Search Results for: GERMANY

It’s official. Michael Jackson, the self-proclaimed “King of Pop,” is the “King of Sales” this week, but music industry insiders predict he will soon lose the crown to pop teen queen Britney Spears. Jackson’s first album of original music in six years, “Invincible,” sold 366,272 units in the week ended Nov. 4, the first week of its release, topping all other U.S. albums, according to Soundscan, which tracks music retail figures. The pop star made an unprecedented in-store appearance Wednesday at the Virgin Megastore in New York’s Times Square, wearing a shiny royal blue outfit, complete with his signature finger-less… Read more »

Global music channel MTV will hope to bring a little international glamour to Frankfurt Thursday when Germany’s buttoned-down financial center hosts its European awards show. Although Frankfurt is better known for staid bankers than flashy rockstars, MTV expects to draw up to a billion viewers worldwide for the 2001 European Music Awards with a line-up including performances by Kylie Minogue, R.E.M. and Depeche Mode. Presenters will include local German favourites such as tennis star Boris Becker and supermodel Heidi Klum, as well as American actor Ben Stiller and Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. The show will be hosted this year by… Read more »

The Dave Matthews Band has scratched a handful of international tour dates, deciding instead, as the band’s Web site puts it, to stay close to family and friends “in light of recent global events.” The group wrapped up a four-month U.S. tour in August and was scheduled to play November 6 in Mexico City before heading overseas for shows in the U.K. and Germany. A band spokesperson said the group hasn’t decided yet whether to reschedule the dates but that the band will definitely resume touring before the end of the year and stay at it through the beginning of… Read more »

Blink-182 has postponed its fall European tour in support of its latest album, Take Off Your Pants And Jacket, becoming the latest American group to make such a move in recent weeks in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Blink has rescheduled the trek for just after the first of the year, beginning in Zurich, Germany on January 4. Fourteen shows are scheduled, including a two-night stand at London’s Wembley Arena. Others to cancel overseas tours since the tragedies on the East Coast include Weezer, Janet Jackson, Pantera, and Aimee Mann.

Pop / R&B superstar Usher has just announced his plans to headline his own U.S. Tour to kick-off in November 2001 in support of his explosive album, 8701. Usher fans worldwide have been anxiously anticipating a concert tour from the talented superstar. At last, they’ll get a chance to see Usher perform in major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC and Miami, among others. The tour will kick-off in Baltimore, MD on November 29. Opening acts and venues will be announced shortly. Usher is set to play theatre-sized venues and will roll-out the second leg of the… Read more »

The music industry is now testing different copy protection systems on mass market chart CDs, with copies of NSync’s Celebrity on the Zomba label being sold in at least three different versions. Those available in Germany have draconian protection, a slightly weaker system is used on the US disk and there is no protection on the UK version. The only visible clue is small print on the German release which warns “this CD is not playable on computers”. Sony will not comment on the NSync disc but a spokesman says: “We continue to test available copy protection technologies, and our… Read more »

NetSilicon, Inc., Germany-based Micronas GmbH, and FS FORTH-SYSTEME GmbH announced their cooperation in developing a high-performance MP3 Internet radio application, called NetworkAudio. “The innovative NetworkAudio Web radio is a result of the seamless cooperation among three leading edge companies with vast expertise in embedded networking and digital audio technology,” said Michael Evensen, EMEA vice president, NetSilicon. “Electronic product OEMs can now leverage a complete, off-the-shelf reference design and development kit for very low bill-of-materials costs, allowing OEMs to begin product development immediately. The NetworkAudio reference design can therefore drastically reduce OEMs’ designs risks, cost, and time-to-market.” NetworkAudio allows access to… Read more »

Gorillaz, the cartoon indie-beat band formed by Damon Albarn of the rock band Blur, picked up six nominations, including best group, in the eighth annual MTV Europe Music Awards noms, announced here Tuesday. Gorillaz will compete with Destiny’s Child, Limp Bizkit, R.E.M. and U2 for the best group prize in a ceremony to be aired live Nov. 8 on MTV’s worldwide channels from Frankfurt, Germany. Additionally, Gorillaz’ international hit single “Clint Eastwood” is up for best song. Nominees in the female act category include Dido, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna and Mariah Carey, while Robbie Williams, Eminem, Ricky Martin, Shaggy… Read more »

Waves, Ltd., a leading supplier of audio signal processing solutions for the professional audio and multimedia markets, has today announced the release of the Restoration processor bundle for Native (PC and Macintosh) platforms. Removal of unwanted background noise and disturbing signal transients without affecting the original sound has always been a major challenge in audio postproduction, remastering, broadcasting, video, film and forensics. Waves audio processing Plug-Ins are the quality standard for thousands of top audio professionals all over the world. Waves new Restoration bundle has addressed the increasing demand for real-time noise and transient elimination tools. It establishes a new… Read more »

Teenage pop idol Britney Spears has canceled her promotional tour of Europe and South America, Australian Associated Press reported on Saturday. “After much thought and deliberation it is with great regret that I have decided to cancel my planned European and Latin American promotion trips,” AAP quoted a weekend statement from her record company Jive as saying. Spears arrived here last week on the last flight to leave the United States for Australia just before the devastating attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington. Her announcement meant she would not take her promotional tour… Read more »