Search Results for: System of a Down

Busta Rhymes celebrated a birthday on Tuesday, but it wasn’t the anniversary of the day he was born. It was the day he was reborn as an MC and businessman – the day his new album hit stores. “I named my album Genesis ’cause there was nowhere left to go after The Coming (1996), When Disaster Strikes (1997), Extinction Level Event (1998) and Anarchy (2000),” he said recently, sitting in the offices of J Records. “Sequentially it made sense to be at that point…. The only place left to go is just rebuilding a whole brand new whatever.” Part of… Read more »

Britney Spears, a former Mousketeer, is at the center of an aggressive drive into the movie business by a handful of young pop stars molded by the music industry and MTV. Not since the 1960s, when singers like Elvis Presley, Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Johnny Cash crooned their way onto movie screens, have studios produced as many star vehicles to showcase the hip-shimmying musical talents of the day’s teen idols. Their holy grail is “The Bodyguard,” starring Whitney Houston, which grossed $122 million and relaunched a pop song that became a perennial hit. The soundtrack is one of the best… Read more »

ABC Radio Networks and Radio One, Inc. have partnered to form a history-making platform that creates the largest radio network reaching the African-American marketplace. The new partnership enables ABC Radio Networks’ Urban Advantage Network (UAN) to be available to more than 93 percent of African-American consumers. The two companies have established an expanded network to create the most wide-reaching radio infrastructure to access the African-American market. Radio One will allocate a portion of its commercial time to ABC Radio Networks’ existing Urban Advantage Network. The alliance bolsters the reach of UAN and provides Radio One with a vehicle to reach… Read more »

Rounding out its programming lineup as it launches the nation’s first digital satellite radio service, XM Satellite Radio’s “NASCAR Rig” will tour the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit throughout the Southern United States this fall. XM launched its service Sept. 25 in its two lead markets and expanded throughout the entire Southwest and Southeast in mid-October. XM will complete its national rollout in November. “XM is proud to offer NASCAR fans the world’s first 24-hour radio channel devoted to America’s most popular spectator sport,” said XM President and CEO Hugh Panero. “Our XM rig will help spread the word as we… Read more »

Apple Computer Inc. unveiled on Tuesday a portable music player that can hold an entire music collection and takes Apple outside its core computer business for the first time in eight years. Apple’s “iPod” is the size and shape of a deck of cards, with a small LCD screen and round dial on a white front and a stainless steel back. It holds about 1,000 songs in the MP3 music format and has a battery life of 8-10 hours. Apple will begin selling iPods, which only work with its Macintosh computers, on Nov. 10 at a suggested retail price of… Read more »

PressPlay, an online music venture between Universal Music and Sony Music, said on Thursday it signed licensing deals with six independent record labels that offer music by a wide variety of acts, from rappers 2 Live Crew to country singer Kenny Rogers to jazz legends Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. PressPlay, set to launch its service to subscribers this fall, noted that its latest deals with Madacy, Navarre, OWIE, Razor & Tie, Roadrunner and Rounder will add music from hundreds of artists to its already large catalog of music for streaming and downloading. The company said the six labels were… Read more »

No Doubt began as a good-time ska-party band, full of California sunshine. But in the last few years, that’s been obscured by smog: bruised egos within the band, gloomy lyrics and weak record sales for last year’s Return of Saturn. The bad times are all gone on their upcoming album, Rock Steady, reports singer Gwen Stefani. “We’re not taking ourselves so seriously,” she says. “It’s like, get over it. We’re a fucking band and we’re really lucky to be doing what we do.” Rock Steady, out December 18th, is a sweet pop confection, made with arrays of keyboards, a dance-floor… Read more »

Look out, music pirates: The recording industry wants the right to hack into your computer and delete your stolen MP3s. It’s no joke. Lobbyists for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) tried to glue this hacking-authorization amendment onto a mammoth anti-terrorism bill that Congress approved last week. An RIAA-drafted amendment would immunize all copyright holders – including the movie and e-book industry – for any data losses caused by their hacking efforts or other computer intrusions “that are reasonably intended to impede or prevent” electronic piracy.         In an interview Friday, RIAA lobbyist Mitch Glazier said… Read more »

As of Friday evening (October 12), four cases of anthrax had been reported in the United States since September 11, three in Florida and one in New York. In light of that disturbing news, you may be wondering what anthrax is exactly and what threat it poses to us? Anthrax is an infectious disease that has been around for centuries. It is found most commonly in farm animals but humans can contract it three ways: 1. ingesting the anthrax bacteria by eating bad food, such as tainted meat 2. handling infected material such as powder, soil, animal skins or hides… Read more »

The tumultuous nuptial saga of former high school sweethearts Eminem and Kimberly Mathers has apparently come to an end. On Friday, more than a year after a suicide attempt by Kimberly Mathers led to the couple’s initial separation, Macomb County (Michigan) Family Court Judge Donald G. Miller finalized the estranged duo’s divorce agreement, according to court records. Under the settlement, Eminem, born Marshall Mathers III, has agreed to pay $1,000 a week in child support, less than half of the $2,740 a week recommended by the Macomb County Friend of the Court, a division of the court system that monitors… Read more »