Search Results for: EUROPE

Music fans in Britain, France and Germany downloaded more than 800,000 tracks from Apple Computer Inc’s iTunes online music store in its first week of operations in Europe, the company said on Wednesday. The strong start makes the much-heralded download service already a top player in Europe’s brutally competitive music download market. “In the UK alone, iTunes sold more than 450,000 songs in the last week – 16 times as many as OD2, its closest competitor,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement issued on Wednesday. Apple launched iTunes in France, Germany and the UK on June 15 to… Read more »

JUST days after the European launch of Apple Computers’ online music store, a chorus of customers are voicing their complaints. The lack of songs from artists on independent record labels – which account for a quarter of the UK market – has left iTunes looking like a poorly-stocked American import store, lacking local talent such as Travis and Franz Ferdinand. “Most Scottish acts are on independent labels,” says Alison Wenham, chairman and chief executive of the Association of Independent Music (AIM), which represents the majority of the UK’s indie labels. “Celtic acts typically start off very strong in their home… Read more »

Lots of pop stars who are huge in Europe never succeed in the United States, but judging by Thursday’s MTV Europe Music Awards, Europeans can’t seem to get enough of American idols. Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé Knowles and Christina Aguilera were the big winners at this year’s racy, profanity-laden EMAs, held in Edinburgh, Scotland. Eight of the 12 awards were presented to U.S. residents. Timberlake won three trophies: Best Album for Justified, Best Pop and Best Male. The Neptunes, who produced much of Justified,presented him with the latter, and after they gave him the statue of an “M” on a spring,… Read more »

Quirky rock duo Ween has lined up a three-week European tour, kicking off Nov. 27 in Stockholm and wrapping Dec. 16 in Dublin. The group’s North American trek in support of its latest Sanctuary album, “Quebec,” hits Northampton, Mass. Oct. 28 and will run through a Nov. 7-9 stand at Chicago’s Vic Theater. While in the Windy City, Ween will also make an in-store appearance Nov. 8 at Tower Records on Clark Street. “There is a very good chance that all three nights in Chicago will be professionally filmed and recorded for a DVD to be released on Sanctuary,” guitarist… Read more »

Ozzy Osbourne has rescheduled his European tour. The trek will now take place in January and February of 2004. The dates were originally planned for this fall, but had to be scrapped when it was revealed that Osbourne was undergoing treatment for a worsening tremor. A specialist at Tufts University in Boston has put Osbourne on medication which causes dry mouth, thus affecting his ability to sing. Osbourne told MTV.com last Friday (October 17), that the treatment has brought the tremor under control. He also categorically denied that he was afflicted with Parkinson’s Disease. Meanwhile, Osbourne’s wife and manager, Sharon… Read more »

Last night (October 15), Ozzy Osbourne issued a surprising press release which said that, on the advice of his personal physician, he has postponed his upcoming European tour, which was set to begin in Dublin on October 22. Ozzy said, “I have been in Boston for the last three weeks having medical tests for a tremor which has become markedly worse over the last two years. I was at the point where it felt as if this problem was practically destroying my life along with my self-esteem. I was no longer comfortable being around people, which, as you can imagine,… Read more »

Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell has the desire to bring his reprised Lollapalooza festival to Europe, but says there are a few glitches that would make it difficult to deliver the same high-quality show American fans are currently enjoying. Farrell, who also fronts this year’s Lollapalooza headlining band Jane’s Addiction, revealed that there are two problems that stand in the way of taking the festival to Europe-the line-up and the technology kinks that would crop up with the interactive part of the festival. “We have ambitions to be there, but once you jump across the pond, the quality changes,” Farrell said.… Read more »

Eminem topped the fan-voted MTV Europe Music Awards Thursday night (Nov. 14) at Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi, with three honors. The rapper/actor took trophies for best album for his Shady/Interscope set “The Eminem Show,” best hip-hop artist, and best male, the latter delivered by actor Pierce Brosnan. Kylie Minogue, Linkin Park, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers each won two awards. An unprecedented seven artists went into this year’s event with four nominations apiece; of them, Enrique Iglesias and Shakira walked away empty-handed. Performers included Eminem, Foo Fighters, Whitney Houston, and Robbie Williams. The show was hosted by P. Diddy.… Read more »

Papa Roach Kicks Off European Dates After a pair of shows in Japan this week, Papa Roach takes its tour in support of its latest album, Lovehatetragedy, to Europe beginning Sunday (October 6) in Helsinki, Finland. Dates on the continent and in the U.K. run through the first week of November. Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix said that the response overseas to his band has always been good, maybe even better than back home in the States. “In Europe people aren’t as jaded, you know? It’s like in the States every week you’ve got that cool tour coming through your… Read more »

From Luciano Pavarotti ( news – web sites) to Bob Geldof, the record industry hailed its stars on Wednesday at a ceremony to acclaim the artists who have sold the most albums in Europe over the past two years. But the multi-billion-dollar bootlegging business cast a giant shadow over the Platinum Europe Awards, as the industry fights to combat pirates whose counterfeit CDs have flooded markets around the world. The awards – given to all albums that have sold over one million copies in Europe – are sponsored by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) trade body which… Read more »