving Combs an undisclosed upfront fee, which analysts saw as a way for the producer of such hit acts as Faith Evans and the late Notorious B.I.G. to get the backing of the biggest record maker without selling his own company in a down market. Terms of the… Read more »

Hilary Rosen, who led the music industry’s fight against online piracy, turning an obscure trade group into a major player in the debate over copyright protection, said Wednesday she will quit as chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America. Rosen, who will resign by year-end after 17 years with the RIAA, led the group recently in victorious copyright infringement battles against Napster and Aimster and this week’s judgment against Verizon Communications to stem piracy on the Internet. But despite the wins on the legal front, the music industry finds itself entrenched in one of its most tumultuous periods,… Read more »

The Eminem show was everywhere this week as two albums by the rapper commanded top spots on the U.S. sales charts ahead of the Friday opening of his highly anticipated debut movie. The newly released soundtrack to his film “8 Mile” – which features music by Eminem as well as other rappers such as Jay-Z, Nas and D-12 – debuted at No. 1 on the charts, selling an estimated 702,000 units in the week ended Nov. 3, according to music tracker Nielsen SoundScan. The album features three new solo songs by Eminem, who has the starring role in the movie… Read more »

On the heels of the murder of its DJ, Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay), on Oct. 30, groundbreaking hip-hop group Run-DMC has announced its retirement. “Some rock bands can replace the drummer,” said Rev. Joseph “Run” Simmons at a press conference to announce the formation of a coalition to help the surviving members of Mizell’s family at the Rihga Royal Hotel in New York on Wednesday (Nov. 6). “I don’t know any other way but to be the three original members. As a tribute to the positive legacy of Jam Master Jay, we started together and we want the Run-DMC… Read more »

Until recently, it seemed only kids – and music critics – could love Eminem. Politicians condemned his obscenity-laced and violent lyrics. Gay and women’s groups blasted him as a homophobe and misogynist. The Grammy-winning Detroit rapper had millions in album sales, but little love from mainstream America. Well, he’s still not America’s sweetheart. But some of the vitriol directed at Eminem has diminished – replaced not just by grudging respect, but by downright enthusiasm from some unlikely quarters. “The guy is funny, smart, and sometimes shocking,” author Stephen King gushed on his Web site. “Those are all things I look… Read more »

Audible Magic Corporation announced today it has entered into an agreement with EMI Recorded Music as its preferred vendor for audio fingerprinting technology. The agreement, the first between a major label and a provider of content-based identification (CBID) technology services, indicates a strong endorsement of Audible Magic and its range of solutions for identifying, monitoring and tracking multimedia content. The two companies anticipate implementing an initial project in Q4 utilizing Audible Magic systems, which can monitor and identify the delivery of digital audio content in all formats, including compressed audio such as MP3 files. Audible Magic will also provide EMI… Read more »

Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest music company, has increased the royalties it pays artists on downloaded music, sources close to the company said on Thursday. Universal, home to Sheryl Crow (news), Sting and Limp Bizkit, has increased its online royalty rate and stripped out some charges, a move that could effectively double payments to artists for songs downloaded on the Internet, the sources and experts said. Officials for Universal, a unit a unit of Vivendi Universal, declined comment. The higher payments reflect an effort by the music conglomerate to meet artists’ demands for greater transparency in accounting while enlisting… Read more »

Nick Carter is making his acting debut this week in a role as equally “dreamy” as his status in the Backstreet Boys. The singer will play the frontman of Jay & the Americans on NBC’s new “American Dreams,” a drama centering on the legendary music show “American Bandstand” in the late 1960s. Carter will sing Jay & the Americans’ two biggest hits, “Come a Little Bit Closer” and “She Cried,” according to an NBC spokesperson. He’s filming the episode, which will air November 3, in Los Angles this week. The October 6 show will feature Michelle Branch as Lesley Gore,… Read more »