Search Results for: System of a Down

Their profanity-laced rock shows in the 1970s and ’80s drew the ire of the U.S. Senate, where Al and Tipper Gore accused them of endangering the morals of America’s youth and undermining parental authority. Two decades later, Twisted Sister is playing New Jersey’s two most family friendly venues – the Meadowlands State Fair, and Six Flags Great Adventure – and the “F” word is strictly off limits, by mutual agreement. Lead singer Dee Snider, who uses it dozens of times in a 90-minute concert, said the costumed, mascara-wearing band best known for hits like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and… Read more »

Efforts by the music sector to curtail online piracy and develop digital music services like Apple’s iTunes are the first glimmers of hope for the battered industry, the head of Sony Corp.’s U.S. operations said Wednesday. U.S. Chief Executive and Chairman Howard Stringer said at a media breakfast that the April launch of Apple Computer Inc.’s online music service, iTunes, which lets music fans download some songs from all five major record labels for less than a $1 each, was a “sea change” and a “wake-up call.” “Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) has liberated us,” Stringer told media executives and journalists… Read more »

Apple Computer Inc. is readying to launch an online service that will cut straight to the core of digital music distribution, winning the praise of some record executives who see it is as a weapon against online piracy. Music executives who have seen Apple’s upcoming service said it is simple to use, offers single songs from a deep catalog and – unlike Kazaa and the other pirate services that have picked up where the now-defunct Napster left off – it pays royalties to the troubled record industry. Apple’s new service will feature songs from all five major record labels, link… Read more »

The recording industry’s threats to take legal action against individuals involved in illegal file sharing proved not to be hollow Thursday when four college students were slapped with lawsuits. The complaints, filed in federal courts in New York, New Jersey and Michigan, claim that students Daniel Peng, Joseph Nievelt, Jesse Jordan and Aaron Sherman ran file-sharing systems that offered up more than 1 million song files in violation of copyright law. The Recording Industry Association of America, the organization that represents the copyright-holding record labels, asked that the services be disabled and for monetary damages up to $150,000 per song,… Read more »

Sharon Osbourne is free of cancer after months of treatment, her rock star husband, Ozzy, said. Ozzy Osbourne said he still feared his wife would become ill again, and added that he was emotionally overwhelmed last year when her illness coincided with the success of their MTV reality show. “She’s got no cancer in her body now, they tell me, but there’s always a chance of it coming back,” Ozzy Osbourne told the music magazine Kerrang! “She’s doing great, but I must confess that I’m still worried about her.” Sharon Osbourne, 50, announced last year that she was undergoing treatment… Read more »

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 »

America Online on Tuesday said it would offer MusicNet to its 27 million U.S. subscribers, the broadest appeal yet to a mainstream audience by an online commercial music service. America Online’s entry into the music subscription race is viewed by analysts and even competitors as a positive development for online music services, which have struggled to gain a foothold in an area dominated by file-swapping. MusicNet is owned by EMI Group Plc, Bertelsmann AG and Warner Music, which, like America Online, is owned by AOL Time Warner, three of the world’s largest music companies. By sending out an invitation to… Read more »

A music industry trade body launched Monday electronic identity tags to keep tabs on Internet music sales in a bid to compensate musicians and song writers as more of their works become available online. The Global Release Indentifier, or GRid, is a code akin to the Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code found on a CD or cassette tape in stores. The aim is to track each time a record label, online retailer or distributor such as Microsoft’s MSN or Italian Internet service provider Tiscali sells a song in the form of a Web stream or download. Such tracking initiatives… Read more »

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) yesterday (Jan. 28) reintroduced his Competition in Radio and Concert Industries Act, which he says will help consumers, small and independent radio station owners, and indie concert promoters by prohibiting anti-competitive practices in the radio and concert industries, Billboard Bulletin reports. The bill’s introduction comes as the Senate Commerce Committee prepares to hold a hearing tomorrow on the problems of radio consolidation. Insiders say committee chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is expected to sign on as a co-sponsor of the bill soon. Feingold will be the lead witness at tomorrow’s hearing. Others scheduled to appear include… Read more »

A peace treaty announced Tuesday between the record business and Silicon Valley could reshape the debate over what role Capitol Hill should play in mandating antipiracy technology being sought by Hollywood, making it more difficult for the movie biz to pursue its legislative agenda. The landmark pact among the Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA), the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP) launches a new chapter in the music industry’s fight to recover from devastating levels of computer piracy. For its part, Silicon Valley will actively help the RIAA, the lobbying arm of the major… Read more »