Search Results for: 2003

O.A.R. will hit the road with Dave Matthews Band June 17 in Maryland Heights, MO, followed by festivals and headline amphitheatre tour dates. If ever there were two bands meant to tour together, O.A.R. and DMB surely fit that bill. Much like DMB, O.A.R. tours constantly and has created a network of incredibly loyal supporters. The band was just named #39 on Pollstar’s Top Tours for First Quarter 2004. O.A.R. follows only two spots behind Dave Matthews and Friends, who came in at #37. As well, O.A.R. landed on the chart above heavy hitters Evanescence, Ludacris, and the proverbial road… Read more »

When speaking this month to a representative from Soundscan, the company that provides much of the data for the Billboard Top 200 Chart, I learned things that would contradict reported statements by the RIAA. Mainly that US labels have had a significant reduction in sales over the past three years. Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA, responded personally, put his rebuttals on the record and in the process exposed intriguing insight into the way the RIAA calculates “losses.” Soundscan is a service owned by Nielsen, the company that computes TV ratings. Soundscan uses the barcodes on CDs to register sales… Read more »

A year after Apple Computer Inc. launched its iTunes Music Service, the online music industry is selling songs by the millions – and that may not bode well for the major record labels. Online services account for just a fraction of overall music sales, but they’re growing rapidly. And the new choices they give consumers threaten to remix the recording industry’s traditional revenue streams, pumping up the volume of singles and subscriptions and turning down album sales. Customers at three of the leading online services – iTunes, Musicmatch Inc.’s Musicmatch Downloads and RealNetworks Inc.’s Rhapsody – buy about 10 times… Read more »

Canadian pop superstar Avril Lavigne is coming back home. Hot off the tails of her North American 21-city mall tour, Ms. Lavigne will be dropping by Toronto’s MuchMusic headquarters on Friday, May 28 at 8 p.m. ET, for an Intimate & Interactive special. Lavigne has visited MuchMusic several times in the past, twice as a special guest on Much On Demand, several feature interviews and two MMVA appearances. However this is the her first live Intimate & Interactive special. The 90-minute event, hosted by the ever-dreamy George Stroumboulopoulos, will feature a one-on-one interview, as well as live performances by Lavigne… Read more »

Sometimes, the heaviest rock can coexist with the purest pop. When garage-rock band the Mooney Suzuki started out in 1997, all they wanted to be was an ass-kicking group that paid homage to the Stooges, the Stones, the MC5 and the Nuggets box set. Then, in 2002, they got a taste of success with their roaring sophomore record, Electric Sweat, and suddenly they wanted more – way more. So the New York band hooked up with the Matrix – the production team that has worked with Avril Lavigne, Christina Aguilera and Hilary Duff. The move was a risky one: Diehard… Read more »

For their latest album, veteran Boston rockers Aerosmith decided it was time to return to their blues roots. Thus, Honkin’ On Bobo – possibly the most memorable title of 2004 – was born. The 12-song disc, released March 30, saw Aerosmith tackling old blues/roots covers such as Muddy Waters’ I’m Ready and Mississippi Fred McDowell’s You Gotta Move plus one Aerosmith original, The Grind. Drummer Joey Kramer, down the line from San Antonio, Tex., prior to the band’s Thursday night stop at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, said the concept has been in the works for a long time. “The new… Read more »

Marilyn Manson may just have blown his street cred. The raunchy rocker allegedly popped the question to his gal-pal, burlesque artist Dita Von Teese, on Mar. 22, according to Us Weekly. Manson (real name Brian Warner) even took the traditional route, reports the tab, getting down on bended knee to present her with a seven-carat round-cut diamond ring. A call to his publicist was not returned, but Us expects the pair to tie the knot within a year. Prior reports suggest the two may already have gotten secretly hitched. Out with the old, in with the new. Just over a… Read more »

A legal battle between The Beatles’ record label Apple Corps and Apple Computer, which is to be heard in the High Court in London, is the latest move in a trademark dispute spanning 24 years. Their claims to the “Apple” name and logo will be heard in an English court, rather than in the US as requested by the computer firm. The latest clash came after Apple Corps claimed Apple Computer’s iTunes music store – which enables users to download songs to a computer or portable player such as the iPod – breaches an agreement between the two firms. But… Read more »

Despite more than ten years difference in age, fellow Canadians Chantal Kreviazuk and Avril Lavigne formed a relationship of mutual respect and sisterhood – and become songwriting partners – after they met last summer. “We became really good friends, and no one knew we were writing together,” says Lavigne. “Every single night for two weeks, we would write a new song. And then I was like, ‘OK, I’m ready to record them.’” The pair co-wrote six songs on Lavigne’s forthcoming album, Under My Skin (due May 25th): “Slipped Away,” “Forgotten,” “Together,” “How Does It Feel,” “He Wasn’t” and “Who Knows.”… Read more »

Internet music piracy has no negative effect on legitimate music sales, according to a study released today by two university researchers that contradicts the music industry’s assertion that the illegal downloading of music online is taking a big bite out of its bottom line. Songs that were heavily downloaded showed no measurable drop in sales, the researchers found after tracking sales of 680 albums over the course of 17 weeks in the second half of 2002. Matching that data with activity on the OpenNap file-sharing network, they concluded that file sharing actually increases CD sales for hot albums that sell… Read more »