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British rock band Coldplay will release its new album through EMI Group this summer, the band’s manager was quoted as saying on Thursday, a month after he threatened to withhold the record in protest of major cost-cutting by the beleaguered London label’s new owners. The album will be a key test for private-equity investor Guy Hands, who led a 3.2 billion pound ($6.25 billion) buyout of EMI last year. He quickly unnerved musicians by looking for ways to trim the fat in an industry known for its wanton excess and loss-making deals. Hands’ strategy includes laying off up to a… Read more »

Given the radical image changes that Panic! At The Disco has undergone in the past year, it’s hard not to read the lyrics to its new album’s opening song as a pre-emptive strike against critics. “Oh, how it’s been so long/we’re so sorry we’ve been gone/we were busy writing songs/for you,” bassist Jon Walker sings, by way of apology for the two-and-a-half-year lag between 2005’s “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” and the new “Pretty. Odd.,” due March 25 via Fueled by Ramen/Atlantic. Then, he launches into lines meant to comfort fans who have no doubt noticed that their favorite… Read more »

Radiohead is chasing Rainbows with its first North American tour in two years. The band announced Tuesday that it will kick off an eight-concert trek May 5 in West Palm Beach, Florida, continuing on to locales including Tampa, Atlanta and Houston before wrapping up in Dallas on May 18. Tickets to the shows go on sale Saturday, with presale beginning Thursday. From there, the British rockers will head back across the pond for the European leg of their tour, kicking off June 6 in Dublin and wrapping up July 8 in Berlin. Radiohead is then due to return to the… Read more »

Feist’s musical palette contains many emotional colors, but there’s something to be said for joy. More than anything, a playful spirit explains why this was the Canadian singer-songwriter’s breakout year – that, and a well-timed iPod commercial. She’s up for four Grammy Awards at the Feb. 10 ceremony, including best new artist. One of Feist’s videos shows her flying through the air and literally being pulled back to Earth by someone suspicious of her fun. Another depicts her dancing through fireworks in what one onlooker at the production told her “looks like what falling in love feels like.” Her clip… Read more »

By A few shows into his Rock and Roll Revival tour, Kid Rock is proud of — and a little surprised by — what he’s wrought on the road. “After the first show, we were all like, ‘I can’t believe this thing worked!”‘ said Rock, who’s incorporating guests such as Run-DMC’s Rev. Run (Joseph Simmons), J. Geils Band frontman Peter Wolf and former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickie Betts with his expanded Twisted Brown Trucker Band into long, revue-style presentations. “There’s something going on here I don’t think any of us realize yet,” he told Billboard.com. Rock said the concept… Read more »

What could be better after a hard day’s sightseeing? Visitors to Liverpool, birthplace of the Beatles, can rest their heads in the Lennon or McCartney suites at the Fab Four-themed Hard Days Night Hotel that opened Friday. More than 45 years after John, Paul, George and Ringo emerged from Liverpool’s tiny, sweaty clubs to conquer the world, the Beatles industry is key to this battered-but-proud city’s attempt to transform itself from fading commercial hub to thriving cultural hotbed. The 110-room Hard Days Night Hotel hopes to be its newest attraction. “It’s stunning, spectacular,” said Julia Baird, John Lennon’s half-sister, after… Read more »

Madonna is the richest woman in music. The 49-year-old entertainer leads Forbes.com’s list of the top 20 “Cash Queens of Music,” earning $72 million between June 2006 and June 2007. The pop star’s “Confessions” world tour pulled in $260 million, Forbes said. She also made money from album sales, her fashion line with H&M and a deal with NBC to broadcast her concert performance at London’s Wembley Stadium. Forbes.com said it compiled the list by examining concert grosses, merchandising revenue, album sales and other revenue from clothing lines, fragrance deals and endorsements. Barbra Streisand is No. 2 with $60 million,… Read more »

Universal Music’s publishing division has overtaken EMI as the world’s leading major music publisher, according to market research on Monday. Music & Copyright (M&C), which is published by Informa said Universal’s market share among major music groups rose to 24 percent in 2007 from 11.9 percent a year earlier. Over the same period, EMI’s music publishing share remained steady at 17 percent. Independent publishers account for around one third of the global market. EMI was bought by private equity firm Terra Firma, which earlier this month announced plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs at the music company as part… Read more »

After Velvet Revolver wraps a spring tour in support of its second album, “Libertad,” frontman Scott Weiland will rejoin his former bandmates in Stone Temple Pilots for a handful of summer reunion shows, guitarist Slash told Billboard.com. STP broke up in late 2002; the band’s last album was the previous year’s “Shangri-La Dee Da.” No other details have yet been revealed about STP’s plans. In the meantime, Weiland and his Velvet Revolver bandmates are still plugging away in support of “Libertad” with dates that run through early April. There’s also the hope that recording for album No. 3 could begin… Read more »

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced Friday at the World Economic Forum that his foundation would give $306 million to use green technology and farming techniques to boost millions out of hunger and poverty. The announcement by Gates, who is a long-time favorite speaker at the annual meeting of business and government leaders, injected a shot of optimism into the gathering which had been weighed down the first two days by fears of a global economic downturn. Gates, who is stepping down as Microsoft chair later this year and expected to focus more on philanthropy, received a standing ovation at the… Read more »