Search Results for: GERMANY

German media giant Bertelsmann’s shakeup of its flagging music division looks set to continue with U.S.-based subsidiary Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) reportedly looking to lay off hundreds of employees in its efforts to cut costs and raise profits. Rumors followed the appointment last week of former BMG Germany chief Thomas Stein to head BMG’s European division. Stein replaces Richard Griffiths, who is leaving the company by mutual agreement after six months in the job. “We have a new European management team and everything is being reviewed,” said a BMG Europe spokeswoman in Munich, who confirmed that BMG’s top management would… Read more »

Pudgy and shy, 13-year-old Matt Shafer had an outlet in rap but few to really share it with – until a chance day he saw Bob Ritchie work the deejay’s turntable. “Wickie-wickie-wickie,” was how the skinny, smug 16-year-old Ritchie scratched records during a deejay contest, his baseball cap’s visor flipped up and a rapper’s clock dangling from his neck. The showman did his thing backward, even upside down. “Everything about him was cool – the way he dressed, the way he talked. I admired him, looked up to him. He was kind of like an older brother to me,” Shafer… Read more »

Prodigy will be playing four European shows in August. Prodigy are currently in the studio working on new material for their fourth album, to be released on Maverick Recording Co. Maverick anticipates an early 2002 release date. Prodigy’s 1997 release, “Fat of the Land”, entered the Billboard Album Chart at #1 and went on to sell two and a half million copies in the U.S. and over seven million copies worldwide. With hits like, “Firestarter,” “Smack My B**** Up” and “Breathe,” the band received major radio airplay and MTV exposure. Prodigy has played to sold-out concert venues nationwide and headlined… Read more »

Southern California punk stalwarts Bad Religion were forced to cancel their European tour due to drummer Bobby Schayer’s shoulder injury. Moreover, the damaged rotator cuff will take him out of the band’s lineup permanently. The injury prohibits Schayer from lifting his arm above his shoulder, effectively ending his drumming career, according to the band’s publicist. Suicidal Tendencies drummer Brooks Wackerman is slated to replace the fallen percussionist. Schayer’s injury has “left us stunned and greatly saddened,” the bandmembers posted on their official Web site (www.badreligion.com). “His doctor tells us that he has lost a very significant amount of motion in… Read more »

Alanis Morissette has returned to the jagged little sound that made her famous. The Canadian singer debuted eight new songs during a show Friday night, providing a generous preview of her next album, which is sitting in limbo while she fights a contract dispute with Maverick Records. Much of the new material harked back to the edgier pop-rock of Morissette’s 1995 smash, Jagged Little Pill, and steered away from the moody, Eastern-influenced sound of its follow-up, 1998’s Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. Accordingly, the two-hour performance – the first of two consecutive nights at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre – was… Read more »

Guns N’ Roses have canceled their entire European tour, which was to kick off June 1 at the Rock Im Park festival in Nurnberg, Germany. Guitarist Buckethead has suffered hemorrhaging and has missed rehearsals, according to Helter Skelter, the band’s European management agency. Doctors have been unable to determine the hemorrhaging’s cause, though the guitarist is going through extensive testing in California. With the deadline looming to ship the band’s equipment overseas, and given the rehearsal time required for a band that’s only performed together twice, the situation was deemed unworkable, according to a source close to the band. The… Read more »

Alanis Morissette is not letting a contract dispute with her label prevent her from hitting the road to try out some new songs. The Canadian pop singer will begin a 12-country tour of European festivals, arenas and clubs in Nuremberg, Germany on June 1, which also happens to be her 27th birthday. She will warm up with two shows at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theater on May 25 and 26, her publicist announced Thursday. Tickets for the El Rey shows will be available exclusively at http://www.alanismorissette.com on May 13 at 10 a.m. PDT. The El Rey holds about 700 people.… Read more »

Given her recent co-opting of the French house-music sound popularized by the likes of Les Rythmes Digitales, it should come as no surprise that Madonna has brought Digitales mastermind Jacques Lu Cont on board for her Drowned World tour. Lu Cont will be doing double duty on the tour as Madonna’s bassist and keyboard player, according to a publicist from his label, Astralwerks. The world tour kicks off June 5 in Cologne, Germany. Right now, he’s in Los Angeles with the rest of Madonna’s touring band, where they’re in the midst of a rigorous rehearsal schedule – 13 hours a… Read more »

Madonna will now play six concerts in Britain after all tickets for what was to be her only British appearance sold out minutes after they went on sale Thursday. The Material Girl will perform at London’s Earl’s Court on July 6, 7, 9, 10 and 12 in addition to her originally planned show at the venue on July 4, American Independence Day. Madonna fans camped out overnight to make sure they got tickets for the singer’s first public performance in Britain for seven years. Promoters said all 16,000 tickets for the first show had sold out within 15 minutes. Ticket… Read more »

Eyeing the music television biz, German media giant Bertelsmann may end up the majority shareholder in fast expanding German music channel Viva if a series of deals come off. Bertelsmann will acquire an 18.9% stake held by U.K. music giant EMI if a proposed merger between Bertelsmann’s music division BMG and EMI goes ahead. Company is considering the acquisition of an additional 12.1% stake held by German music group Edel Music. Listed on Germany’s Neuer Markt exchange, Viva is expanding across Europe and has set up outposts in Poland and Hungary, with Switzerland and Italy to follow this year. Company… Read more »