Search Results for: Britney Spears

When it comes to concert tours, the good times are not rolling this summer. Major acts like Britney Spears, Marc Anthony and Christina Aguilera, as well as large-scale festivals like Lollapalooza, all pulled the plug on their tours before they even started. In some cases personal problems, like Spears’ knee injury, were to blame. Anthony said he called off his tour to focus on production of his next album. Industry insiders, however, point to a much bigger issue: falling ticket sales. “People aren’t buying tickets,” said Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar, the concert industry trade magazine. “For whatever… Read more »

Universal Music maintained its status as the world’s market leader in 2003, but a combined Sony/BMG would have challenged its dominance. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), a music industry trade group, released market share figures that show BMG and Sony had an aggregate share of 25.1% in 2003. Universal posted a 23.5% share, down from 25.4% in 2002. The Sony-BMG merger plan cleared a major hurdle June 17 when European competition commissioner Mario Monti gave his approval of the deal. BMG was among the companies posting a share gain in 2003, increasing to 11.9% from 9.6% in… Read more »

JC Chasez has more reason to rue the day that his ‘N Sync mate Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson’s right breast at the Super Bowl. The blossoming solo artist, who was banned from the Pro Bowl half-time show a week after “Nipplegate,” says radio stations are shunning his new single “All Day Long I Dream About Sex” because they are “terrified” of FCC fines. “When I go to radio stations to visit, they’re like, ‘Oh, man, it’s just so tough right now with the FCC cracking down,’” says Chasez, who is currently touring the U.S. in support of his debut… Read more »

No one is really more surprised about this success than me,” says Isaac Brock, lead singer of indie-rocker heroes Modest Mouse, who, after a decade of struggles, disappointments and near-breakups, finally have a hit record. The group’s fourth album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, debuted at Number Nineteen on the Billboard Album Chart in April, is still hanging tough at Number Twenty-three this week and has sold more than 300,000 copies. Modest Mouse’s video, “Float On,” is an MTV buzz clip, and they were one of the first bands announced for this year’s Lollapalooza. “We’ve been such… Read more »

MTV will take its irreverent Video Music Awards to Miami this year. The live event, in its 21st year, will be held Aug. 29 at the AmericanAirlines Arena, the cable television network announced Friday. It will be the first time the show is held outside Los Angeles or New York, which has hosted the awards in recent years. But because the Republican National Convention is scheduled for Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, having the VMAs in New York would have been difficult, said the VMA’s executive producer, Salli Frattini. “There were very, very limited venue possibilities in New York because… Read more »

A reclusive record executive dubbed “the Howard Hughes of the music business” has toppled Paul McCartney to become Britain’s wealthiest music millionaire in the latest list of the rich and famous. Clive Calder, the mastermind behind such stars as Britney Spears and ‘NSync, rocketed to number one in the Sunday Times music industry list after selling his independent Zomba label to German media giant Bertelsmann AG. “He is the Howard Hughes of the music industry,” said the list’s author Philip Beresford who put Calder top with an estimated worth of 1.23 billion pounds ($2.28 billion). “We have scoured the world… Read more »

Worried you won’t be able to land a ticket to your favorite concert this summer? Not to fear, the music industry has a club you can join. For a small fee. In a trend that started with the Grateful Dead and has taken off in recent years, artists are offering tickets to members of their fan clubs before sales open to the general public. Even some venues have exclusive – and pricey – clubs fans can join with the promise of premier seating. The artist fan clubs offer an increased chance – but no guarantee – of getting a concert… Read more »

The Foo Fighters will replace Guns N’ Roses in the May 30 headlining slot at the Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon. Guns N’ Roses last month pulled out of its planned performance at the event, citing the departure of guitarist Buckethead. The performance would have made GNR the first act to perform three times at the festival. Buckethead is already in the midst of a solo tour opening for Particle. Rock in Rio will stretch over two weekends, May 28-30 and June 4-6 in the Portuguese city’s Bela Vista Parque. The Foo Fighters will top a “World Stage” bill… Read more »

Grammy-winning producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo – aka the Neptunes – have found a new home for their Star Trak label. The duo are in the process of signing a three-year deal with Interscope Records worth about $3 million, sources said Tuesday. Star Trak previously had a deal with Arista Records, which the Neptunes signed two years ago with recently ousted Arista chief Antonio “L.A.” Reid. That deal has since expired, and Reid was named chairman of Interscope’s sister company Island Def Jam Music Group last month. Under the deal, Williams and Hugo will produce artists signed to Star… Read more »

Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl flash lasted less than three seconds, but the impact continues to ripple through Viacom, the media giant that broadcast the game. Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, right-wing radio commentators and outraged citizens are calling for stricter decency standards – and the artists and executives who make a living from edgy music, performances and videos are in retreat. MTV in particular, which produced the Super Bowl halftime show, is in the midst of a wide-scale re-evaluation of its musical, news and dramatic content. Within a week of the game, MTV – no stranger to criticism, most recently… Read more »