Search Results for: 2007

Honestly, given the amount I write about Digital Rights Management, you’d think that I’d rather the industry kept using it, just so I’d continue to have fodder for writing and writing–and occasionally talking–about it. As I was looking into the trajectory of DRM in this past year for my latest look at DRM, a pattern began to emerge. We’ve seen the prevalence of DRM-free music skyrocket over the last twelve months, with vendors like iTunes, Amazon, and Napster all joining the legions of the undamned. In fact, it’s practically gotten to the point where it’s news when a company launches… Read more »

Ashlee Simpson and Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz got married Saturday night (May 17) in an intimate ceremony. “We’re delighted to confirm that Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson were married this evening in front of family and close friends,” the spokesperson told the mag on Saturday, when the couple reportedly exchanged vows in front of 150 guests at her parents’ Los Angeles-area home. People’s report also apparently confirmed Ashlee’s long-rumored pregnancy, stating Simpson is “pregnant with the couple’s first child.” Although Wentz told MTV News via e-mail, “Blah, I got nothing,” when asked if he were getting married this… Read more »

Newly-released figures from the Official UK Charts Company – the group which tracks UK chart positions – reveal that digital album sales climbed by 69.3 per cent in comparison with the first quarter of 2007. That’s encouraging because it means digital music buyers are beginning to see album purchases as viable using services such as iTunes. The industry has often voiced concern that iTunes does not stimulate enough album sales, but this seems set to change. The company also confirmed that sales of digital single tracks climbed 42.3 per cent, year-on-year. These figures are all the more interesting because 2007… Read more »

My Chemical Romance’s tour in support of its 2006 album “The Black Parade” forms the basis of “The Black Parade Is Dead!,” a CD/DVD package due June 24. The project was filmed October 7, 2007, at Mexico City’s Palacio de los Deportes, and October 24, 2007, at the tiny Maxwell’s in Hoboken, New Jersey. The CD portion of the Warner Bros. release sports 13 tracks, a track list it shares with disc one of the DVD, taped in Mexico City. The second DVD disc boasts 18 songs from the Hoboken show. In addition, “The Black Parade Is Dead!” can be… Read more »

Britney Spears’ motoring misfortunes continue. The pop star was involved in a minor traffic accident late Saturday, but no one was injured and no vehicles were damaged, authorities said. Spears was driving her 2008 Mercedes on the eastbound Ventura Freeway just east of the 405 freeway about 8:20 p.m. when the mishap occurred, said California Highway Patrol Officer Patrick Kimball. Spears was in stop-and-go traffic when her car struck a 2006 Nissan in front of her that had stopped. The Nissan then pushed forward into another vehicle. No damage was noted to any of the vehicles. The CHP took a… Read more »

New York rock band Interpol will return to duty this summer for a run of European and North American festival dates, beginning July 3 in Norway. The trek will likely be the last in support of the band’s 2007 album, “Our Love To Admire,” before it gets busy on its next album. The only North American date confirmed so far is the Pemberton Festival in British Columbia on July 26. “We didn’t really do much of the summer festivals last year,” drummer Sam Fogarino told Billboard.com. “It will be the last hit-it-home, end-on-a-good note.” The new album, its first for… Read more »

It’s been more than 20 years since Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” topped the Billboard Hot 100, but it is once again infiltrating the public consciousness thanks to the phenomenon known as “RickRolling.” Around March 2007, bloggers and online social networkers started casually linking to the song’s nostalgically ’80s music video via YouTube. RickRolling was a psych-out for readers who would click on tantalizing hyperlinks, only to fall prey to a young Astley’s blonde bouffant and idiosyncratic dance moves. RickRolling has since taken on a life of its own, with YouTube users creating their own lip-synced routines and… Read more »

As I write this, iTunes ranks as the 2nd largest seller of music in the U.S. — only Wal-Mart’s physical stores sell more. Digital revenue is real, and there is a lot of it being earned. Sales from iTunes alone can provide a band enough revenue to achieve true financial success. Don’t take my word for it, just look at some of the sales by the following unsigned artists utilizing the Net for both digital distribution and marketing: Kelly sold over 500,000 songs in five months, Eric Hutchinson sold 120,000 songs in three weeks, The Medic Droid sold over 25,000… Read more »

The Disney Channel has green-lighted a reality series centering on the pop-rock band the Jonas Brothers. The series, which is shooting under the working title “Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream,” will follow the on- and off-stage lives of the platinum-selling trio — Kevin, 20; Joe, 18; and Nick, 15 — on their current Look Me in the Eyes tour. “Dream” will get up close and personal with the brothers as they rehearse, travel on the tour bus and perform. It also will follow them as they interact with their parents and younger brother, go sky-diving and race go-carts. The series… Read more »

Multi-platinum Island Records group Fall Out Boy announced today that they are attempting to set a Guinness World Record, for the first band to play a concert in all seven continents, in a time frame under 9 months.   The band kicked off the record in Johannesburg, South Africa late last summer, then toured through Europe, Asia, Australia and North America last fall.   The South American show will take place in Santiago Chile on March 23, followed up by King George, Island in Antarctica on March 25, where they hope to receive the Guinness World Record. Fall Out Boy… Read more »