Search Results for: AVOID

Hundreds of rock music fans went on the rampage at a free concert in Hollywood on Monday night, trashing the stage and raining rocks and bottles on police, who replied with tear gas and rubber bullets, officials said. Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Jason Lee, describing the scene as “a small disturbance,” said about 10,000 people were at the event, which was a promotion for fast-rising local rock band System Of A Down. When several hundred fans were unable to gain access to a fenced parking lot enclosure where the concert was due to take place for 3,500 people, they… Read more »

In an effort to avoid going to trial, the recording industry has asked a federal judge to rule that the song-swap company Napster Inc. is liable for copyright infringement damages. The recording industry insisted Napster had direct knowledge of the copyright infringement aided by its network of users, according to the request for summary judgment filed late Tuesday with U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel. The documents were made available Wednesday. “Napster’s Web site advertised the piratical nature of the system by bragging that, ‘With Napster, you’ll never come up empty handed when searching for your favorite music again,”‘ attorneys… Read more »

Surrounded by scantily clad “secret service” babes and avid supporters, Jay-Z campaigned in the streets of downtown Los Angeles Tuesday during the video shoot for “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” the first single from his forthcoming album, The Blueprint. “I’m already mayor of the streets, and I’m up for re-election,” Jay-Z said during a break, adding that the “election” is on September 18, the day of the album’s release. “It’s cosmic,” he marveled. Though Jay-Z’s role in the video didn’t require much of a wardrobe change – he wore a blue jersey outfit emblazoned with “Sprewell” and the number 8 – it did… Read more »

MTV announced today the nominees for the “2001 MTV Video Music Awards.” Fatboy Slim tops the list with nine nominations for his video “Weapon of Choice,” which is directed by Spike Jonze and features actor Christopher Walken dancing. In addition, U2 and Alicia Keys will perform at the “2001 MTV Video Music Awards.” It was also announced that the eighteenth annual awards show will broadcast live from New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center on Thursday, September 6, 2001 at 8:00PM (LIVE ET/Tape Delayed PT). Additional performers and presenters will be announced soon. Other top nominees tied with… Read more »

When it comes to riding the boy-band wave in pop music, nobody has done it better than Lou Pearlman. The Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync and O-Town are just a few of the groups the Orlando-based impresario and his company, Trans Continental Entertainment, have launched on the road to hormone-fueled success. But in the past few months, Pearlman has hit some sour notes. About 15 key executives and staffers, including company vice presidents, the chief operating officer, a tour manager, accountants and publicists, have left or been laid off. O-Town, Pearlman’s latest breakout success, recently left for a management firm run… Read more »

Eminem (real name: Marshall Mathers III) has received a visa from the Australian government to perform at a pair of concerts in the country next week. But along with the approval came a warning to respect the country’s values and its multicultural society. As previously reported, lawmakers and community groups opposed allowing the Grammy-winning rapper into the country with his group D12, saying his songs contain foul, violent, and racist lyrics demeaning to women and gays. Critics said the artist’s repeated brushes with the law should exclude him from a visa on the grounds of bad character. Immigration Minister Philip… Read more »

Microsoft Corp. said Monday it is enlisting three companies to sell plug-ins to enable its upcoming media player software to record music in the MP3 format and play DVD movies. Microsoft’s Windows Media Player, a new version of which will debut in the software giant’s new Windows XP operating system in late October, has not supported high-quality music recording in MP3, the most popular format for storing songs and CDs as digital files on a computer. Critics have said lack of MP3 support was evidence that Microsoft was trying to drive users to its own format, called Windows Media Audio,… Read more »

The electronica artist kicked off his “AREA:ONE” festival at Atlanta’s Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater on Wednesday, an eclectic music gathering that was pure energy from start to finish. The show began on a high note with Nelly Furtado, who charmed the crowd straight away, grooving barefoot in flare-legged jeans and a black tank top. Strong dancehall/dub influences were laced in and out of her set, including her hit “I’m Like A Bird.” The Canadian singer even offered a snippet of “Get Ur Freak On,” the Missy Elliott song which features Furtado on the remix version. Moby said he created AREA:ONE with… Read more »

Compared to a year ago at this time, MTV and Eminem are locked in a very reluctant embrace. MTV has agreed to play a new video by Eminem’s group, D12, but only during the overnight hours and only after several days of negotiations with the rap star’s record label, Shady Records/Interscope Records. The video for “Purple Hills,” the album’s lead track, had to be cleaned up to minimize overt drug references, MTV spokeswoman Jeannie Kedas said on Tuesday. “We had a dialogue with the label and they provided us with an acceptable version for our air,” she said. MTV will… Read more »

In return, the RIAA withdrew its attempt to have the company removed from the standard Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP) rate-setting policy. In a move that ends a complicated series of lawsuits and counter-suits for embattled online music concern Listen.com, the company has withdrawn from a suit filed by Digital Media Association (DiMA) and a group of music sites. In doing so, Listen made a pact with the RIAA to remove some features from its service that record labels find objectionable. Two interactivity features, one that allow listeners to either skip a song entirely, and another that allows users to… Read more »