Search Results for: AVOID

Top showbiz execs pledged Sunday to step up their contribution to the war effort after a meeting with White House senior advisor Karl Rove. Details of Hollywood’s multifront initiative will be forged over the next few weeks, but industry moguls made clear their desire to pitch in. The campaign will include helping the Bush Administration spread its message regarding the war on terrorism both at home and abroad, support for U.S. troops and buttressing resolve among the American public. “All of us in the industry have an incredible urge to do something,” said Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing. One concrete… Read more »

Sony Corp is expected to report weak results for the July-September quarter after a profit warninglate last month, with analysts looking for more aggressive restructuring moves to confront the slowing global economy. The world’s largest maker of audio and video equipment cut its consolidated operating profit forecast for the full year to next March by more than half to 120 billion yen ($980 million) and announced a handful of restructuring steps, including procurement cost cuts. “That’s not enough,” said Merrill Lynch analyst Hiroshi Kuriyama. “Of course it has made efforts in the past, but current business conditions are far worse… Read more »

Nurse Abby Lockheart has just been dumped. She is in the middle of the rather painful process of moving her stuff out of her ex-boyfriend’s apartment. And to make matters worse, Cake’s “Short Skirt/Long Jacket,” a song about the things a man is looking for in a woman, is playing on the radio. On “ER,” popular music is becoming a bigger part of the story line with every episode. “It adds something to the show every time we use it,” “ER” supervising producer and writer Scott Gemmill said. “It’s amazing what music can bring to a scene.” There’s a new… Read more »

Music publishers on Wednesday won an important legal ruling against the world’s largest record label in a case that could set rules for streaming copyrighted songs over the Internet. New York federal Judge John S. Martin Jr. found that Universal Music Group’s Farmclub.com online music service streamed songs without obtaining licenses from music publishers. Universal had asked that the case be dismissed on the grounds that Farmclub’s service was covered by licenses its parent previously secured in the context of recording songs for sale on albums. “This decision means record companies aren’t in total control of how music will be… Read more »

Following the horrific events of Tuesday, September 11th, America’s teens may be finding themselves faced with increasingly difficult stresses and concerns they may not know how to handle. This tragedy is unlike anything they have faced in their lifetimes. There is a place where teens can discuss their fears and grief, share stories, get clinical advice and begin to resolve problems with their peers – TeenCentral.Net (http: www.teencentral.net) from KidsPeace, the 119-year-old National Center for Kids Overcoming Crisis. TeenCentral.Net is an innovative, self-guided problem-solving website for teens that offers resources, information, real-life case studies, interviews and stories from other teens,… Read more »

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 »