Search Results for: 2007

Christopher Hicks has been appointed Executive Vice President, Def Jam Recordings, it was announced today by Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group.   In his new position, Mr. Hicks will assume overall responsibility for the acquisition and develop ­ment of new talent, overseeing producers and guiding the creative vision and brand recognition of the legendary Def Jam label as it celebrates its 25th year anniversary in 2009.   Mr. Hicks will report directly to Mr. Reid, and to Steve Bartels,   President & COO, Island Def Jam Music Group, on operational matters.   Mr. Hicks will be… Read more »

It’s early January, and occasional downpours drench thousands of fans as they file into Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium for Sound & Speed, an annual event featuring country stars and NASCAR drivers. Camo-clad devotees and their children, some dressed in miniature racing suits, line up for an autograph and a picture. The event is the perfect mix for those who consider autographs from Dierks Bentley and Dale Earnhardt Jr to be treasured booty. NASCAR fans and country music fans are eager to rub elbows with drivers and artists alike, something both circuits are eager to take advantage of. The 2009 race season… Read more »

Google  entered the radio advertising business with grand ambitions three years ago. On Thursday, those ambitions fizzled. Google said it was ending its radio project, Google Audio Ads, because it had failed to live up to expectations. Up to 40 people are expected to lose their jobs. It was the second time in two months that Google had killed a program meant to expand its advertising business offline, suggesting that the appeal of Google’s automated model for selling ads may be far more limited than the company once hoped. The company had planned to revolutionize the way radio ads were… Read more »

At worst, Hillary Transue thought she might get a stern lecture when she appeared before a judge for building a spoof MySpace page mocking the assistant principal at her high school in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. She was a stellar student who had never been in trouble, and the page stated clearly at the bottom that it was just a joke. Instead, the judge sentenced her to three months at a juvenile detention center on a charge of harassment. She was handcuffed and taken away as her stunned parents stood by. “I felt like I had been thrown into some surreal sort… Read more »

Amazon.com Inc., pushing further into the digital distribution of books, unveiled a thinner and faster version of its Kindle electronic-book reader but raised controversy among publishers and others with a new text-reading feature. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos displays the Kindle 2 e-book reader at an event Monday. “Our vision is every book ever printed in any language all available in 60 seconds,” said Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos at a Monday press conference in a New York library. The Seattle company also said it has a new work by best-selling novelist Stephen King, called “Ur,” which will be available exclusively… Read more »

List of winners at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards Album of the Year: ” Raising Sand” Robert Plant and Alison Krauss ; T Bone Burnett producer; Mike Piersante, engineer/mixer; Gavin Lurssen, mastering engineer (Rounder) Rap Album: ” Tha Carter III” Lil Wayne (Cash Money/Universal Motown) Male Pop Vocal Performance : “Say,” John Mayer ; track from “Continuum” (Columbia) Record of the Year: “Please Read The Letter,” Robert Plant and Alison Krauss; T Bone Burnett, producer; Mike Piersante, engineer/mixer; track from “Raising Sand” (Rounder) New Artist: Adele Rock Album: “Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends,” Coldplay (Capitol) Pop… Read more »

The former self-styled manager of Britney Spears sued the pop star and her parents on Tuesday, accusing them of slander and failing to pay his fees. Sam Lutfi, Spears’ constant companion in late 2007 at the height of her personal and professional meltdown, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court after a renewed flurry of legal moves against him. His lawsuit names Britney Spears, her father and mother Jamie and Lynne Spears and alleges libel, defamation, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract Lufti claimed Jamie Spears punched him in the chest in January 2008 and… Read more »

Two years after beginning his improbable quest as a little-known, first-term Illinois senator moves into the Oval Office as the nation’s fourth youngest president. A King once stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with dreams of equality and respect. Today, a president will stand on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, living out that dream in front of an entire nation and creating a new chapter in American history. It’s a chapter many didn’t think they’d live to see. But the day is upon us, and millions of spectators will watch this historic event unfold between those two… Read more »

New Orleans-based eclectic/innovative rock quartet MUTEMATH has confirmed an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno this Thursday Jan. 15, 2009. The Grammy-nominated band will perform a brand new song entitled, “Spotlight,” from the chart-topping Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, TWILIGHT, based on the Stephanie Meyers book which has become an international phenomenon. The soundtrack to the movie was released this past Nov. 4, 2008. The critically-acclaimed band are currently in the studio recording their 2nd Teleprompt/Warner Bros. Records album. Release is expected later this year. Details to be announced soon. MUTEMATH first came to national attention with their independently—produced… Read more »

Fergie and Josh Duhamel were married Saturday (January 10) at the Church Estate Vineyards in Malibu, California on Saturday, People.com reports. Guests at the wedding included Fergie’s fellow Black Eyed Peas, Kid Rock, Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, Kate Hudson (Fergie’s co-star in her upcoming movie “Nine”), Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell, Mario Lopez, Stacy Keibler, along with Duhamel’s Las Vegas co-stars James Caan, Molly Sims and Vanessa Marcil, according to the site. The Black Eyed Peas singer (whose real name is Stacy Ann Ferguson), 33, and the actor, 36, confirmed their engagement in December of 2007. According to People,… Read more »