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Universal Music Group will raise the suggested retail price of its CDs by $1 to improve profit margins for merchants after many balked at the company’s push to slash prices, a source familiar with the plan said Friday. The move could leave consumers paying about $11 for a popular CD. Universal’s new suggested retail price will be $13.98, but most retailers typically charge less than that amount. UMG is the world’s biggest record conglomerate, with artists that include U2, Eminem and Shania Twain. Its move comes just three months after the company cut wholesale prices and reduced its suggested retail… Read more »

Kurt Cobain and his band, Nirvana, spent only three years in the public eye, and they released only three studio albums. But what he accomplished before committing suicide 10 years ago Monday at age 27 – deciding it was “better to burn out than fade away,” as he quoted Neil Young in his suicide note – was remarkable. Beneath this bridge above the muddy banks of the Wishkah River, a troubled young Cobain would come to escape his unhappy home and the persistent gray drizzle of the Washington coast. Among the cracking concrete supports, he would smoke pot and drink… Read more »

Justin Timberlake suffered a wardrobe malfunction. JC Chasez is suffering what could be called a titular malfunction. Timberlake’s fellow ‘N Syncer is in so-sorry mode after a leading advocate of the schizophrenic took offense to the title of Chasez’s just-released solo album. The one called Schizophrenic. For the record, the cover art-depicting a mussy-haired Chasez in a straight jacket-didn’t go over too big with Bill MacPhee, either. In a statement Monday, MacPhee, publisher of Schizophrenia Digest, and a diagnosed schizophrenic, called Chasez’s appropriation of the brain disorder a misappropriation, and criticized his record label, Jive. “Through the album title and… Read more »

Teens may be giving Tony Hawk’s new video game rave reviews, but a review of their favorite book could land them face time with the man himself. Teens between the ages of 12-18 have until the end of April to submit an entry in the national “Get on Board and Read @ your library” program, sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and Dean Foods, marketer and distributor of HERSHEY(R)’S Milks and MilkShakes. The grand prize is a trip to meet Hawk at a stop on his 2004 Boom Boom Huck Jam Tour, an arena show featuring top action sports… Read more »

The Grammy RSVPs are in and it looks like the boobylicious Super Bowl tandem of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake are still on the guest list, but Luther Vandross will be MIA. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the group behind the Grammys, told E! Tuesday that “as of right now, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake are still on the Grammys. “If we took everyone who is controversial off the show, no one would perform.” The remark came in the wake of CBS affiliates asking the network to broadcast Sunday’s Grammy Awards on a slight delay in case… 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 »

In what looks like the first big heavyweight arena tour of the year, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott are joining forces for what promises to be a sizzling, sassy bill. Beyoncé and Keys will co-headline the monthlong springtime trek. According to a schedule provided by Keys’ representatives, the tour starts in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on March 12 and wraps up on April 18 in Oakland, California. Label representatives said some of the dates could change. Talk of the three pop stars getting together has been circulating for the past few weeks. For Alicia and Beyoncé, it’ll be the first… Read more »

On Pennywise’s self-titled debut, singer Jim Lindberg screamed about “Living for Today.” Thirteen years later, the Southern California punks still live for those days, as demonstrated by their latest single, “Yesterdays.” “As you get a little older, you get a lot more responsibilities, so it’s kinda like a retrospect of when things were easy,” bassist Randy Bradbury said of the song, a favorite of tastemakers KROQ-FM. “All you had to worry about was getting home on time, getting something to eat, not making your parents mad and getting good grades.” “Actually, all that stuff he said was a lie, because… Read more »

A dispute over royalty rights on copy-protected CDs and other types of music discs is helping to stall the release of some new music technology, and could result in record labels owing tens of millions of dollars in back payments to music publishers. At issue are “double session” CDs that include two versions of each song on a disc, formatted for playback on different kinds of devices. The most widely distributed type are copy-protected discs that prevent CD tracks from being copied to a hard drive, but that also include a digital version of the songs, often in Microsoft’s Windows… Read more »

Radio is awesome, isn’t it? It’s free, it’s on whenever you want it, and you can choose from among eight or 10 stations. About the only people who could possibly complain about it, in fact, are people who have to listen to it. They’ll tell you that the music you hear on the radio is mostly the same cloying pop junk, played over and over. That 20 minutes of every hour is ads, played over and over. And that as you drive, the signal comes and goes with the territory. Two years ago, two companies – XM and Sirius –… Read more »