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iTunes brings back the B-side


As a throwback to the old days of the two-song 45 rpm vinyl record, the iTunes Store launched a new “D45” section Tuesday, featuring discounted prices on packs of two digital song downloads. Just like old 45s, the iTunes D45 selection includes a popular single accompanied by a B-side song. Prices on the D45s range from $1.49 to $1.99. “iTunes is bringing this concept to a new age with D45s — two great tracks at an equally great price,” the iTunes Store reads. Music company EMI announced Tuesday that the release of D45s marks the 60th anniversary of the 45… Read more »

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What if you built a machine to predict hit movies?


One sunny afternoon not long ago, Dick Copaken sat in a booth at Daniel, one of those hushed, exclusive restaurants on Manhattan’s Upper East Side where the waiters glide spectrally fro table to table. He was wearing a starched button-down shirt and a blue blazer. Every strand of his thinning hair was in place, and he spoke calmly and slowly, his large pink Charlie Brow head bobbing along evenly as he did. Copaken spent many years as a partner at the white-shoe Washington, D.C., firm Covington & Burling, and he has a lawyer’s gravitas. One of his bes friends calls… Read more »

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Judge OKs Release of Specter Transcripts


Los Angeles – A judge ruled Wednesday that transcripts of grand jury hearings in the Phil Spector murder case should be made public, brushing aside vehement arguments by the defense that the documents are “full of lies.” Judge Larry Paul Fidler said lawyers for the rock music producer failed to show how releasing the documents would prevent a fair jury from being chosen for the trial. The judge gave the defense 10 days to decide if they want to appeal. The documents would then be released if no appeal is filed. Spector, 64, who created rock ‘n’ roll’s “wall of… Read more »

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SARS Continues To Affect Concerts, Promo Dates Worldwide


While the World Health Organization said that it believes the worst of severe acute respiratory syndrome is over in Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam – which got a clean bill of health on Monday for being the first nation to contain the virus – SARS is still affecting tour and promotional plans for many artists who were set to visit those regions. The Rolling Stones were the first to pull out of Asian concerts – their first-ever concerts in China – when news of the disease broke in March, though they did play two shows in Singapore. They also… Read more »

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U2 Was Top Concert Money Earner


The rock band U2 had the second biggest tour ever during a year in which concert industry business was off but ticket prices continued to rise, an industry trade publication said Thursday. The top 100 concert tours sold 34.4 million tickets in 2001, down about 7 percent from 37.1 million the year before, according to an analysis by Pollstar magazine. U2, coming off one of its strongest albums, sold out arenas across the country with a well-received back-to-basics show. They even added dates after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The band’s $109.7 million in estimated ticket sales is second only… Read more »

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Napster, Publishers Reach Preliminary Settlement


American songwriters and music publishers have reached preliminary agreement with the on-line file sharing service Napster to settle the class-action lawsuit currently pending in federal court in California. The agreement includes terms under which the songwriters and music publishers will license their music to Napster’s new membership-based service. The announcement of the proposed settlement was made jointly by Edward P. Murphy, president and CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association, Inc., Gary L. Churgin, president and CEO of The Harry Fox Agency, Inc., George David Weiss, president of The Songwriters’ Guild of America, Inc., and Napster president and CEO Konrad… Read more »

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Durst, Kiss, Everclear Come Out For 'Rock Star' Premiere


An onslaught of rock stars-including Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, Third Eye Blind’s Stephan Jenkins, Everclear, and members of Kiss and Def Leppard-came out Tuesday (September 5) to witness the Los Angeles premiere of the movie that captures the glory of their occupation, Rock Star. The premise of the movie is that a fan who fronts a tribute band to his favorite group gets the break of a lifetime and fronts the real band instead. Limp Bizkit’s Durst tells LAUNCH that, if it was his story, he’d be singing the songs of one album in particular: “If I could be in… Read more »

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Linkin Park's Bennington Suffering From Bite


Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington will seek treatment for a poisonous spider bite he received on August 8 at a hotel in the Boston area (Mansfield, Massachusetts) while on OzzFest tour. A portion of Bennington’s arm has swelled, and he was running a fever, but he did manage to complete the two remaining OzzFest shows at PNC Bank Arts Center in New Jersey over the weekend (August 11 and 12). A management representative said that people who are bit by a Recluse Spider usually require hospitalization. The end of the tour couldn’t have come at a better time. Guitarist Brad… Read more »

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Matchbox 20 Embraces Low Key Identity


Rob Thomas stepped off an airplane feeling like a bona fide rock star, with nearly 12 million copies of his band’s freshman album sold and the follow-up effort following closely behind. But when he handed his passport over to a control officer, she asked: “Are you Rob Thomas of Santana? The guy who sang ‘Smooth?”‘ “I was like ‘No! I’m Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty,”‘ he recalled during a recent interview. Thomas’ work on 1999 smash “Smooth,” which earned Santana record and song of the year at last year’s Grammy Awards, has gained him more celebrity than the success he’s… Read more »

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