Search Results for: EUROPE

Dancehall star Beenie Man, who has recorded anti-gay songs in the past, was yanked from a concert associated with the MTV Video Music Awards this weekend after gay groups planned a protest, the network said Wednesday. MTV pulled the Jamaican singer from the roster Tuesday after South Florida gay activists announced plans to protest Saturday’s concert in Miami over some of his past lyrics, including “I’m dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays” and “Queers must be killed.” “We don’t want anything to overshadow what will be a great weekend of music events for South Floridians,”… Read more »

The success of the Black Eyed Peas flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that the music business sacrifices long-term artist development in favor of quick hits and short-term corporate profits. Signed to Interscope Records more than six years ago by chairman Jimmy Iovine, the progressive hip-hop group’s first two albums, “Behind the Front” in 1998 and “Bridging the Gap” in 2000 earned rave reviews but failed to go gold (shipments of 500,000 copies). The first album peaked at No. 139 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 197,000 units, according Nielsen SoundScan, while the sophomore set stalled at… Read more »

The Streets, a.k.a. innovative English rapper Mike Skinner, have the U.K.’s No. 1 single and album, just days after being nominated for the country’s prestigious Mercury Music Prize. The one-man band’s album, “A Grand Don’t Come For Free,” moved up one place to No. 1 in its 11th week on the survey, while second single “Dry Your Eyes” entered the chart at No. 1. Last week’s No. 1 single, “Lola’s Theme” by Shapeshifters, fell to No. 2. The only other new entry in the top 10 was the remix of Lou Reed’s “Satellite of Love” by London outfit Dab Hands,… Read more »

Apple Computer Inc. will make a slimmed-down version of its iTunes jukebox software that No. 2 cell phone maker Motorola Inc. will install on some wireless phones it will start selling in the first half of 2005, the companies said on Monday. The world’s second-largest cell phone maker also introduced seven new wireless telephones that will be available in the second half of the year, including products aimed at helping corporate customers cut costs. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs made the announcement via video conference at an event the night before Motorola’s annual analyst meeting in the Chicago suburb of… Read more »

Songs from Europe’s independent record labels will be available on Apple’s iTunes download service after a deal resolved a dispute between the sides. Songs by artists like The White Stripes and Franz Ferdinand – who are signed to indie labels – were not available at iTunes’ European launch in June. The labels complained they were being dictated unreasonable terms by Apple. But the Association of Indie Music (Aim) has secured terms it says are “on a par with those agreed by the majors”. Aim chairman Alison Wenham said: “The industry’s future is wedded to the success of iTunes and similar… Read more »

Independent record labels are on the verge of striking an agreement with Apple Computer that will allow its iTunes music service to sell tracks by artists such as the White Stripes and Basement Jaxx across Europe. A pact could be announced as early as today, sources close to the talks have told The Times, ending a feud that has kept independent labels off iTunes since its launch in the UK, France and Germany last month. The new deal is expected to ease the concerns of independent record labels that they would be locked into long-term contracts at fixed prices. The… Read more »

Apple Computers’ iTunes Music Stores in the United Kingdom, France and Germany have lost little sales momentum in their second week of operations. The services have registered more than 1.5 million combined download sales since launching June 15, the computer giant claims. Apple has not released details on the best-selling titles in the markets. The European download services made a big splash in their debut week, shifting 800,000 songs in total. Comparatively, it took Apple just seven days to sell 1 million songs in the United States when it introduced the iTunes Music Store for Macintosh computers there in April… Read more »

Computer audio equipment maker Creative Technology Ltd and online music service Soundbuzz.Com launched an alliance on Tuesday aimed at capturing Asia’s infant fee-based online music market. The two companies are setting up online music stores in Singapore, Hong Kong and India – regions where knock-off CDs burned by sophisticated piracy syndicates or downloaded off the Internet for free are hammering sales of recorded music. Soundbuzz.Com and Creative launched the first of their online stores in Singapore on Tuesday, offering 250,000 songs at $1.16 each in a format designed for quick downloading into Creative’s digital music players. “We’ve all been through… Read more »

After initial denials, Britney Spears’ reps have now confirmed that the singer is engaged to her dancer boyfriend, Kevin Federline. Rumors began circulating after Spears’ knee injury that the couple were talking marriage, but her spokespeople dismissed the rumors and said that the two were “serious” but “definitely not engaged.” However, the story changed Friday afternoon (June 25), and Spears’ camp confirmed what people had been speculating all along. No details are available on the impending nuptials just yet, and the couple has yet to set a date. The news comes just six months after Spears was married for a… Read more »

Universal Music maintained its status as the world’s market leader in 2003, but a combined Sony/BMG would have challenged its dominance. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), a music industry trade group, released market share figures that show BMG and Sony had an aggregate share of 25.1% in 2003. Universal posted a 23.5% share, down from 25.4% in 2002. The Sony-BMG merger plan cleared a major hurdle June 17 when European competition commissioner Mario Monti gave his approval of the deal. BMG was among the companies posting a share gain in 2003, increasing to 11.9% from 9.6% in… Read more »