Search Results for: Avril Lavigne

During the first two weeks in January, the most popular album in the country was the soundtrack to “Dreamgirls.” But that statistic was less impressive than it might have been, because for those two weeks, “Dreamgirls” sold around 60,000 copies each week, which made for the two lowest totals for a #1 album in the history of the SoundScan era, which began in 1991. Granted, January is always a pretty slow month for album sales and releases. But around that same time, the new Fall Out Boy album, Infinity on High, leaked online and was one of the most eagerly… Read more »

Sony Corp and Bertelsmann AG have refiled a request for EU regulators to clear a 2004 deal merging their music units, the European Commission said Thursday. Regulators have to re-examine the deal they cleared in July 2004 because an EU court struck down their original approval last July, citing “manifest errors” in how authorities decided that combining the two music majors would not restrict customer choice. The judgment sent lawyers into a flurry because it undermined the legality of the Sony BMG deal that formed the world’s second-largest record label behind Universal, bringing Sony artists like Aerosmith, George Michael and… Read more »

With the decade fast approaching it’s musical climax, 2006 proved to be a big winner for an industry hit by piracy. The live music scene proved to be the biggest release for most acts, with top grossing tours for some of the world’s biggest bands, and an explosion in music festivals across the globe. Firstly, let’s recap on albums were still waiting on from last year; OutKast’s first studio album since 2004’s “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” (which was one of the year’s biggest releases) is rumoured now for the spring, and Guns N’ Roses failed to deliver on their promise of… Read more »

New York – Radio’s playlist liberation movement hatched in late 2001 at a birthday party in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A radio was blasting when Howard Kroeger, director of operations and programing for CHUM Broadcasting’s Winnipeg stations, arrived at his friend’s 40th-birthday bash. It was a competitor’s classic rock station, and Kroeger used the occasion to conduct an informal focus group among the partygoers, most in their mid- to late 30s. Whenever Boston, the Cars, Meatloaf, Supertramp or some other ’70s staple came on, it got an overwhelming thumbs-up from the Molson-enhanced crowd. But there was a noticeable lack of enthusiasm when… Read more »

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Ozzy Osbourne and heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath will be among the headliners at this year’s Roskilde Festival, one of Europe’s largest music events. Osbourne, who grew up in Birmingham, central England, rose to stardom with Black Sabbath in the 1970s before launching a solo career. It will be the band’s sole summer festival appearance, organizers said Wednesday. Last year, 75,000 tickets were sold for the outdoor event, where more than 150 artists, including the Pixies, Morrissey, Sahara Hotnights and Avril Lavigne, performed on Roskilde’s six stages. This year’s festival, which also will include performances by Green… Read more »

In the hierarchy of awards shows, the U.K.’s Brit Awards are the funnest, craziest and, generally, drunkest of the bunch. The champagne-happy show will take place on February 9 this year, celebrating its 25th anniversary with Franz Ferdinand heading up nominations. With nominations being released today, the Scot-rock band are up for five possible awards, including British Group, Album, Breakthrough Act, Rock Act and Live Act. Muse came in second, with four nods, while American bands Maroon 5 and Scissor Sisters were each nominated three times. Since the Brits organizers don’t divide up their genres quite as much as the… Read more »

Paris – Hip-hop rhymers, classical orchestras, church choirs, punk bands and creamy-voiced crooners from Paris to Hong Kong are taking up the fund-raising theme for victims of the Asian tsunami, holding money-raising concerts and singing special songs. Ever since the 1980s African famine relief hit “We Are the World” and its Band Aid predecessor “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” support from musicians has been part of charity fund-raising. But the response to the tsunami has been huge. In Norway alone, dozens of benefit concerts are planned. In its oil capital, Stavanger, groups scheduled a free show Thursday, with cash to… Read more »

Washington – Some people can’t understand why Butch Walker would give Avril Lavigne a hit like “My Happy Ending” instead of keeping it for his own album, but the songwriter-musician says it’s all part of his plan. Known for penning Lavigne’s recent single, as well as “Girl All the Bad Guys Want” by Bowling for Soup, Walker says he wants to be known for more than a throwaway hit song. “There’s a difference between a hit song and your best song and a lot of people don’t get that,” he recently told AP Radio. “The same people saying that are… Read more »

Where Evanescence were once propelled solely by a pair of songwriters, the creative process has become a lot more democratic since the departure of guitarist Ben Moody. And yet Amy Lee continues to get the ball rolling the way she always has: behind closed doors. “I write by myself initially,” the band’s singer explained. “That’s the way I’ve always written, just working on pure thought by myself. Then I bring it to the table with whoever I’m collaborating with.” After Moody split in late 2003, he was replaced on tour by former Cold guitarist Terry Balsamo, who permanently joined the… Read more »

America Online, Inc. the world’s leading interactive services company, will celebrate its landmark 100th AOL® Music First View by unveiling the exclusive world premiere of the new video by U2. The video for the band’s hit song, “Vertigo,” will be available for 24 hours beginning Wednesday, October 27, at 12:01am ET for all AOL members and those on the web, at aolmusic.com. “Vertigo” is the first single off of U2’s hotly anticipated new album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, scheduled for release by Interscope Records on November 23. The video, the band’s first in four years, will mark the… Read more »